The Division of International Education (DoIE) and SF State Abroad only work with direct bilateral exchanges programs and with the system-wide California State University International Programs (CSU IP), which can be found in the SF State Abroad Database. These are the only forms of certified study abroad offered as part of SFSU’s regular academic program. Our office cannot collaborate with, or advise on, any other programs or services.
If a student decides to participate on an outside or non-SF State Abroad program, there are three things to note:
- You will not be considered an SFSU student during the program. If you go abroad for longer than a semester, you need to file a “leave of absence” with undergraduate admissions.
- You will not be able to receive any financial aid attached to SFSU since you will not be a student with us during that time.
- All coursework is potential transfer credit. It is potential for two reasons:
- First, it must be from an accredited institution.
- Second, it is SFSU’s policy that transfer credit will not be pre-reviewed/approved if it comes from outside California. Meaning the student must participate and then submit an official transcript to Undergraduate Admissions to see if they will accept it as transfer credit. (This would be true even for a student attending a U.S. community college out of state.) Also, students who transferred to SFSU should be aware that there are caps on the number of units that can be transferred back. (Detail regarding transfer credit caps can be found in the SFSU Academic Bulletin.)
When applying for an outside program, you are doing so as an 'autonomous student.' SFSU cannot complete any forms, recommendations, and/or sign paperwork on your behalf.