Students can study off-campus during their junior year, or during the first semester of their senior year. If you want to study off-campus at a different point in your Gettysburg career, you must petition for special permission through the Office of Off Campus Studies. Please note: All students must spend the semester prior to off-campus studies, on campus at Gettysburg College and have spent a minimum of one year in residence.

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Gettysburg College encourages students to study off-campus for an academic year. Students can use financial aid for up to two semesters of off-campus study. However, some students choose to do a single semester, or even a summer program, depending on personal goals, and other commitments.

There are a variety of scholarship opportunities for study abroad students including some offered by Gettysburg College.

Gettysburg College Scholarships

• Eisenhower/Hilton Scholarship

Outside Scholarships:

• NSEP - campus deadline in Monday, January 11th
• Gilman
• studyabroad.com
• FinAid.org
• FastWeb.com
• Lunch-Money.com
• MyTravelBug.org
• Fund-Raising.com

Many program providers also offer scholarships. For information on these, please check with your program.

It is a good idea to speak with your academic advisor(s) as well as other professors in your department(s) about your plans to study off-campus. Faculty will not only be supportive of your plans for off-campus study, they also know a lot about programs that are particularly suited for their majors!

If you are currently receiving accommodations for a learning disability or for attention deficit disorder, seeing a Counselor for any special needs or have any special physical needs, you should discuss your interest in off-campus studies with the Office of Academic Advising and Counseling and Health Services. OCS will work with you to help you find the right program that will meet your needs.

All students need to submit various applications forms in order to participate in off-campus studies (letters of recommendation, payment understandings, waivers, etc.). Some of these forms are generated by OCS and some by the program provider applications. 

OCS Forms

All students participating in a study abroad program are required to purchase Medical Evacuation and Repatriation insurance for their entire off-campus program. Currently, the cost of this insurance is $41.00/month. Students are granted a flight credit to help offset the cost of airfare to and from the program. This amount varies by which region of the world you are studying in. Other costs vary according to your lifestyle and travel plans. It is a good idea to start planning - and saving money - as soon as you can!

Financial Information

Once you have chosen your program, you may start your application for off-campus study right away!  All students' records are checked at the end of the semester prior to their off-campus study term to determine if they have maintained good academic and disciplinary standing.

October 1^st is the Gettysburg application deadline to study off-campus Spring semester.  March 1^st is the Gettysburg application deadline to study off-campus Fall semester.  These are the final dates that you can apply to study off-campus - no extensions are given on these dates.  Program application deadlines vary.  Check your program’ website for their application deadlines (they may fall before or after the Gettysburg application deadlines).

OCS will work closely with you to narrow your program choices before the application process begins.  If you are worried about getting into a program, OCS will work with you on an alternate program back-up plan. You should not need to do more than one program application

In order to transfer 4 credits back to Gettysburg (you can never transfer back more than 4), you will need to take the equivalent of a full-time course-load during your semester abroad.  Students on Affiliated Programs transfer back credit and grades but students on Non-Affiliated Programs receive only credit.

It depends on your citizenship, where you are going, and the duration of your stay.  Check with your program provider and your host country's embassy website to determine whether or not you need a visa. EMBASSY WEBSITE

Gettysburg College does not have Pass/Fail we have S/U.  It is important for you to first understand Gettysburg College's S/U policy.

"The College offers a satisfactory/unsatisfactory grading option. This option is intended to encourage students to be adventurous intellectually in courses with subject matter or approaches substantially different from their prior academic experience or attainment. An S signifies satisfactory work, and is given if a student performs at the C- level or higher; a U signifies unsatisfactory work, and is given for work below the C- level. Courses graded S/U do not affect a student's quality point average, but a course completed with an S grade will count toward the total number of courses needed for graduation. A student may elect to take a total of six courses on an S/U basis during his or her four years at Gettysburg College; however, no more than two S/U courses may be taken in any one year. This grading option may not be selected for requirements for graduation, or for courses taken in a student's major field. Exceptions may be made with regard to the major in cases where a department specifies that a particular course is available under the S/U grading system only, and in cases where the student declares the major after taking the course. A student must choose the S/U grading option during the first twelve class days of the semester."

Now that you understand Gettysburg College's S/U policy you need to check about your program's policy.  Many programs don't have an S/U policy and even if they do it might be different than Gettysburg's.  You can only take a course S/U if your program's policy is the same as Gettysburg's.  If you plan to take a course S/U, you must get it approved by both Gettysburg College and your program.

If you are interested in staying abroad on your current program for a second term or enrolling in a different study abroad program for next semester, you should contact OCS right away.  You will need to make this decision and complete the regular Gettysburg Application process by October 15^th to study abroad in the spring and March 15^th to study abroad in the fall.  Please note that if you are planning on studying abroad in a different country, Gettysburg will give you the regular airfare credit for that country.  If you are planning on extending your stay in the same country, you will not receive an additional airfare credit.  This is in keeping with the policy that academic year program students receive one round trip airfare.