Returning Students

Welcome Back to USU

You’ve hopefully had a positive, unforgettable, life-changing experience. Now you can share your stories, apply your world knowledge to your courses and search for the next exciting opportunity to go abroad.  Before you jump into your next adventure, take care of a few administrative items first:

  • Transferring Credits
  • Study Abroad Transcripts
  • Returning Workshops and Resources
  • Continuing Your International Experience

 Transferring Credits

Question

Did you participate in a USU faculty-led program?

Answer

  1. If you participated in a USU faculty-led study abroad program, you are done. Your credits will update automatically.
  2. If you participated in a study abroad exchange or direct program at an institution outside of the USA, you will need to work with an articulation representative (also referred to as a transfer credit representative) in the academic department or college from which you are requesting credit. You will also need to work with your academic advisor to approve courses before you study abroad. (Your academic advisor may also be the articulation representative in some cases.)

Steps to Articulation

1

Make sure the institution knows where to send your transcripts

Before you leave your host university abroad, make sure the institution knows where to send your transcripts. Inquire at the international office at your host university to find out when transcripts will be mailed, or if you're on an ISEP program, refer to the Institutional Information Sheet (IIS) provided by ISEP. Only transcripts mailed to our office can be accepted as official. Hand delivered or emailed copies will not be accepted.
2

Advisors will notify you upon receiving your transcript

Study abroad advisors will notify you via email when your transcripts have arrived, and will check off the "Transcripts" section in your application. Study abroad advisors will upload your transcript to the "Document Center" section of your application, and you will have access to it.
3

Staff will inform the Registrar's Office to post your credit

If the classes on your transcript match the classes you had previously approved on your Study Abroad Credit Approval Form, study abroad staff will send the transcript and the Study Abroad Credit Approval Form to the Registrar's Office to post your credit.
4

Global Engagement will notify you of any issues for you to resolve

If the classes on the Advance Credit Approval Form do not match the classes on your transcript, Global Engagement will notify you so that you can approve the additional classes with the relevant articulation representative and your academic advisor. You may wish to share any course syllabi, projects, papers, etc. with the articulations representative(s) and your academic advisor(s) for consideration in their articulation of your study abroad courses. You are responsible for sending the approved Advance Credit Approval Form back to Global Engagement. If complete, a study abroad advisor will send your articulation to the Registrar's Office to post your credit and Global Engagement will check off the "Course Articulation Complete" material in your application.
5

Grade will change to SC

Once articulated, the grades for the placeholder class for the term you were abroad will change from I for incomplete to SC for satisfactory completion.

Study Abroad Transcripts

If you participated in a USU faculty-led program, you will receive USU credit on your USU transcript automatically. If you participated in an exchange or direct program, please notify your host institution to send your transcript directly to Office of Global Engagement, Study Abroad. Once Global Engagement receives your transcript, study abroad advisors will notify you.

Request your host institution to mail your transcripts to:

Office of Global Engagement, Study Abroad
Utah State University
9545 Old Main Hill
Logan, UT 84322-9545

You will have access to your transcript through the Document Center in your application, and you may pick up the official copy of your transcript from study abroad staff in Global Engagement. It is helpful to keep the official copy in the signed and sealed envelope in case you are applying for a graduate program or job in which you need to submit an official transcript from your study abroad experience.

If you need additional copies of your transcript, Global Engagement can provide a copy of your transcript with an official letter in a signed and sealed envelope. The cost for this service is $5 per transcript copy if you pick it up or have it sent electronically, and $10 if it is shipped to you.

Returning Workshops and Resources

Global Engagement works with USU Career Services to hold a workshop for students returning from study abroad. Learn how to maximize your study abroad experience on your resume, and where to look for job opportunities! Returned students will be contacted upon return to attend the workshop.

If you're having trouble adjusting back to life at home, you're not the only one—students may experience "reverse culture shock" and find that it takes some time to get used to American culture again after being away. If you feel like you need someone to talk to for help with this issue, USU's Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) can help.

For any other issues, feel free to contact study abroad advisors—we've all lived abroad before and can help with numerous issues.

Continuing Your International Experience

Discover new academic opportunities. You may have found an academic, career and/or service learning direction from this experience that will make you better able to define your area of study, research or graduate school opportunities. Many graduate school opportunities abroad are affordable and unique ways to continue your academic career.

Get involved at USU. Relive some of your experiences by volunteering at the study abroad fair and being a buddy for an incoming international exchange student, participating in USU's international activities and events, living in Global Village, or joining a language or international studies club. Share your pictures, your enthusiasm and your memories with others.

Find a  scholarship/internship abroad. Having been abroad, you may have an edge in getting a competitive paid internship abroad or a Fulbright Scholarship. With an undergraduate degree and an international study abroad experience already, consider a Fulbright opportunity abroad to teach English, do research or undertake a Masters or PhD program abroad.

Enhance your resume and explore international careers. On your resume, you may want to highlight some of the skills you developed while on a study abroad. Some skills that you might have developed abroad include: language skills, academic/research skills, personal maturity, responsibility and self-confidence, flexibility, greater cultural awareness and tolerance for cultural differences. Global Engagement staff and USU Career Services can help you develop a resume that incorporates some of the skills you developed, as well as provide resources for other work opportunities.