Academics

Course Approval

To get courses approved for major or minor courses students must visit the appropriate faculty or staff advisor and department chair in which the course is offered to obtain approval signature using the Course Equivalence Form.

To get courses approved for General Education courses the student will need to go to the University Advising Center to get the course approved by completing an Academic Petition. Please note that GE courses approvals must go through a petitions committee which can take a few additional weeks. 

During the process of course approval, students are encouraged to present the following:

• Study abroad program information 
• University through which the course will be taken
• Course descriptions (or a syllabus if available)
• Course Equivalency Form (major or minor only)
• Name and Contact information for the Study Abroad Office

Students are strongly recommended to get courses pre-approved before studying abroad. Students who have changes or who do not complete course approvals before leaving on a study abroad program, may have the option to complete the approval process upon completion of the study abroad program; however, it should be noted that by waiting until after the program, students run the risk of not having the course satisfy a Fresno State degree requirement.

Transfer vs. Resident Credits 

Resident vs. transfer credit can be a determining factor when selecting a study abroad program. This is more of an issue for transfer students, and in order to earn a degree from Fresno State, there are a required number of units that must be completed in residence.  

Resident Credit

Resident credit applies to your residency requirement at Fresno State. Even though these units were taken abroad, the following types of programs typically award resident credit that will show up on your Fresno State transcript as if you never left campus:

• CSU International Programs
• USAC (semester based programs only)
• Faculty Led Programs

Transfer Credit

This is credit that applies to your degree requirements at Fresno State, but will not count as residency units. For these programs only the number of units will show on the Fresno State Transcript, but approved courses will be coded on the student's Degree Progress Report (DPR).

• Fresno State Exchange Programs
• USAC (summer/winter programs)
• Special Programs