If you have decided that an off campus studies experience is right for you, the next step is to decide what type of off campus studies program fits your needs most closely. You will see the following categories - Affiliated, Non-affiliated, Group, Integrated and Hybrid - used throughout our information to describe our programs. Please keep in mind that there are both domestic and international off campus opportunities.

Affiliated Programs

Over 95% of Gettysburg students who study abroad participate in Affiliated Programs

These domestic and international, single-country academic year and semester off campus programs span the globe and offer excellent academic and cultural immersion for students in all majors. These programs have been carefully vetted and selected by the Gettysburg College faculty to meet the unique academic needs of our students and departmental goals.

These programs offer Gettysburg College students several advantages:

Just like home.....

• Gettysburg's academic departments fully support our Affiliated Programs, and all departments encourage students to make an Affiliated Program part of their Gettysburg degree.
• Students participating in Affiliated Programs can take courses that count toward their major, minor or the goals of the Gettysburg curriculum, and earn credit and grades for the work that they do. Thus, off campus credits become a permanent part of a student's Gettysburg record. All grades are reported (A-F) on the Gettysburg transcript.

Financial Ease

• Students continue to be billed Gettysburg's regular comprehensive fee so that families can continue with their regular payment schedule. The Gettysburg comprehensive fee is equivalent to tuition, room and a USA meal plan. In exchange, Gettysburg pays for tuition, room, full board, and in most cases credits the student account for international airfare.  
• Gettysburg students can continue to use financial aid that they receive - except for work study - to pay for their off campus program. This means that federal aid, state aid, and even Gettysburg institutional grants and loans apply to program costs, just as if you were on campus.
• If your parent works for Gettysburg College or you are on tuition exchange, please see OCS for information about the financial policies that apply to you.
• Note that there will be additional costs associated with an affiliated program that will not be covered by Gettysburg, such as a program deposit, local transportation, passport and visa costs, books, vacation/travel expenses, etc. Please refer to the Financial Information section or the Budget Worksheet for more information.

Program Finder
List of Affiliated Programs

Non-affiliated Programs

There are some Gettysburg students who, due to special academic needs, cannot find an Affiliated Program to match their interests and abilities. Since Gettysburg tries to support all students in good academic and disciplinary standing with an interest in off campus study, several Non-affiliated Programs have been earmarked for students to consider. Students interested in participating in a Non-affiliated Program must have a well articulated academic reason for their decision. Please note that it is NOT possible for students to "directly enroll" in foreign universities without an American university sponsor.

Non-affiliated programs differ from affiliated programs in the following ways:

Credit Only. . .

• Students participating in Non-affiliated Programs can take courses toward their major, minor or the goals of the Gettysburg curriculum, but will earn only credit (not grades) for the work that they do. This means off campus courses appear on a Gettysburg transcript as credit as long as you achieve a grade of C- or better in the courses.

Counting Course Units

• Students participating in Non-Affiliated Programs must refer to the following chart in order to determine how many Gettysburg Course Units you will receive:

  Only 2 Semester Hours of Credit = .50 Gettysburg Course Units

  3 Semester Hours of Credit = .80 Gettysburg Course Units

  4 Semester Hours of Credit = 1.00 Gettysburg Course Units

  5 Semester Hours of Credit = 1.25 Gettysburg Course Units

  6 Semester Hours of Credit = 1.50 Gettysburg Course Units

  If your program does not use Semester Hours as the unit of credit, please see the Registrar before you plan to apply for advice on how many courses you need to take abroad. It is very important that you do not assume that one class abroad counts for one Gettysburg Course Unit, as this is often not the case!

Different Programs, Different Costs

• Students attending a Non-affiliated Program pay all costs directly to the sponsoring program, and these costs vary according to program. All arrangements regarding payment of program fees must be worked out with the sponsoring program. There is no additional fee charged to students who participate in Non-affiliated Programs by Gettysburg College.
• Gettysburg students can continue to use federal financial aid, and in some cases, state financial aid to pay for the Non-affiliated Program through Gettysburg College. Gettysburg institutional grants, scholarships, and loans cannot be used to pay for Non-affiliated programs, although once the student returns to Gettysburg College, these grants and loans will be reinstated.

Contact OCS for a list of Non-affiliated Programs.

Program Types

Integrated Programs

These off campus programs offer Gettysburg students the opportunity to take regular classes with students from the host country, host institution or other international students.  This program type allows Gettysburg students to meet a wide variety of students, learn first-hand about higher education in the host culture and work with faculty from the host institution. In many cases, students may also take a mandatory program course with other program participants. By taking classes in the home institution, students subject themselves to both the pros and cons of the institution.  For example, Ethan Hall '11 describes his experience in Cairo Egypt , "It became rather difficult to manage a courseload made up of four classes with optional homework and one or two short exams/papers and one very difficult class with tons of homework and exams. Eventually this allowed me to embrace the fact that I suddenly had more time for everything else and I began to truly appreciate my experience in Egypt instead of fretting over the quality of my classes." Class expectations can greatly differ from those at Gettysburg. "For most of my classes I only had a midterm, final and a paper. In all my classes the final exam was worth over 50% of your grade so finals time was very stressful," Norbert Pendergast says about Townsville, Australia.

Group Programs

These programs are designed specifically for the program participants. Courses are designed and taught to meet the needs of the program and participants and often have a thematic track. In most cases, the other students on the program will be from the United States or perhaps just Gettysburg. Some group programs are accompanied by a faculty member from Gettysburg College, or another U.S. college. In some cases, students may also have the opportunity to do some integrated course work at a local institution.

Hybrid Program

As the title implies, these programs give students the option of taking both integrated course work at local institutions AND courses designed just for program participants. Most of these programs are found in countries where the language of instruction or host language is not English.

Related Academic Programming

Field/Research Experience/Internships

Found within both program models, students often have the ability to do independent research and gain valuable unpaid work and research experience in addition to coursework.  These experiences allows for substantial host community involvement.

Service-learning/Volunteerism

Many Gettysburg students participate in service activities while at Gettysburg and our off campus programs allow students to continue with these activities.