Study Away Network: Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Study Away Network?
The ACA’s Study Away Network enhances students’ options for study abroad or domestic study away by allowing ACA schools hosting these experiences to share them with qualified students at other Network schools. As a result, students across the ACA have access to off-campus learning experiences that are not available on their home campuses – with little to no additional expenses – while receiving credit hours from their own institution.
Which schools are presently in the network?
Currently, 24 ACA members are members of the Network. Each member assigns a representative to oversee the program on its campus. These campus representatives serve as your main point of contact at your Home Institution and at the Host Institution offering the study away program.
My institution is presently not a member. May I still participate in a Network program?
No. For students to be considered for Network programs, their ACA school must be a Network member. If your school has not yet joined the Network, please talk with your international education office and/or your academic affairs office to encourage your institution to join. There are no Network expenses to join, and each school retains full authority regarding which programs they offer in the Network and which students from other schools they accept in their programs.
How do I learn more about available programs in the Network?
The ACA maintains current a portal of available Network programs for students, with relevant information on each experience. In addition, it communicates regularly with members’ Network Campus Representatives to ensure effective programming. You can learn about available programs, their schedules, and any other special information by visiting the portal and by contacting the host institution’s campus representative or specific program coordinator (furnished in the information in the portal).
I want to participate in a Network program offered by another ACA school. What should be my initial steps?
Your Home Institution promotes Network programs at other schools they wish to make available to you. It establishes the policies and procedures by which it ensures you are properly prepared to participate in a Network program, and it reviews your application and determines if you may apply for a Network experience. Accordingly, you should contact your campus representative to initiate your school’s review process.
If you are approved by your Home Institution to participate in a Network program, you will next be reviewed by the Host Institution, who determines whether to accept you for its study away experience. The Host Institution may make its program immediately available for acceptance or it may have a waiting period before admissions (no less than three months prior to the experience). If accepted, you will be expected to meet the same course expectations as students participating in the experience from the Host Institution.
What are my costs for participating in a Network program?
Because the Network establishes a shared experience among ACA schools, you essentially remain a student at your Home Institution while completing a program with another ACA school. Tuition and fees (if any) are determined and charged by your Home Institution, following its policies and practices. Based upon the specific program, your school may consider other charges specific to the selected experience, e.g., insurance. Similarly, as these are credits taken at your Home School, standard policies related to the availability of financial aid would apply.
The Host Institution will charge you directly for the fees associated only with the actual study away experience such as travel, room and board, and event fees (and may include at its discretion a small administrative fee of $100) but it does not collect any additional tuition or fees. These program expenses must be remitted as determined by the Host Institution in a timely manner before you may participate in the program. Please confer with your Financial Aid Office to see what if any of these additional expenses may be considered for financial aid support.
How are my courses and credit hours determined and evaluated?
Your Home Institution will confer with the Host Institution for recommendations regarding the courses and credit hours granted for successful completion of the experience. While in the study away experience, your assigned work for the course will be evaluated by the Host Institution’s instructor(s). Upon completion of the experience, the instructor(s) will furnish your Home Institution a recommendation for grades based upon your performance in the course experience. Your Home Institution will have assigned an instructor-of-record on your campus before you begin the experience who will verify your work and assign your grade for the course(s) for which you registered at your Home Institution. Your final registered grade for the course credits is solely the discretion of your Home Institution.
What is my student status while I am participating in another institution’s program?
As your credit hours are officially taken from your Home Institution, you retain your status at your own school, i.e., these are not transfer courses. However, your Host Institution may require you to establish some sort of temporary student status simultaneously at their school for various administrative and legal reasons. These decisions will vary by school and be based upon the Host Institution’s specific policies and practices. For example, it may require that you are admitted as a temporary student to register for a course (to gain access to an LMS or email, for example); however, there would be no Host Institution tuition expenses incurred by you.
While participating in another school’s program, please note that you are expected to abide by all relevant policies and procedures at that institution (and these will vary from school to school, e.g., academic schedules, student conduct policies). The Host Institution is responsible for sharing all relevant policies with you prior to participation in the program, and you are expected to abide by these during your experience.
I am interested in a Network program, but it overlaps with my academic calendar at my Home Institution. Is it still possible to participate?
Academic calendars vary (slightly) across the Network, so it is essential that the student and their campus representative coordinate to determine when and how to overcome schedule conflicts. As examples, here are two scenarios and how they might be addressed:
- Study away experience embedded in a general course at a Home Institution during the regular academic year: More than likely, these types of experiences will not be possible for you at another school unless: 1.) the course is fully online and you can take it remotely from your Home Institution; 2.) you are geographically close enough in proximity to commute to the class while still taking your classes at your Home Institution; or 3.) you are taking all your coursework full online and can commute to the Host Institution throughout the term. We do not anticipate many/any of these courses being offered by the Network, however.
- Study away experience that begins a few days before end of term or extends a few days into a new term in your own school’s academic calendar: Occasionally, a January-Term, a Maymester, or a summer course may begin before your own term ends, or it may extend into your next term for a brief period. Your Home Institution has full discretion in determining whether you can participate in the experience (by allowing you to complete your semester early or begin your new term late). It is solely your responsibility in these cases to get prior approval for your absence and to complete your Home Institution assignments in a manner and on a schedule approved by your school. As the Host Institution’s study away program must follow a strict schedule, you are not allowed to begin late or end early your study away experience – so any scheduling adjustments must be made with the Home Institution and must be approved prior to participation in the study away.
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