All students are expected to meet Colorado College’s standards for academic performance. This includes while participating in, and in order to be eligible for, any off-campus study/study away programs offered by or through the College. These academic guidelines are in place to keep students on track toward meeting the graduation requirements of the college (32 units with a cumulative GPA of 2.0). Students who do not meet Colorado College academic standards may be put on probation or suspended from the College. They may become ineligible to participate in the off-campus study until they are returned to good academic standing. 

Failure to maintain minimum good academic standing between program acceptance and program departure is grounds for dismissal, and you may face financial consequences related to a late program removal. If you have been on academic probation or suspension, a study away block cannot be your first block back following a probation or suspension period. Similarly, a study away semester cannot be the first semester back from suspension (but could be from probation).  Students placed on Academic Warning may be eligible to study away, but would be required to have additional conversations before acceptance with the Center for Global Education & Field Study, their academic advisor, and the program faculty director if applying for a CC-led program away.

If you are applying for an approved non-CC partner program for study abroad, be aware that they may also have their own, different minimum threshold levels for GPA requirements and academic standing in order to be accepted. A student would need to meet both CC’s academic standards for off-campus study, as well as those of the partner program or host institution abroad/away.

Class Standing at CC

Individual CC blocks away may be open to first-year students with the permission of the faculty leader. Semester and year-long off-campus study are generally open to sophomores, juniors, and fall-semester seniors. In rare cases, and with approval (through Summit) of both a student’s major advisor/department and the Dean of the College, the spring semester of senior year may be possible to study abroad to complete degree requirements.

Seniors are generally eligible to study off-campus with the approval of their academic advisor (as part of the Summit application process), in order to ensure that off-campus study will not impact the ultimate goal of timely graduation. For individual CC blocks off-campus or CC faculty-led programs, no additional approval steps are needed beyond applying through Summit as usual.

If a senior wishes to apply for a semester abroad/off-campus during their senior year through a partner (non-CC) program, additional approval steps would be sought through the process of completing the required CC Internal Application for Off-Campus Study in Summit. When a student indicates they’ll have senior standing on this application, a supplemental review step opens up in the application for you to complete. Please fill this out thoughtfully and thoroughly, and Summit will forward it for final review by the Dean of the College (again, automatically handled through Summit – you do not need to approach the Dean on your own for this exception). Make sure you have already spoken with your academic/major advisor about your academic plans before applying for off-campus study, as their approval in Summit is an integral step in the process of gaining permission.

All students are expected to meet Colorado College’s standards for disciplinary conduct and adherence to community standards. This includes while participating in, and in order to be eligible for, any off-campus study/study away programs offered by or through the College. Students who do not meet Colorado College disciplinary standards and who are placed on disciplinary probation or suspension from the College, or deemed “persona non grata” status, become ineligible to participate in the off-campus study until they are returned to good disciplinary standing and complete any required sanctions or restitution. Students who are currently on housing restrictions would require a conversation with CC Student Life, CC Center for Global Education & Field Study, and the program faculty director if applying for a CC-led program away before an acceptance decision could be made.

Any student who is placed on either disciplinary probation or suspension in the time between program acceptance and departure will be dismissed from the CC program, or their approval to participate in a partner program will be revoked by Colorado College. The revocation or removal will be implemented after any appeals are adjudicated and if the disciplinary sanctions are upheld. It is the student's responsibility to file any appeal within the time period given by the Office of Student Life in their sanction letter. Students who are removed from study away programming may face financial consequences related to a late program removal or withdrawal. 

Once a student has returned to good disciplinary standing and has completed any required sanctions or restitution, they become eligible to apply for a future study abroad or study away program. If acceptance to the original program is still viable, the student may be reconsidered upon re-application. Space cannot be held for a student in anticipation of a return to good disciplinary standing; only through a new application can a student seek new approval. Any financial aid linked to the original application will be rescinded upon initial revocation. Upon a later re-application, a new aid award would be reconsidered at that time depending on funds available.

If you are applying for a CC-approved partner program for study abroad, be aware that they may also have their own, different behavioral/conduct threshold levels in order to be accepted and to maintain eligibility to participate. The Center for Global Education & Field Study must report any conduct violations and sanctions at CC to your partner program upon request as part of your application and predeparture process. A student would need to meet both CC’s minimum conduct standards for off-campus study eligibility, as well as those of the partner program or host institution abroad/away.

If you are found to be responsible for violating one of CC's conduct policies or community standards while you are studying away from CC, consequences may include sanctions, probation, or removal from the program. If a student is removed from a program while abroad, this may result in: loss of credit for the course(s); loss of all funds dedicated to the program/removal with no refund; inability to participate in future study away programs; and reporting of the dismissal or infraction/violation to the CC Office of Student Life, who may follow up for additional on-campus processes or sanctions upon your return. As with any on-campus sanctions, students will have appeal and support rights.

Any students applying for an international off-campus study program will be required to meet any health-related entry requirements for the destination country/city.  This may include requirements to be fully vaccinated against COVID and other illnesses/diseases, completion of pre-departure COVID testing or another medical testing, and/or completion of tracking documents or digital health enrollment to allow for entry to your destination country. 

Students should also be prepared to meet any requirements in place for re-entry to the United States, which may also include required COVID testing prior to a U.S.-bound flight. Finally, programs may place limitations on independent travel during the program dates, including restrictions to remain in the host nation and additional reporting requirements, per current public health measures in effect at the time of your travel. 

Your vaccination documentation should be carried with you and carefully protected as you would any other important travel document. You may be required to show proof of vaccination to enter various locations abroad, depending on the country and your program’s itinerary. We recommend scanning a copy of all vaccination documentation before you leave and carrying a photocopy in your luggage, separate from the original.

While it is not necessary to have a valid passport in order to be eligible to begin the CC application process for study abroad, you should begin the passport application or renewal process as soon as possible to ensure you will have the required documentation needed to participate in the program, if accepted.

If you have never obtained a passport and are in need of financial support in applying for a passport to participate in your study abroad program, you may apply for an Academic Opportunities Grant to help cover some of those expenses.   

If you currently hold a passport, make sure you know where it physically is (you would be surprised how often passports get misplaced in the process of moving to college), and then look to verify the expiration date on your passport (it may be sooner than you think!). Some countries require that your passport be valid for up to 12 full months after your planned departure date from the country/after the end date of your program abroad, so if it is close, it is time to renew.

Standard passport processing times for U.S. passports can range from 7-10 weeks for standard processing or up to 12 weeks or more during high processing/busy seasons. Expedited processing is available for an additional fee and usually is estimated to take between 4 to 6 weeks. You can check current processing times on the U.S. Passport Agency’s website.

A visa is essentially permission from another country to enter and remain in their country for a stated period of time, for the purposes of completing your study program. All students studying abroad through CC must obtain the correct visa required by the country they will be studying in. Visa requirements vary widely by country (both of your origin/passports you will be traveling on, as well as your destination and their entry regulations). It is important that you know what visa requirements will apply to you so that you can prepare for this well in advance. Failure to obtain a visa will result in you not attending the program.

For many 1-block programs or 2-block half-semesters, a student visa is not required as students are not enrolling in a local university and are not staying abroad for more than 90 days. For most destinations, a tourist visa, or simply a passport is enough for entry and stay of up to 90 days. This can vary widely based on the country which has issued your passport. While most U.S. passport holders can visit a range of countries without a visa, this is not always true, nor is it true of travelers with other national passports. It is important to verify whether or not a visa is needed even for a 1-block program. If a visa is required, it should be a tourist (90-day) visa and not a student visa for any program less than 90 days in length.

If you need a student visa, applying for it can be an involved process that requires your careful attention. You should begin to do research about the student visa requirements for the country or countries you will be visiting and living in even before you know you have been accepted to your program. Entry requirements can change at any time. We advise that you pay close attention to consular updates, as you are responsible for knowing and addressing the requirements for your host country and study abroad program. Gathering the required documentation for your student visa can take as much or more time than your study abroad application itself.

The Center for Global Education at Colorado College is not responsible for obtaining student visas nor can we be responsible for visa complications, delays, or visa denials. Unfortunately, Colorado College does not have the ability to change visa requirements, nor does it help if we call consulates or embassies on your behalf. Though we're happy to help you in whatever way we can through the timely issuance of required documentation, when this comes through CC, the decision to issue you a visa rests solely with the consulate or embassy.

Please be aware that the visa application process for some countries may require students to surrender their passports for several weeks or months before starting the study abroad program. These consular requirements may impact students' independent travel plans. Visa requirements should be investigated and considered by all applicants prior to planning independent travel (including travel over breaks or arriving early to your program site). All students are required to be in possession of the proper visa documentation in order to participate in our program.

International (non-U.S.-citizen) students at Colorado College may have additional costs and requirements related to studying abroad which are not common for U.S. citizens. These include:

• You may be required to obtain a visa to enter the program’s host country when U.S. citizens do not. Visas commonly require paying a fee.
• You may need to schedule visa appointments through consular offices outside of Colorado and travel independently to these appointments.
• If your program is a CC faculty-led program, you will likely need a letter(s) from Colorado College to support your visa application. Please give at least two weeks for these letters to be issued before your visa appointment; waiting until the last minute to request these may mean that we do not have time to issue them to you in time.
• You may need to apply well in advance to obtain a visa appointment.  Please do not wait until the final weeks before departure to begin this process.