All students are expected to meet Colorado College’s standards for academic performance. These standards also apply when considering eligibility for a study away program. 

Academic guidelines are in place to keep students on-track toward meeting the graduation requirements of the college (32 units with a cumulative GPA of 2.0). Students who do not meet Colorado College academic standards may be put on probation or suspended from the College. They may become ineligible to participate in the off-campus study until they are returned to good academic standing. 

MAINTAINING ELIGIBILITY

Failure to maintain minimum good academic standing between program acceptance and program departure is grounds for dismissal, and you may face financial consequences related to a late program removal.

• Every program, whether CC Faculty-led or through a partner organization, has a minimum GPA requirement.  Failure to maintain this minimum requirement in the time between program acceptance and program departure is grounds for dismissal. 
• Students on academic probation or suspension cannot study away during this period, or as their first term back from academic probation or suspension. 
• For a student placed on academic probation or suspension, a study away semester/year cannot also be the first semester of return as semesters away do not transfer GPA standing, so they cannot be used to improve a student's academic standing.  
• A CC-led study away experience cannot be the first academic coursework to follow a suspension or probation.  On-campus coursework is needed to reestablish good academic standing.
• A partner-led study away semester cannot be the first semester back from suspension or probation as these programs do not produce course grades, only credit.   

If you are applying for an approved non-CC partner program for study abroad or away, be aware that they may also have their own, different minimum threshold levels for GPA requirements and academic standing in order to be accepted. A student would need to meet both CC’s academic standards for off-campus study, as well as those of the partner program or host institution abroad/away.

For more information on Academic Standing categories, please visit this page from the Registrar's Office.

If a senior wishes to apply for a semester abroad or away during their senior year through an approved partner (non-CC) program, the additional required approval steps would be sought through the process of completing the required CC Internal Application for Study Away Approval in Summit. When a student indicates they’ll have senior standing on this application, a supplemental review step opens up in the application for you to complete. Please fill this out thoughtfully and thoroughly, and Summit will forward it for final review by the Dean of the College (again, this is automatically handled through Summit – you do not need to approach the Dean on your own for this exception). Make sure you have already spoken with your academic/major advisor about your academic plans before applying for off-campus study, as their approval in Summit is an integral step in the process of gaining permission.

In rare cases, it may be possible to study abroad or away for the Spring/final semester of senior year in order to complete degree requirements, with approval (through Summit) of both a student’s major advisor/department and the Dean of the College. If a senior wishes to study away for their final semester, you must be completing necessary degree requirement coursework in this semester (e.g., units required towards the 32 to graduate, fulfilling an All-College requirement, and/or a final requirement for a declared major). Be aware also that study abroad transcripts can take 4-6 weeks on average after program completion to be processed and received from overseas institutions (sometimes longer), and this may result in your degree from CC being processed with a later official graduation date; for example, you would likely be an August graduate instead of a May graduate.

STUDY AWAY AND NEW STUDENTS

Due to the timing of the application processes for blocks away, new (first year and transfer) students typically begin to join block away courses in the summer after their first year of study. Semester and year-long off-campus study are generally open to sophomores, juniors, and Fall-semester seniors.

SUMMER STUDY AWAY AFTER GRADUATION

Students who have met all graduation requirements and who will participate in the May graduation ceremony as full graduates may not enroll in summer study away blocks for the summer following their final year at the college.  However, it may be possible for a student who requires the summer course to complete their degree to participate in May graduation ceremonies and then use the summer course as their final unit of academic credit.  This is only possible if the summer course completes one of the following requirements for the student:

• The summer course completes the student's major program (Work towards a minor or 2nd major does not qualify).
• The summer course completes a collegewide graduation requirement within the general education program which otherwise would be unfulfilled. 
• The summer course completes the student's 32nd unit of academic credit required for degree completion.

Students considering a summer course following graduation to complete their degree should speak with Global Education PRIOR TO APPLICATION to see if they qualify to enroll and to discuss aid eligibility, including Wild Card eligibility.  

HAVING A VALID PASSPORT IS A MUST. 

While it is not necessary to have a valid passport in order to be eligible to begin the CC application process for study abroad, you should begin the passport application or renewal process as soon as possible in order to ensure you will have the required documentation needed to participate in the program, if accepted.  

If you currently hold a passport, make sure you know where it physically is (you would be surprised how often passports get misplaced in the process of moving to college), and then look to verify the expiration date on your passport (it may be sooner than you think!). Some countries require that your passport be valid for up to  6-12 months after your planned departure date from the country/after the end date of your program abroad.  If it is close, it is time to renew. 

OBTAINING OR RENEWING A PASSPORT

If you do not hold and have never held a passport, currently receive need-based aid from Colorado College, and are in need of financial support to apply for a passport to participate in your study abroad program, you may apply for an Academic Opportunities Grant to help cover some of those expenses.   

Standard passport processing times for U.S. passports can range from 8-16 weeks for standard processing. Expedited processing is available for an additional fee and usually is estimated to take between 5 to 8 weeks. You can check current processing times on the U.S. Passport Agency’s website.

Students who are unable to travel with a CC-led study abroad program due to an inability to acquire or renew a passport by the departure date could face significant financial ramifications for a last-minute withdrawal from the study away program. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that they are able to obtain any required travel documents in time for initial program departure. 

ENTRY VISAS

A visa is essentially permission from another country to enter and remain in their country for a stated period of time, for the purposes of completing your study program. All students studying abroad through CC must obtain the correct visa(s) required by the country or countries they will be studying in. Visa requirements vary widely by country (based both on your country of citizenship/passport you will be traveling on, as well as your destination and their entry regulations). It is important that you know what visa requirements will apply to you so that you can prepare for this well in advance. Failure to obtain a visa will result in you not attending the program.

For many 1-block programs or 2-block half-semester programs, a student visa is often not required as students are not enrolling in a local university and are not staying abroad for more than 90 days. For most destinations, a tourist visa, or simply a passport is enough for entry and stay of up to 90 days. This can vary widely based on the country which has issued your passport. While most U.S. passport holders can visit a range of countries without a visa, this is not always true, nor is it true of travelers with other national passports. It is important for you to verify whether or not a visa is needed even for your participation even in a 1-block program. If a visa is required for a CC-led one- or two-block program, most of the time you would apply for the correct tourist/90-day visa and not a student visa, as programs led by CC do not have you enrolled as a student in a local foreign university.

If you do need a student visa, applying for it can be an involved process that requires your careful attention. You should begin to do research about the student visa requirements for the country or countries you will be visiting and living in even before you know you have been accepted to your program. Entry requirements can change at any time. We advise that you pay close attention to consular updates, as you are responsible for knowing and addressing the requirements for your host country and study abroad program. Gathering the required documentation for your student visa can take as much or more time than your study abroad application itself.

If you are participating in a CC-approved partner program abroad, usually your program will be your primary source of the most current visa application process information, as well as the issuer of any required documentation needed to obtain your student visa, as their student for that semester or year. If you require a Verification of Enrollment letter (or similar) from Colorado College as your home institution, you can request that letter from the CC Registrar.

Please be aware that the visa application process for some countries may require students to surrender their passports for several weeks or months before starting the study abroad program. These consular requirements may impact students' independent travel plans. Visa requirements should be investigated and considered by all applicants prior to planning independent travel (including travel over breaks or arriving early to your program site). All students are required to be in possession of the proper visa documentation in order to participate in any program.

The Center for Global Education at Colorado College is not responsible for obtaining student visas nor can we be responsible for visa complications, delays, or visa denials. Unfortunately, Colorado College does not have the ability to change visa requirements, nor does it help if we call consulates or embassies on your behalf. Though we're happy to help you in whatever way we can through the timely issuance of required documentation when this comes through CC, the decision to issue you a visa rests solely with the consulate or embassy.

STUDENTS PLANNING ON MULTIPLE STUDY AWAY PROGRAMS WITHIN A GIVEN ACADEMIC OR CALENDAR YEAR

Students who are enrolling in multiple programs, whether individual blocks or longer programs, within the same calendar or academic year should meet with Global Education BEFORE CONFIRMATION OF ENROLLMENT to ensure that additional visas are not required.  Even in countries which allow entry without a visa, the entry period is often limited to a 90-day visit within any 6-month span.  When enrolling in multiple programs, the duration of stay may exceed 90 days, which creates a visa concern.  Since most CC-led study away programming is not eligible for longer stay student visas as they are not located at local universities, it may not be possible for a student to complete multiple CC-led programs within the same year due to the limited duration of the tourist visa (entry with passport).  

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS & ENTRY VISAS

International (non-U.S.-citizen) students at Colorado College may have additional costs and requirements related to studying abroad which are not common for U.S. citizens. 

• You may be required to obtain a visa to enter the program’s host country when U.S. citizens do not. Visas commonly require paying a fee.
• You may need to schedule visa appointments through consular offices outside of Colorado and travel independently to these appointments.
• If your program is a CC faculty-led program, you will likely need a letter from Colorado College to support your visa application. Please allow at least two weeks for these letters to be issued before your visa appointment; waiting until the last minute to request these may mean that we do not have time to issue them to you.
• You may need to apply well in advance to obtain a visa appointment.  Do not wait until the final weeks before departure to begin this process. We recommend beginning the visa process as soon as is allowed (for example, Schengen visa applications can now be initiated 180 days/6 months before program departure, rather than the previous 90 days).

CC Financial Aid does not cover these costs connected to applying for visas for any CC block abroad programs. If you believe you will need financial support in order to obtain the necessary visa for a program to which you have been accepted, please contact CC Global Education.  Funds are available (on a limited basis) from Global Education.

In the event a student utilized CC funds in order to obtain their visa for study abroad only to later withdraw from the program, that student may be billed for the visa expenses as these are only supported by CC when the visa leads to participation in study abroad.  It is important that students understand the financial implications of a late withdrawal from a study abroad program.  

• Study Away is not recommended for First Year Students.  The transition to college is significant, and adding the additional layer of a study away program can produce less than desirable outcomes.  Furthermore, the application periods for study away often preclude students from engaging in the initial application, putting them at greater risk of denial of participation or inability to acquire aid.  
  
  
• While it may be possible, based on the timing of the application cycles, for First Year Students to apply for a Block Away in Blocks 7 or 8, as well as a Spring Semester Away, be advised that many programs require sophomore status for approval, and that internal financial aid from Colorado College is not typically available to students earlier than the summer following their first year.  
  
  
• We also believe it is important to work with your advisor to develop an intentional, purposeful, and well-considered plan for study away, which is often not possible during the first semester of a student's first year, which is why we recommend looking at the summer following your first year as the earliest study away window you should consider. 

• Off-campus programming requires advance reservations and bookings, the timeframe for application and registration is earlier and longer in duration than the simpler process for on-campus course registration.  
• All CC-led and Partner-led programs have application periods or application deadlines which occur well before course registration for a given semester begins, and often fill on a rolling basis.
• Last minute enrollment is not possible for any study away programming.  Unlike an on-campus course where open seats can be occupied even up to the first days of the course, with study away courses, early application and approval is essential and last-minute additions are prohibited.

• All applications begin on the SUMMIT online platform.  Enrollment in the course through the standard course enrollment process happens later in the process.
• Both CC Faculty-led Programs and Partner-led Programs may use rolling admissions. Regardless of the final date for applications in each program type, we always recommend early application whenever possible.
• It is essential that students apply to, and be accepted into, a study away program in Summit before attempting to register for any courses for the semester in question.
• Students applying for a Partner-led study away program (semester or year away) must complete both the CC process in Summit and the provider's own application.  These can be done simultaneously.  
  

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON APPLICATION PROCESSES, DEADLINES, OR REQUIREMENTS, WE RECOMMEND VISITING THE FOLLOWING PAGES WITHIN OUR WEBSITE:

Blocks Away: Getting Started

Summer Away: Getting Started

Semester or Academic Year Away: Getting Started

Once approved to join either a CC-led or Partner-led study away program, all students are required to complete a confirmation process in Summit, in order to "lock in" their roster spot or to confirm intent to participate on the program.  This process also provides students the appropriate enrollment codes needed to register for the course(s) as part of their CC course registration process (Banner). Only students who have completed all post-approval documents and waivers in Summit will be eligible to enroll in the appropriate study away courses.  

The post-approval forms for CC-led programs away (found on Summit and required of all students) include the following:  

• Behavioral Contract:  Expanding upon the CC Code of Conduct already in effect for all students.  
• Program Fee Agreement:  Outlining the financial commitments involved with the study away program and the financial ramifications of a post-deadline withdrawal.  

In addition to these forms, students will have to upload passport information (international programs only) and acknowledge receipt of information relevant to several offices on campus. Upon completion of all of these elements, the student will be asked to confirm their acceptance of their position on the appropriate study away program.