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Study Abroad
Policy
Upon request, qualified students in good academic and disciplinary standing may be granted permission to spend a semester or year studying abroad.
Students who wish to study abroad and receive Haverford credit may do so by applying to any of the programs on the approved list. Students who elect to study on one of these programs should discuss their program and course selection with their major/minor/concentration advisor(s). To study abroad, students must meet the requirements set by the Educational Policy Committee (EPC).
Per EPC policy, students who do not request and receive prior permission through Study Abroad will not receive Haverford credit. The EPC will not consider retroactive proposals under any circumstances. Students who do not wish to pay Haverford tuition and/or receive credit may not attend programs on the approved list.
Monitored by the EPC, our programs are periodically reviewed by faculty and Study Abroad staff through site visits, advisory boards, and consultation with colleagues at other institutions to ensure that the programs continue to meet Haverford‘s high academic standards. Programs that do not meet the standards will be deleted or suspended.
To be managed effectively and maintain quality control, the EPC limited the list of approved programs to no more than 70.
Academic Year Study Abroad
Exceptions for year-long study abroad are made for language majors and programs that will only accept students for the full academic year (London School of Economics, Oxford, and Cambridge). Students are not eligible to study on two separate programs. Exceptions to these policies can only be made if it is endorsed as desirable by the academic department or if a student is a double language major.
Students are permitted to transfer back to Haverford a maximum of 5 credits for a single semester abroad, or a maximum of 8 credits for a full year (fall and spring semesters) abroad.
Senior Study Abroad Policy
Students are not permitted to study abroad during their final semester at Haverford.
If a student fails a course and is unable to transfer the credit back, nine semesters are not guaranteed at the College. Due to study abroad programs' academic calendars, the student would likely miss Haverford's Commencement. Students are not permitted to take their exams remotely or finish early from a program. Haverford will not receive a student's study abroad transcript until the summer, so the student's credits will not be processed until well after Commencement. This means Haverford will not be able to confirm the student has graduated until Haverford has received the student's official transcript from the program. Haverford cannot accept unofficial transcripts from programs. Therefore, students are not permitted to study abroad during their final semester at Haverford.
Adding Programs
Due to the ongoing uncertainty and unpredictability caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and with the health and safety of our students as our top priority, the Office of International Academic Programs is not accepting new program requests at this time. Thank you for your understanding.
Faculty
In order to be added to the approved list, faculty departments may present proposals to the International Academic Programs Faculty Committee (appointed by the Provost), via Study Abroad. Study Abroad is responsible for the management and administration of the approved list. To maintain the high quality of these academic programs, the EPC has established strict guidelines for approval ensuring programs are evaluated by the same academic and safety standards. Rigor and quality of a program cannot be evaluated by looking through brochures or websites; an on-site faculty review is required. Members of the faculty who wish to add programs to the approved list for their departments should contact Study Abroad for the EPC guidelines.
Students
In rare cases, students may wish to add a program to the approved list. The proposal must be presented by the students’ major or minor department explaining how it complements the work of the major or minor, as well as a list of approved courses fulfilling major requirements. Students should contact Study Abroad for advice.
Deadline: Proposals and materials should be presented to Study Abroad one year in advance—March 1 for spring programs, November 1 for fall programs.
The EPC cannot consider any exceptions to the policy, as unvetted programs would not meet the established guidelines for academic excellence as evidenced by the other programs on the list.