30 Credit Rule

Students and advisers often ask under what conditions students can use transfer credits from study abroad programs within the student's final 30 credits. The conditions in which a student can study abroad in their final 30 credits vary from major to major. YOU MUST CHECK WITH YOUR OWN ACADEMIC UNIT TO CONFIRM THEIR POLICY. Some major departments, schools and colleges make no exceptions and require that all of a student's final 30 credits be taken in residence; others allow students to study abroad for some of their final 30 credits.

Students on University of Maryland Programs

In Spring 1995, the Senate Committee on Academic Procedures and Standards considered whether credit earned on other UM study abroad programs could be applied to the final 30 credits a student earns at UM. The Committee concluded that students participating in a UM sponsored study abroad program will be allowed to earn up to a total of 18 of their final 30 semester hours off campus if they:

• have a minimum of 2.5 GPA.
• have the approval of their major dept and college
• return to UMCP to complete at least 12 semester hours

Please note: Most short-term UM programs count as resident credit, as does the Maryland-in-London program. As such, the 30-credit rule does not apply to these programs.

Students on non-University of Maryland Programs

Students studying on non-Maryland programs must check with their College to determine whether an exception to the 30-credit rule may be granted. When an exception is granted, the following conditions must be met:

If students have completed 75+ credits at Maryland

They may study abroad but must take a minimum of 14 of their final 30 credits at Maryland before they earn a UM degree. No more than 4 courses (maximum of 16 transfer credits) will be applied to a student's degree.

If, at the time of graduation, students will have completed 30 credits at Maryland

They may study abroad but must take a minimum of 22 of their final 30 credits at Maryland before they earn a UM degree. No more than 2 courses (maximum of 8 transfer credits) will be applied to a student's degree. ARHU students who have completed between 31-74 credits at the University of Maryland will need to complete a minimum of 12 credits at the University of Maryland upon their return with prior ARHU approval.

General Policies

1. All students transferring credit from study abroad programs must complete a Permission to Study Abroad form, acquired in the Study Abroad Office. This first step confirms that the University of Maryland will accept study abroad transfer credit from the international institution.
2. Written permission must be obtained in advance from the dean and chair/director of the academic unit from which the student expects to graduate. This signature approval must be obtained prior to departure and in a timely manner.
3. For some UM programs, 2-3 courses count as "Maryland" classes and the others count as transfer credit. The courses taken as "Maryland" courses receive letter grades and count in the GPA, and the transfer courses count as regular transfer credit. In these instances, only the transfer credits are restricted by the 30-credit rule. The Maryland courses count as resident credit.
4. The Maryland-in-London program is considered a full residency program. ALL the courses taken on this program count as residency credit, and ALL the courses receive grades calculated in the GPA. Similarly, most UM short-term summer and winter programs carry resident credit. These UM resident credit programs do not require final 30 credit approval.
5. Courses taken as part of University of Maryland exchange programs count as transfer credit and cannot count toward residency credits.
6. All grades earned in a study abroad program will be used in the calculation of a new cumulative GPA for professional and graduate schools even though study abroad courses completed as transfer credit do not factor into your UM GPA.