Each Swarthmore-approved program has an assigned GEO advisor, who is usually the best contact for non-urgent inquiries. If a program representative has not been in touch with the advisor for your program yet, they can email the full GEO Team at geo@swarthmore.edu. The appropriate member of the team will respond.

In an emergency, partners should email geo@swarthmore.edu and/or call GEO at (610) 328-7827 (during business hours) or (610) 328-8451 (emergency after hours). An on-call staff member will answer.

Swarthmore typically invites representatives of approved programs to an annual Study Abroad Fair.  In recent years, this has been scheduled for the last Friday in October. This fair attracts many prospective study abroad participants and is the ideal time for recruitment. Each representative receives a table, refreshments, and lunch. There is a $50 registration fee. Questions about the fair can be directed to Diana Malick, Program Coordinator (dmalick1@swarthmore.edu). 

GEO is happy to plan campus visits for representatives of approved programs (when our schedule permits). Visits often include an information session for prospective students, a meeting with the GEO Team, and lunch. Depending on the goals of the visit, GEO may be able to schedule meetings with faculty, admitted students, or other members of the Swarthmore community.  See the "Admissions and Recruitment" section below for details on timing a potential visit.  Program representatives should not reach out to faculty members directly.

Representatives who would like to plan a visit must submit our Campus Visit Request Form. GEO will follow up with them.

GEO is happy to help plan virtual information sessions. If a program representative would like to hold an online session geared toward Swarthmore students, they can email proposed dates/times to GEO. We will schedule and advertise the session. 

GEO shares information about each approved program through our Terra Dotta Program Database. Partners may contact geo@swarthmore.edu to request that we edit information on the Terra Dotta page for their programs.

We also post program spotlights that detail Swarthmore students’ experiences on the GEO blog. If a partner would like GEO to publish a Swarthmore student's experiences on their program (in a blog post, article, or other medium), they are welcome to reach out to us.

Swarthmore approves individual programs rather than partner organizations as a whole. We encourage partners to check which of their programs are on Swarthmore’s Approved List. 

GEO encourages students to select programs from our Approved List. However, sometimes a non-approved program may align with a student’s academic interests more than any approved option. In such cases, the student may submit a petition for the non-approved program. It is best for petition programs to be managed by a provider GEO already works with.

The petition deadline is one month before the regular internal deadline for the student’s intended term abroad (i.e. fall petitions are due December 1, and spring petitions are due May 1). If our review committee approves a student petition, the student may apply for a petition program following GEO’s regular admissions process. 

GEO only approves semester/year programs and does NOT manage summer programs. However, students may attend summer programs as independent participants. Summer participants must pay the program’s tuition and fees. Credit for summer coursework is not guaranteed but can be granted with the approval of an academic department at Swarthmore. Further information for students interested in summer programs can be found on the summer opportunities page.

Since Swarthmore does not conduct an internal approval process for summer opportunities, we prefer when programs do not require institutional approval for summer applications. When Swarthmore approval is required for a summer application to be considered, GEO asks students to fill out a document request form before we submit paperwork to the program. 

Students who study abroad on a leave of absence CANNOT receive credit from Swarthmore and are NOT eligible for Swarthmore financial aid. GEO is unable to grant institutional approval for these students to study abroad. If both the student and the program accept these policies, then the student can study abroad as an independent participant during a leave of absence. 

For students to meet Swarthmore’s internal approval deadlines, recruitment should take place at least two semesters in advance of their term abroad. GEO prefers when visits and information sessions can be scheduled in October or November to recruit for the following fall semester, and in March or April to recruit for the following spring semester.  

For Cambridge or Oxford (any term), students must apply for Swarthmore-approval by December 1 of the prior academic year.

For programs that begin in the fall term, students must apply for Swarthmore-approval by January 15 of the prior academic year.

For programs that begin in the spring term, students must apply for Swarthmore-approval by June 1 of the previous summer.

To seek internal approval, students must attend a Study Abroad 101 Session, meet with a GEO advisor, and complete an online Swarthmore Approval for Study Abroad application. GEO considers approval for students who meet all eligibility requirements and demonstrate their preparation for study abroad.

Note: GEO approves students for specific programs (rather than for study abroad in general). Students may request approval for up to three programs of interest in their internal applications. Depending on the situation, GEO may approve some or all programs that a student has requested. 

GEO instructs students not to begin external applications until they have received internal approval for their programs of interest. Approximately 3-4 weeks after our internal deadline, GEO shares decisions. Each student will receive an approval letter that identifies the programs that we have approved for them. The letter also contains external application instructions for each of these programs (which link the program’s admissions website or describe a nomination process facilitated by GEO). 

We ask students to contact their GEO Advisor as soon as they have been accepted to a program and have decided to commit. Once notified of a student’s intent to commit, their GEO advisor sends them Swarthmore’s post-admission instructions. The student must complete several online forms before GEO can make payments to their program.

We appreciate when programs can include GEO in notifications about admissions decisions, which facilitates the commitment process.

Whenever possible, semester/year programs should bill GEO for the expenses below. Bills can be emailed to the GEO Team at geo@swarthmore.edu.

• Program deposit
• Tuition
• Housing
• Meals (if provided)
• Insurance required for the program (if applicable)
• Required academic fees (e.g. course fees, transcript fee)

If a program charges any of the fees below, these fees should be billed to the student.

• Application fee
• Optional pre-program course
• Optional housing upgrades
• Optional trips
• Refundable housing deposits (i.e., security deposits for damages)

It depends on the type of scholarship and the student’s financial aid information. Discounts from program fees billed to Swarthmore (i.e. tuition and other required fees) can never benefit the student. Swarthmore financial aid is calculated as if students were on campus and is not impacted by the program fees billed to GEO.

Scholarships awarded to the student as “real money” (wire transfer, check, etc.) can often benefit the student but may impact their financial aid (as extra income). For details about how a specific scholarship would factor into a student's aid, the student should consult the Swarthmore Financial Aid Office. 

Swarthmore provides students with a study abroad stipend when program tuition and fees do not include all meals, housing fees, and transportation to classes. The stipend covers groceries for meals not provided, rent, and/or local transportation (as needed). 

GEO pays directly for the student’s round-trip flight to their host city (up to a certain threshold) and their travel medical insurance. Swarthmore can reimburse other fees, such as external application fees (for programs students attend), certain visa expenses, airport transfer, and textbooks. To request reimbursement, students must submit receipts to GEO.

During the semester before their term abroad, students are required to submit syllabi or descriptions for their planned courses to Swarthmore’s online Abroad Credit Evaluation System (ACES). Swarthmore faculty members need to review these documents to determine whether the courses can be pre-approved for credit.

Therefore, we request that programs make course information available to our students as far in advance of their term as possible (ideally at least 3-4 months before the program starts). Full syllabi are preferred, but shorter descriptions can be submitted as well. Some departments may require further information after classes have started before they finalize approval decisions.

Note: If students change course selections once abroad, they must upload syllabi or description for the new courses to ACES as soon as possible. Credit for new courses can only be guaranteed if departments pre-approve them before the program’s add/drop deadline.

Students are guaranteed 4 credits for their semester abroad (a full course load at Swarthmore) if they request pre-approval for their planned courses Swarthmore faculty, take courses pre-approved for a total of at least 4 total credits, and receive grades of C or higher (or equivalent) in every course.

However, credit from a particular academic department is not guaranteed and depends on the department's specific policies. When a course cannot be approved by an academic department, it can often receive general study abroad elective credit from Global Engagement.

Swarthmore can consider credit for any experience that receives credit and a grade on the official program transcript (including internships, independent study, research courses, etc.). 

No, Swarthmore is unable to grant credit for classes with an online component. Even if a program offers online or hybrid classes, students must only select classes that are taught fully in-person. 

Students are required to register for a full course load while abroad. In many cases, Swarthmore uses the same definition of a full course load as the program. However, there are instances where Swarthmore may have course load requirements beyond the program’s. For example, students on programs that use US semester credit hours must register for at least 15-16 credits. Contact GEO to verify Swarthmore's definition of a full course load on a specific program.

After registration, if a student requests to drop or withdraw from a course, they should contact GEO. If GEO, their academic advisor, Swarthmore’s Office of Academic Success, and their program all approve the reduced course load, the student can proceed with the course drop/withdrawal.

Swarthmore considers a passing grade for study abroad to be (the equivalent of) a C or higher. If a course receives (the equivalent of) a C- or below, Swarthmore does not grant credit. When a program does not use US letter grades and does not include a grading scale in the transcripts it issues, the Swarthmore Registrar's Office uses conversion scales from 'Scholaro' which reflect best practices for international conversion standards.

Students are NOT allowed to take courses pass/fail. Courses taken pass/fail do not receive credit from Swarthmore. 

Swarthmore can only accept transcripts sent directly from the program or via a secured portal (i.e. transcripts cannot be received from the student). Whenever possible, we request that programs send official electronic transcripts to the Global Engagement Office at geo@swarthmore.edu. If electronic transcripts are unavailable, physical copies of transcripts can be sent to the following address: Global Engagement Office, Swarthmore College, 500 College Ave, Swarthmore, PA 19081.

We understand that some programs require students to request for transcripts to be sent to the Registrar’s Office. We share a spreadsheet that has transcript instructions for each approved program with our students, which they use to determine whether and how they should request transcripts. If a partner would like the instructions for their program to be changed in this spreadsheet, they can contact GEO.

Swarthmore has a dedicated travel agency, Key Travel, which books our students’ round-trip flights to their study abroad locations. Swarthmore covers the cost of these flights (up to a fare threshold set for each location). Details about Swarthmore’s flight booking process can be found on our Flights and Visas page.

To authorize students’ flights, we need to know the booking instructions that their programs have given (dates/times of arrival and return, preferred/required airports, etc.). We appreciate it when partners can share flight booking information on public platforms or include GEO in communications about these details. 

In general, Swarthmore relies on programs to guide students through the visa application procedures specific to their countries. We advise students to follow their programs’ visa instructions carefully and promptly.

However, we are available to assist students with steps that require institutional support or local services. We can provide any home institution letters that students need to include in their visa applications (verification of enrollment, proof of financial support, etc.). If such letters are needed, we appreciate when programs share templates or required information to include. We can also help students find local services needed to gather visa documents (notary publics, fingerprinting centers, etc.). The guidance we share with students can be found on our Visas page.

Yes, Swarthmore enrolls all study abroad students in travel medical insurance through International SOS. When a program has a separate required insurance plan, Swarthmore also pays for this plan. More information can be found on our Health and Wellness page.