Approval of your exchange

You should already have checked if the institutions you're interested in offer relevant courses before applying for exchange.

You can find links to course catalogs in relevant institution descriptions under "exchange" in your study program description, or on the host institution's own website. Contact your student advisor if you have questions about academic content or need help choosing courses.

After accepting a potential exchange offer from UiS, you should apply for pre-approval as soon as possible. You can find the application form for "pre-approval of of subjects for study abroad/exchange programmes" at the Student Service Center. Your faculty/department will process the application.

Some departments organize workshops about pre-approval for their students, and they may also set a deadline for when pre-approval applications must be submitted. It's each student's responsibility to apply for pre-approval well in advance before departure, as these applications may take a long time to process.

If you're traveling independently from UiS as a freemover, you must also include a description of the credit system at the university you're applying to.

Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund

Your student advisor will report your planned exchange to the Loan Fund once the pre-approval application is approved.

Please note that you cannot apply for support from the Loan Fund until you've received the pre-approval decision. Keep in mind that the Loan Fund requires you to be a full-time student during your time abroad. For shorter stays, fewer credits may be required.

If you need to make changes to your course selection after receiving pre-approval, you must contact your student advisor at your faculty/department to seek approval for the new courses.

If you need help finding new courses, please involve the host institution and your student advisor.

Reasons for changes in course selection may include:

• The course offerings at the host institution aren't available before departure
• The course offerings changed after you applied for pre-approval
• Unforeseen schedule conflicts

If you don't report new courses or internship plans, you may encounter issues with the final approval of your exchange when you return. In the worst case, parts of your exchange may not be recognized as part of your degree at UiS.

Once you've received a transcript from the host institution, you must apply for final approval of the academic content of your exchange. You can find the application form for "final approval of partial studies abroad" in the Digital Student Service Desk. You'll upload the transcript from the host institution in the application.

It's your responsibility to ensure that your faculty/department at UiS receives the transcript or confirmation within a reasonable time so that the exchange can be formally approved. You won't receive a diploma until such approval is in place.

You're responsible for obtaining a valid transcript for exams taken at the host institution and/or a confirmation of completed internship.

If the host institution sends the transcript directly to the International Office at UiS, you will be contacted.

The scope of courses recognized from the exchange will be listed on your diploma. The names of the completed courses may be included, but practices vary among the faculties. Please contact your faculty/department if you want to ensure that the course names appear on your final diploma from UiS.

Grades from foreign institutions will not be converted to the Norwegian grading scale.

If you're applying for further studies or jobs, you must include the transcript from the host institution along with your UiS diploma.

Based on experience, students tend to perform well academically during their exchange. If you're unfortunate enough to not pass a course, in most cases, retaking the exam at the host institution can be difficult.

Therefore, we recommend that you immediately contact your study advisor at UiS to adjust your future educational plan.