Course Approvals

Obtaining Course Approval for Temple and External Programs

Whether you plan to participate in a Temple Program or you are a Temple student studying through a Temple Exchange or External Program, you'll need to make sure the courses work for your academic plan. Select your program type below for details.

Temple Programs

Courses offered on Temple study abroad programs are all courses with standard Temple University course numbers and are subject to the same guidelines, policies and approval processes as courses on Temple’s Main Campus.

  • Temple students: discuss the courses you plan to take abroad with your academic advisor. One part of the Temple program application is an academic advisor form. This form, available within the application, asks your academic advisor to confirm your course selection for the program is appropriate for your academic plan. Read more about consulting with your academic advisor or view a list of advising offices at Temple to know who you should speak to about your academic plan. 
  • Non-Temple students: discuss your academic plans and verify the procedures for course approval and transfer of credits with a study abroad advisor at your home college/university prior to departure for the program. Read about accreditation, transfer of credits, and transcripts. Contact Education Abroad if you need to provide syllabi to your home institution for course approval.

Temple Exchanges and External Programs

When participating in an exchange or an external program, you will be taking courses at the host university or program. As these are not Temple courses, there is an approval process in place so that you will know ahead of time how your classes should transfer back to Temple.

Course Approval Process Overview

Once you have been approved to study on an External Program or nominated for an Exchange Program, you will begin the course approvals process.

  • Part of this process will require you to complete the Education Abroad course approval process in TUportal to determine how your courses will transfer back to Temple. For example, the course you take abroad may have a direct Temple course equivalent, may fulfill an upper-level elective or a lower-level elective, general education (GenEd) requirement etc. Faculty will approve and assign corresponding Temple courses or requirement, but these do not indicate the number of Temple credits you will receive for each course taken abroad. In an effort to ensure that you take a full course load, Education Abroad and your study abroad program can provide guidance related to course load. You are advised to seek pre-approval for about twice as many courses as you can take, in the event that you need to change your schedule upon arrival. If you will be studying abroad for an academic year, you should do your best to anticipate the courses you will take in your second semester abroad. 

  • Upon arrival, if you find that you must make a last-minute course change and enroll in a course that has not been pre-approved, you should submit a new workflow request through TUportal . It is therefore always advised to include any and all course you might take abroad on your External Program approval form.

  • After Temple receives your official transcript from your program, your approved courses that you passed with a grade equivalent to a C or better will be accepted by Temple and appear on your transcript as transfer credit. The number of credits received for each course will be evaluated at this time.

Step-by-Step Instructions

You can access the Course Approvals Workflow flowchart, step-by-step instructions, and video tutorial below.