Simon Fraser University
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Study Abroad

Study Abroad / Exchanges / Academic Information / Exchange Credit

How to Apply for Exchange Credit

You can begin your exchange credit application as soon as you have finalized your courses (and do not anticipate any changes/drops) and you have collected the required course documentation. You are not required to wait until you have completed your exchange to begin your exchange credit application. You may begin this process as early as you receive your exchange nomination. While we work with your indicated exchange credit evaluation preferences, evaluations by preferred departments and level (lower or upper division) are not guaranteed. NEW: Please see the additional information section below for important details on Business and non-Business Exchange Course evaluation and awarding of credits.

You are expected to apply for exchange credits within one year of the completion date of your exchange program.

 

1. Collect Course Documentation 2. Apply for Exchange Credit 3. Send Us an Official Transcript 4. Processing Times

1. COLLECT COURSE DOCUMENTATION   

You are required to submit an exchange credit application for each academic course you have completed with a passing grade at your host institution and for which you wish to receive exchange credit. Courses must be considered "academic" by SFU regulations in order to receive exchange credit.

For each course, you must complete an exchange credit application and upload the original course syllabus (Sample Outline)  that was issued by your instructor(s) as one file (pdf preferred) containing course details:

  • Detailed course description/syllabus
  • Official course code and title
  • Institution name
  • Instructor's name and contact details
  • Course objective(s)
  • Term offered and weeks of duration (i.e. course dates)
  • Hours per week (i.e. lecture; lab; tutorial)
  • Weekly topics discussed
  • Method of evaluation and grading
  • Textbooks, reading lists used
  • Credit value at partner institution
  • Any pre-requisites required to take the course at the host institution
  • Course materials and/or assignments: required for language acquisition courses. Please retain in case further documentation is needed for all other courses.

If you complete any Language acquisition course taught at SFU (Arabic, Chinese, German, Greek, Italian, French, Japanese, Persian, Punjabi, Spanish) while on your exchange, please be prepared to submit all the above course materials including assignments, tests and papers to ensure an accurate evaluation. If your Language course is not one of the above, you must provide the original course outline along with an English translated copy, from your host institution. This verification must either be the host institution stamp, or email confirmation (from the instructors' department or study abroad office),  in order for us to process the exchange credit application. 

Note: You can only upload one file for each course, so please remember to merge your files.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Applying for non-Business course credits?

If you are seeking a Non-Business exchange course evaluation (regardless of your SFU program), follow the full instructions on how to submit your syllabus and other documentation to ISS via excredit@sfu.ca. ISS will follow with you about your exchange credit processing including the awarding of exchange unit to your academic record.

Applying for Business course credit?

If you are seeking a Business exchange course evaluation (regardless of your SFU program), first check the Beedie Course Planning Database to determine if your course has been pre-evaluated for SFU course equivalencies. If your course is not found or if your course title/code has changed, submit a new request here to the SFU Beedie School of Business. You will receive an email notification about your course evaluation from Beedie on the status of your course evaluation. If your course evaluation is approved, the results will be posted on the Beedie Course Planning Database.

Business exchange credit (awarding): To receive your BUS exchange credit, ensure you complete the above evaluation procedure to Beedie, and below steps to ISS:

  • Arrange your official transcript to be sent directly by your host institution to us (see below for how your transcript should be submitted to ISS)
  • Email excredit@sfu.ca with the following information:
    • Full name, SFU ID, host institution, exchange term, list of BUS courses and approved BUS credit as per the Beedie Course Planning Database.
  • Include any relevant details ISS should be aware of in the awarding of your exchange units (e.g. graduation plans, enrolment requirements, etc.).
  • Contact studyabroad_bsb@sfu.ca if you have any questions about your BUS credit evaluation.
  • Contact excredit@sfu.ca if you have any questions about the awarding of your BUS credits to your academic record.

Business courses with exchange credit restrictions 

As of Fall 2022, all students are restricted from earning exchange credit for courses equivalent to:
 
  • BUS 100- Professional Development - Launch (1)
  • BUS 300- Professional Development - Planning (1)
  • BUS 496- Professional Development - Summit (1)
  • BUS 201- Introduction to Business (3)
  • BUS 202- Foundations of Business (3)
  • BUS 217W- Critical Thinking in Business (3)
  • BUS 360W- Business Communication (4)
  • BUS 393- Commercial Law (3)
  • BUS 478- Strategy
  • All Upper Division Accounting Courses (BUS 320-3, BUS 321-3, BUS 322-3, BUS 421-3, BUS 420-3, BUS 424-3, BUS 426-3, BUS 428-3, BUS 490-495 [1-4 units])

These are restricted courses and must be taken at SFU to earn credit. 

Applying for Economics course credit? 

For accurate evaluation of Economics courses, the department requires the submission of a complete list of host institution pre-requisites including the title, course number, detailed outline/syllabus and the reading list.

Also as a cover page, provide a rationale for the SFU equivalent. If the information above is not provided at the initial exchange application stage, you will be required to resubmit your exchange credit application.

Are you a French Cohort Program student?

French Cohort Program students taking courses taught in French should input the original course title (in French) in the exchange credit application, and provide the original course outline in French. This will ensure the course title is accurately listed on your SFU transcript. French Cohort Program students do not currently need to provide a translated copy of their course outlines for Political Science, History and French.

Are you taking language acquisition classes or French classes?

For an accurate evaluation of the French classes you took abroad, you are required to submit samples of your assignments, tests, and papers, in a PDF format. 

It is preferred for these documents to be submitted as digital copies (in PDF format, merged as one document) and sent to excredit@sfu.ca. Hardcopies (eg. textbooks/and or workbooks) can be submitted if it is not possible to submit in a digital format.

For other language acquisition classes, you may be required to submit additional course materials. You can submit some of these documents as hardcopies (textbooks and/or workbooks). ISS will not send these hardcopies for evaluation until we receive your online exchange credit application.

Are you applying to UC Berkeley Summer Sessions Direct Fee-Paying exchange/virtual exchange program?

This program has an early host application and course enrolment period (to UC Berkeley Summer Sessions) of early Feb for students once they are nominated by ISS.  Please research the "exchange credit history" for UC Berkeley Summer Sessions in Destinations to determine if your proposed courses have been previously evaluated for SFU Credit, or submit your exchange credit application and course syllabus in advance to excredit@sfu.ca. Please be mindful of processing times as well as course evaluations by departments which generally take between 4 to 6 weeks to return to ISS.

Are you seeking WQB credit? 

Credit values and exchange credit evaluations can impact WQB eligibility; therefore, pre-assessment is not a guarantee. (For example, you may need a 3-unit B course but the exchange course you plan to complete is only worth 2 units which will not fulfill the requirement.)

Step 1: Refer to the University Curriculum page on Transfer Credit and WQB Designations for steps to request WQB designation for your exchange course. 

Step 2: Complete this WQB Evaluation Form and submit the request to the UCIL office ucil_office@sfu.ca, cc: excredit@sfu.ca with all accompanying documentation to confirm transfer and eligibility.

Step 3: Ensure you cc: excredit@sfu.ca on any of your email requests to the Transfer Credit Coordinator so WQB can be applied to your record after the completion of your exchange.

Are you graduating soon?

It is your responsibility to apply for exchange credit well in advance of your graduation application deadlines. Exchange credit is not guaranteed until your exchange credit applications have been confirmed by the department and transcript is received. Please consult your academic program advisor for any questions concerning your academic program graduation requirements.

2. APPLY FOR EXCHANGE CREDIT
 

a. Download the Exchange Credit Application Form to your computer and type in your course details then click "Save As", the file name should include "Institution name_Course Title.pdf"
Note: If using Adobe Acrobat Reader, please click "Fill & Sign" to type your application details.

Complete this form for each credit course that you are requesting to have evaluated. Generally, students must submit detailed course outlines which may not be available until they are enrolled in the course, or at the host institution. When entering the course title and course code in your exchange credit application, please insert the original title and code as indicated on your course outline in the original language. While we work with your indicated exchange credit evaluation preferences, evaluations by preferred departments and level (lower or upper division) are not guaranteed

Note: Course evaluations will only be posted to your student account once completed and once you have received a passing grade from the host university.

b. For each course, please email the detailed course outline, including a course reading list. If the course was instructed in a language other than English, please submit the original and translated version. It is recommended that the translated version is certified by the host institution.

Note: ensure your documents are ONE PDF FILE before sending. Please keep copies of all documents you submit to ISS for your own records.

c. If there is insufficient information on the uploaded course outline in order to evaluate the course for exchange credits, you may be contacted to provide more information (assignments, course books, exam papers etc) which may delay the application process.

d. Send your submission to excredit@sfu.ca in the following format:

Email Subject: "Full Name (Student number), Host Institution, Official Course Title"
eg. Joan SMITH (301258091) University of Bath, 19th Century English Literature

Each course request must be sent in a separate email.

Please ensure you send a copy of your detailed course outline, as indicated in the instructions above under "Collect Course Information".

3. SEND US AN OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT

Ensure that an official transcript in a sealed envelope from the host institution is sent to:

Program Assistant - Exchange Credit
International Services for Students
Simon Fraser University
MBC 1200 - 8888, University Drive,
Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6 CANADA

You may have to order a transcript if the host institution does not offer to send one automatically. If you are a two term exchange student and receive a transcript after your first term, send the first term transcript to ISS upon receipt. If we receive multiple copies, we retain one official transcript but additional ones may be returned to the student.

ISS may receive your official transcript (i.e. signed/stamped) in the following ways:

   1. A hard copy must be sent directly to the ISS office (ISS staff are currently working remotely so there may be a delay receiving and processing hard copy transcripts).

   2. A digital secured certified pdf file emailed by your host institution directly to excredit@sfu.ca.

   3. A digital secured certified pdf file made accessible to ISS (excredit@sfu.ca) through the host institution’s secured online system.  Please either have your host institution provide ISS with access to their system, or students forward their access links to ISS (excredit@sfu.ca).

Please note that host institutions may be delayed in issuing transcripts due to the implications surrounding COVID-19.

Transcript delivery times vary and transcripts usually take between 6 - 10 weeks to arrive at ISS following the completion of your exchange.

Please note:

  • Exchange credit will appear on your SFU transcript once all credit evaluations are complete and an official and final transcript is received from the host institution.
  • Students are required to achieve a minimum of a "passing grade" in addition to academic credit for each course completed at the host institution in accordance with the institution's pass/fail regulations to be awarded exchange credit.
  • If applying for graduate school or other post-secondary programs, you may be required to supply an official transcript from your exchange. Ensure that you have ordered enough transcripts for your own records in the event that you need them in the future. The transcript that our office receives is sealed in your SFU record and cannot be released to you for future purposes. ISS is not responsible for issuing copies of your host transcript or exchange grade details to other parties.

When should I do this? Please consult with your host institution prior to your departure to confirm an official transcript will be sent on your behalf.

4. Processing times

The exchange credit process generally takes up to one term. It can take longer (for e.g., students submit an incomplete course syllabus, delays in departmental review, delays in receiving or there are errors on the student’s host institution transcript, higher volumes in processing, etc…) based on each individual student file.  If your documentation is considered incomplete, missing required course details or incorrectly submitted, we will notify you – and note, this will further delay processing.  If you have any questions, please email excredit@sfu.ca.