Academic Reporting
At the conclusion of a student's study abroad experience, the CSU IP requests official grades from all study centers. Note that grades submitted to CSU IP by students are not accepted. Furthermore, CSU IP participants are not permitted to supply transcripts directly to their campus and campuses are not permitted to accept them.
In the reporting process, CSU IP reports all courses taken abroad and grades earned. CSU IP reports the titles of the courses taken abroad rather than the titles of CSU campus courses in which students are seeking credit. If a course title is in a language other than English, the title will be translated and reported in English.
After grades and course information are received, CSU IP issues an academic report to the CSU campus that the student was enrolled at while participating in CSU IP. The academic report is the only record provided by CSU IP for the entire period of study. Note that mid-year reports for students who studied for one academic year are not provided.
The academic report is provided to both the student and the registration/records office at the campus in which the student was enrolled while abroad. Reports for IP participants who completed their studies abroad are uploaded to the student's CSU IP portal in the "Documents" section. Note that it can take up to four months for reports to be sent, sometimes longer, depending on circumstances. Refer to section on "When to Expect the Academic Report".
It can take campus registrar/record offices up to six weeks to receive and post courses, units and grades to CSU academic records after reports are uploaded to the CSU IP portal. Once posted, students can view their record on their CSU portal and can order official transcripts. The CSU transcript is the official record of courses taken abroad. All courses are regarded as resident credit. Grades earned while on a CSU IP program will be computed in the cumulative grade point average on the student's CSU campus transcript. Note that incompletes are not given and that a grade of "WU" is reported for uncompleted courses which is calculated the same as an "F" in computation of grade point average.
Students are responsible for uploading course information (descriptions/syllabi) to their CSU IP portal, which will help expedite the processing of academic reports. Students who do not upload course information may experience reporting delays and/or may not receive approval to have courses applied towards specific degree requirements.
Refer to the Academic Information page and refer to the academic publications for your year of study for additional academic reporting information and arrangements.
Course Crediting
Students are responsible for providing course information (including syllabi, assignments and other course materials) to their home campus academic advisors in order to apply for credit towards specific degree requirements. With the assistance of their advisors, students should expect to complete campus-based forms (petitions or course substitution requests) unless advised otherwise. If courses are not needed for any degree requirements, then it is usually not necessary to complete any other forms.
When to Expect the Academic Report
Under normal circumstances, it takes three to four months from the end date of the program to finalize academic reports for most programs. In some cases it may take longer, depending on the program and specific circumstances. (Refer to the next paragraph.) Reporting delays can occur due to the variances in academic systems, grade reporting procedures, study center holiday-related closures, interruptions and other factors. Translating academic information into CSU terms is complex and takes time. This means that for programs ending in July (Chile, Germany and Japan), reports may not be finalized until late November For other programs, such as Paris, Germany and Sweden, reports may take longer to process depending on circumstances.
Due to differences in reporting systems used by institutions in these countries and other factors, students must keep in mind that:
- Graduating seniors should be prepared to delay their graduation. It is often not possible to graduate the same semester as when their IP program ended.
- Students returning to their campuses after CSU IP participation should approach the appropriate office at their home campus to ask about course registration processes and request special consideration.
To students who have waited longer than four months after their programs have ended: You may contact us at IPacademics@calstate.edu. In the subject area of the email, write the following: AR- your name- your host country (example: AR-Jane Doe-UK). Please include your phone number in your email in case we would like to contact you by phone.
Checking for Accuracy of Academic Reports
Students are responsible for verifying the accuracy of the academic report as soon as they receive it. If there are discrepancies or inaccuracies, students can refer to the Academic Report Cover Letter for instructions on requesting a review.
All requests to have a course or grade reviewed must be received:
- before you graduate with the degree that you were pursuing while participating in CSU IP, and
- no later than 12 months from the official end date of your last term abroad, whichever date comes first.
Requesting Official Transcripts for Graduate Schools
Returning CSU IP students or CSU IP alumni who wish to obtain an official record of all coursework attempted abroad must request an official transcript from their home CSU campus. The CSU transcript is the only official record of all courses taken while abroad. Students can direct graduate schools to this website for additional information about academic reporting.
Recent CSU IP participants can also inform the institutions to which they are applying of a possible delay in the posting of their degree due to the time it takes to process Academic Reports. Often, universities can give otherwise qualified students provisional acceptance to their graduate program, which allows students to begin their studies in the fall.
Requesting Replacement Academic Reports
To students who participated in IP prior to 2016 and students who have withdrawn prior to the end of their year abroad: To request a replacement of a lost Academic Report, students must complete the Academic Report Request Form. Reports are sent within 15 working days from the date that requests are received. It may take additional time to replace reports issued prior to 2010.
Financial Aid Recipients
Each campus financial aid office is notified of students’ participation in CSU IP. As students prepare to return back to the U.S. and to their home campus at the end of their study abroad experience, they may nonetheless receive a notice that they may not receive financial aid as scheduled for various reasons, including not meeting the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirement.
Each campus handles this matter differently so students should read the notice carefully. It may not necessarily mean students are ineligible to receive the next semester’s financial aid. Depending on the campus, students may be granted a waiver or provided the opportunity to file an appeal. To resolve this issue, students should contact their financial aid office and ask to be put in contact with the person responsible for CSU IP participants.
Students should remind their financial aid counselor that they are a returning IP participant, request special consideration in the handling of financial aid and share the Academic Reporting information found in the academic publications for your year of study. Additional questions can be addressed to the CSU IP Fiscal Affairs Department: IPFinance@calstate.edu.