Your semester away is sure to be a fun and exciting experience. Many students say it is the best semester of their college career, but it's important to keep in mind that this is an academic experience. There are rules and requirements you must adhere to during your semester away.

ALL courses you take away from Trinity College must receive the appropriate approvals by completing the Study Away Credit Approval Form. The completed form with appropriate signatures/approvals must be submitted to the Registrar's Office (registrar.office@trincoll.edu) and/or Lindsay Reid (lindsay.reid@trincoll.edu) the Associate Registrar.

To avoid any issues, you should obtain approvals before you leave or during the add/drop period of your program. Some programs do not have course enrollment until you arrive in country. We recommend you add more courses than you plan to take in case a course is not approved or you change your schedule. 

Don’t wait to start this process!!

• You must take the equivalent of 4 - 6 Trinity credits. This does not always equal 4 - 6 courses on your study away program. Your program staff can help you determine exactly how many courses you will need to take. Keep in mind that all AEP study away programs calculate credit based on the North American credit system (3-4 credits per course) which is different from Trinity’s credit system (1 credit per course). 

  • If you are under-enrolled while away you will be put on academic probation at Trinity College. This may impact your financial aid package and visa status (for international students). 

  • If you are over-enrolled, you will be charged a surcharge fee by Trinity College Student Accounts.

• All courses taken while away will appear on your Trinity College transcript as Trinity credit along with the letter grade you receive. (ALL courses you take while away from Trinity College must receive the appropriate approvals. See the next section for more information.)

• Your grades from study away will calculate into your Trinity College GPA.

• You cannot take online courses while away.

• In some circumstances, if you receive below a C- in a course, you may not get credit for the course, even though the course will still appear on your Trinity Transcript. Please check-in with Trinity's Registrar for more details on this policy.

• ALL courses you take while away will appear on your Trinity transcript. You cannot ask to NOT transfer a course, withdraw from a course or change a grade. Trinity cannot make any alterations to another institution's transcript.

• After your semester away, your program will send your final transcript directly to Trinity's Registrar's Office to be added to your Trinity transcript. It may take several months for the Registrar's Office to receive it. 

• Some departments at Trinity have restrictions on the number of courses students can take while away from Trinity for major or minor credit. You should talk with your department for more information. 

• All study away programs have their own rules about Add/Drop which you will need to understand and abide by. Check with them to find out all the details.

PASS/LOW PASS/FAIL DEADLINES: 

• Students have 3 weeks after their programs' official start date (as published on the programs' official website) to indicate to the Registrar’s Office that they wish to take a course away P/LP/F.  

• For courses that start more than 3 weeks after the official program start date: The student will have 1 week after the specific course start date to request a P/LP/F exemption with the Registrar’s Office at registrar.office@trincoll.edu. Three likely examples are:  

• Programs that are on a block system 

• Programs that start with an intensive course (usually a language course) 

• Year-long programs 

RULES: 

• Required study away program courses CANNOT be taken P/LP/F, including language and core courses.  

• All courses taken away MUST be taken for a letter grade, even after the student has indicated to the Registrar’s Office that they wish to take a course P/LP/F. After the Trinity College Registrar's Office receive the students’ official transcript/grades from the study away program, the Registrar’s Office will THEN convert the course grade to P/LP/F. 

• All other Trinity College rules regarding P/LP/F apply to study away courses.  

  • IMPORTANT: You may select the Pass/Low Pass/Fail option for only ONE course per semester.

How will a student request to take a course P/LP/F: Students must contact the Registrar’s Office (registrar.office@trincoll.edu) to request to take a course P/LP/F. 

ALL courses you take while away from Trinity College must receive the appropriate approvals by completing this form. The completed form with signatures must be submitted to the Registrar's Office (registrar.office@trincoll.edu) and/or Lindsay Reid (lindsay.reid@trincoll.edu) the Associate Registrar.

• You should bring all course materials from abroad back home with you until your credit is posted accordingly to your Trinity transcript. This includes reading lists, syllabi, assignments, tests, papers and exams. These may be necessary if there are any questions about credit transfer or the work that you did abroad. 

• If course syllabi are in a language other than English, it is your responsibility to translate them into English before submitting them to the Registrar's Office. 

• It can take several months after the end of your semester abroad for foreign transcripts to be sent to Trinity. 

• CLICK HERE or scroll down to access the form.

Each Approved External Program is unique in many ways, including the academic offerings, expectations and culture. You will receive much more detailed information from your program but it is important to note that academic systems in other countries are very different than they are in the U.S and at Trinity. Here are some differences to be aware of:

• Grading scales can be different all over the world. Before you start class, understand how you will be graded.

• Instructors in other parts of the world expect students to be very independent and complete most work outside of class without being told what to do. It is important you keep up with assignments and readings. 

• Course syllabi may not be as detailed as they are at Trinity. It is important to stay on top of your assignments and deadlines! 

• Large lectures and smaller break out seminars are very common.

• Homework or “busywork” is uncommon abroad.

• You may only have one paper and exam for your entire final grade.

You cannot contest your grades from a foreign institution or study away program.

• Academic integrity is a fundamental expectation of all students studying abroad. As part of the online steps to confirm your decision to study abroad, you will electronically sign and agree to Trinity College rules of conduct and academic regulations. You are subject to these rules while studying away. The rules that you have agreed to can be found in your online application (post-acceptance section) and in the Trinity College Student Handbook.

• Academic dishonesty is the failure to maintain academic integrity. It includes, but is not limited to, obtaining or giving unauthorized aid on an examination, having unauthorized prior knowledge of the content of an examination, doing work for another student, having work done by another person for the student, and plagiarism.

• Academic dishonesty can result in severe penalty, including failure of the course and/or dismissal from the program.

• Plagiarism is the presentation of another person’s ideas or product as one’s own. Examples of plagiarism are: copying verbatim and without attribution all or parts of another’s written work; using phrases, charts, figures, illustrations, computer programs, Web sites without citing the source; paraphrasing ideas, conclusions, or research without citing the source; using all or part of a literary plot, poem, film, musical score, computer program, Web sites or other artistic products without attributing the work to its creator. Students can avoid unintentional plagiarism by carefully following accepted scholarly practices. Notes taken for papers and research projects should accurately record sources of material to be cited, quoted, paraphrased, or summarized, and research or critical papers should acknowledge these sources with the use of footnotes.

• Any violation of Trinity’s academic integrity policy will be referred to the main Trinity campus for adjudication through established procedures. Violations will result in disciplinary action which will be placed on the student’s record, either permanently or for a specified length of time.

• If you receive academic accommodations at Trinity, you must alert your program as soon as possible so you can ensure that equal accommodations are available in the program country. 

• Academic accommodations are not guaranteed in other countries, but every effort will be made to provide you with what you need. 

• As defined in the Trinity College Student Handbook, all students must attend classes and excursions. 

• You may not voluntarily opt out of required program activities. Valid reasons for absence – such as illness – must be discussed in advance with the On-Site Director and professor. 

• Penalties for excessive absence from class will be determined by the program and may include recommending your withdrawal from the course or the issuance of a failing grade.