Credit for Internships Abroad

Students participating in an internship, volunteer or other experiential learning opportunity can obtain credit for their program in one of the following ways.

Internship Credit Options

Please note that each individual student must work with their academic department(s) to determine which of the following options they should choose. It is ultimately up to the corresponding academic department to decide how the student will obtain academic credit for an internship.

SCHOOL OF RECORD – RECOMMENDED

Students who participate in an internship abroad arranged by an affiliate provider may have the option to receive a transcript from a school of record. The school of record is typically a U.S. based accredited institution that will offer U.S. course credits and grade(s) for the internship course associated with the program. To use the affiliate provider’s school of record typically requires the student to pay an additional fee; however, this fee is often minimal, and is lower in cost than tuition at UNC Charlotte. Some affiliate providers may advertise this option as providing transfer credit; however, this is not an option for UNC Charlotte students. Credit will be accepted as UNC Charlotte equivalent credit that can be applied to your curriculum requirements (if applicable). Students would follow the same process outlined on the Earning Credit Abroad page.

ENROLL IN UNC CHARLOTTE ONLINE COURSES

The student’s academic department may require the student to enroll themselves in an online UNC Charlotte course (e.g. an online internship course, independent study course, etc.) in order to get credit for the international internship or experiential learning opportunity abroad. This option is only available if this course (e.g. an online internship course, independent study course, etc.) exists in the academic department’s course catalog. This option means that:

  • Students enroll themselves in the corresponding online course during registration for the semester they will be abroad
  • Students pay tuition for enrolling in this online course in addition to paying for the expenses for an internship program abroad
  • The UNC Charlotte faculty member ‘teaching’ the online course will grade the student
  • Grades will be posted by the UNC Charlotte faculty member just as with any other course taken at UNC Charlotte
  • EA does not assist in processing grades

Students who elect to enroll in an online course will not need to complete a study abroad application, however, will need to complete an Individual International Travel Registration with UNC Charlotte Education Abroad.

SECURE FACULTY SPONSOR(S)

If the internship provider does not provide a credit option for the internship and the department does not have an internship course offering, the student may be able to secure course credit through the department through a faculty sponsor. The student will need to ask a relevant faculty member to assign them a course and grade them for the work they do abroad during their internship or program, without the student receiving a transcript from a school of record and without the student enrolling in a course and paying tuition & fees at UNC Charlotte. The faculty member will work with the student and design a syllabus they must follow in order for the faculty member to grade them throughout the course of the internship program.

Students will complete a Course Equivalency Form, which will list what UNC Charlotte credit they will be receiving for the program they participate in abroad. At the end of the program, the faculty member would then send a memo via email to the Assistant Director in EA with the letter grade (A-F) that the student earned for the UNC Charlotte course assigned to their program abroad. EA then processes this documentation and sends the information to the Registrar.

NON-CREDIT

Earning academic credit is not required when participating on an internship program. If a student chooses not to earn academic credit, an Individual International Travel Registration application will need to be completed in place of a study abroad application. It is important to note that students who chose this option are not eligible for financial aid or scholarships through UNC Charlotte.