Studying Abroad and/or Transferring Credits

Guidance and Approval

1. Understand the process & timing: Make sure you have read and understand the university’s process and university-approved programs.
2. Approvals:
   • Once a program has been selected, compare the program’s offered courses for the semester with those that are on the pre-approved list.
   • If a course is not listed, submit a course for approval along with a syllabus. Note that occasionally course numbers may vary or be missing. As long as the course name and host program are the same no new submission needs to be made. 
   • Make sure your courses are approved before you take the classes or go abroad.
   • Professor Keri Larson is responsible for approving classes from outside the university for the business administration department.
3. Meet with your major advisor to discuss your plan for staying on track with major and graduation requirements. Most students choose to take advantage of location-specific courses while abroad that may count as BUS electives.

Restrictions

The following applies starting with the Class of 2028.

NOTE: W&L is converting from 3-digit course codes to 4-digit codes in Fall 2026. The new numbers (e.g., 2002) for the old numbers (e.g., 202) will be used here.

Core Requirements

• For business administration majors, BUS 2100, 2200, and 2300 must be completed at W&L and may not be transferred from another institution. Courses that are from outside the university that are similar to those classes will not be approved for business credit. 
• To get credit for BUS 2002 from outside the university, the course must include a coding component (preferably Python). However, our preference is that you take this course on campus.

Credit Limits

A maximum of nine (9) credits may be applied to the business administration major from coursework completed outside of W&L. This includes whether those courses are from study abroad programs, summer courses, or other transfer credit from other institutions.

These nine credits may include:

• Up to six credits in BUS-prefixed courses (i.e., business electives)
• And/or up to nine credits in approved non-BUS courses that count toward the non-business elective requirement

Students may mix and match within these limits (e.g., 3 BUS + 6 non-BUS credits, or 0 BUS + 9 non-BUS credits), but no more than six BUS credits may be transferred into the major.