External Course Pre-Approval

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External Course Pre-Approval (ECPA) Web Form  

Undergraduate students who have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.50 and who wish to take courses for credit outside the University, as part of a study abroad program, during summer school at another university, during a vacation break, or while taking a leave of absence from AUP, must secure written permission from the Registrar prior to taking the intended courses. Otherwise, these credits may not be approved for transfer back to AUP. 

To secure written permission, students must use the External Course Pre-Approval (ECPA) web form to apply for approval for the classes to transfer back to AUP.  

Note: this form is ONLY for post-matriculation external courses (courses taken after a student starts their studies at AUP). Students who earned credit at other institutions before attending the University must submit these to the AUP Admissions office before the end of their first semester at AUP. For more information, please visit the Admissions credit transfer webpage or contact the AUP Admissions Office.   

Rules About Credit Transfer
  • Only students with a GPA of 2.5 or greater may take external courses for transfer. 

  • No more than 64 transfer credits (pre- and post-matriculation combined) can be used towards a degree. 

  • 50% of all upper-level coursework (3000 and 4000 level courses) in the major must be completed at AUP 

  • No more than 8 transfer credits can be used to complete a minor 

  • No more than 18 transfer credits are allowed post-matriculation unless completed in an AUP approved exchange program 

  • A student’s final 16 credits prior to graduation must be completed at AUP. 

  • No credit will be accepted for transfer for grades below “C” or for courses taken credit/no credit (also known as Pass/Fail) 

  • Official, final transcripts from the external institution must be received by AUP's Registrar Office within one semester after course completion to finalize the transfer of credits. 

Additional rules apply. If you have questions about potential transfer credits, please contact the Academic Advising Center at advisingataup.edu with your query. 

How To Use The Webform

1 – If you are planning to study abroad in the fall or spring semester or are taking any external courses with the intention of earning credit for them at AUP, update your degree requirement worksheet to see if you are eligible to take courses outside AUP and how external courses will fit into your academic plans at AUP.

2 – Research outside institution(s) and put together a list of courses and descriptions. 

3 – Schedule an appointment with your faculty advisor to review your updated degree worksheet and potential external courses.

4 – If your faculty advisor agrees with your external course plan, open the web form and fill it out the following sections with your faculty advisor: 

  • Student Information 
  • External Institution Information 
  • External Course Information 

5 – Then click “Send” at the bottom of the page. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: You must fill out a web form for each area of credit application. This means you and your faculty advisor may need to submit more than one web form. 

AREAS OF CREDIT APPLICATION: 

  • Major Requirements  
  • Minor Requirements  
  • GLACC-CCI (Integrative Inquiry) Requirements  
  • GLACC- CCM and CCS (Math and Science) Requirements  
  • Only Open Electives  

Note: you can also include Open Electives on a Major, Minor, or GLACC web form submission – just write “None” in the field “Indicate which Major OR Minor OR GLACC requirement the course fulfills at AUP” for that external course. 

 

6 – The student checks their email to see if they received a confirmation email for the web form submission(s) titled “Petition for External Course Pre-Approval Submitted.” If the student does not receive this message, then the form was not submitted, and they will need to submit it again.

7 – The faculty advisor checks their email for a message titled “Need Advisor Pre-Approval of External Course.” If the faculty advisor does not receive this message, the form was not submitted correctly, and they will need to submit it again. 

8 – The faculty member must open and edit the form to approve or deny the request.  

9 – If the faculty member approves the request, the form is then sent to the Registrar’s Office, the relevant Department Chair or GLACC Chair, and Academic Affairs for approval. 

10 – If the request is approved by all reviewers, the student and faculty advisor will receive an email saying, “External Courses Have Been Pre-Approved for [Student Name].” 

11 – If the request is denied by any of the reviewers, the student and faculty member will receive an email saying the request has been denied. 

12 – After the student completes the external coursework, they must submit an official transcript to the Registrar’s Office one of two ways: 

  • Request the external institution send an official transcript electronically to registrarofficeataup.edu 
  • Request the external institution send an official transcript by mail to the following address: The American University of Paris | Registrar's Office | 5, boulevard de La Tour-Maubourg | Paris 75007 France 

13 – When the transcript is received by the Registrar’s Office it will be processed and the credits transferred to the student’s AUP academic record. Official, final transcripts from the external institution must be received by AUP's Registrar Office within one semester after course completion.