Academic Approval Process

Receiving Academic Credit

Courses completed through CSUEB study abroad or National Student Exchange programs will be applied to your CSUEB transcript (with grades) as resident credit.  Prior to departure, each student will work with academic advisors at CSU East Bay to review remaining CSUEB course requirements along with the course offerings at the host institution.  All agreements regarding course substitutions should be documented in writing so that both the student and the major/minor or GE office have a copy of what has been agreed upon. 

  • If you are seeking course approval for a major or minor in the College of Business & Economics, please  follow instructions on College of Business & Economics Request For Course Evaluation.
    • Students with a major in Business Administration should also confirm that the host institution(s) they are interested in are also .
  • If you are seeking course approval for your Major or Minor in any other College, you may please follow instructions on the Request for Study Abroad/NSE Course Approval for Major/Minor. (Note: if your Department has another form or format that they prefer to use, that is also fine - just be sure all parties have the course substitutions confirmed in writing.)
  • If you are seeking course approval for General Education please review the guidelines on the GE and Study Abroad webpage and take a look at the list of pre-approved courses for GE.

Courses not approved toward major, minor or GE requirements will count as elective units.

Courses taken on exchange are substituted for East Bay courses, as they may not be considered an exact equivalent of a CSUEB course.  These courses will appear on the CSUEB transcript using a CSUEB department prefix and one of the following course numbers: 910 (lower division), 930 (upper division) or 950 (graduate level).  The host university’s course title is listed as a notation on the transcript, and the transcript will also make mention of the host university.  The Request for Course Approval Forms are then used to manually update the Degree Audit Report in MYCSUEB.  

Getting Courses Authorized From Abroad

Making changes to your schedule while on exchange can be frustrating and very challenging. Every effort should be made to get as many courses authorized as possible BEFORE YOU GO, enabling you to easily make changes to your schedule while abroad.

If you are forced to make unexpected changes to your schedule while abroad, you should reach out to your academic advisor(s) via e-mail to discuss the possibility of course approval.

Keep in mind that academic advisors are extremely busy the first few weeks of school and are not always able to quickly respond to your emails. You will need to be as patient as possible, and make sure to keep your email short, sweet, to the point, and at all times respectful.

Working with your advisor from abroad:

  • Compose an email to your major/minor adviser or General Education office:
  • Explain what program you are on, where you are and who you are.  Be sure to include your student ID number.
  • Include a course description of the course you are planning to take and as much information on the course as possible (a syllabus is best)
  • Ask your major/minor adviser to respond to your email with the following information: "I approve the course _______taken while studying abroad, to be used at CSU East Bay in the place of ______" 
  • Once you receive a response for your advisor or the GE Director, please forward that to studyabroad@csueastbay.edu so our office can add that information to your study abroad file.