Study Abroad and Transfer Credit

Courses completed through study abroad, summer programs, or other institutions may count toward the Business Administration major only when they have been formally approved through the university’s transfer-credit process.

Planning Your Coursework

1. Review the university’s study abroad process, deadlines, and approved programs.
2. Meet with your major advisor to discuss your plans and ensure that you remain on track to complete the major and your graduation requirements. Most students use their time abroad to take location-specific courses that may count as BUS electives.
3. Once you have selected a program, compare its course offerings with the university’s pre-approved course list.

Requesting Course Approval

If a course does not appear on the pre-approved list, submit it for review through the Study Abroad Transfer Portal.

• You must include a complete course syllabus with your request.
• Submit courses for approval before taking them or going abroad. Advance approval is important because the university is not obligated to review or approve courses retroactively after they have been completed. Courses taken without prior approval may not count toward the major.
• If you cannot register for courses in advance, submit several likely options through the portal so that you have approved alternatives.
• Course numbers may differ or may not be listed. If the course title and host program are the same as those shown on the pre-approved list, you do not need to submit a new request.
• Requests sent by email cannot receive official approval.

Who Approves Courses?

• BUS Courses: Professor Keri Larson reviews courses being considered for BUS-prefixed credit.
• Non-BUS Courses: Courses being considered for the FIN or major’s non-business elective requirement must first be approved by the corresponding W&L department. After that departmental approval has been obtained, the Business Administration Department can determine whether the course may count as a non-business elective.

Importance of Official Approval

Before you register for, drop, add, or rearrange courses, confirm the course through the official approval process of both the university and the business administration department. Only approval obtained through that process confirms how (or if) the course will count toward the major.

Do not rely on another student’s experience or advice from any informal source to determine whether a course will count toward the Business Administration major. A course that counted for someone else may not count for you. Approval may depend on the program, the specific course, timing issues, and the major requirements that apply to you.

Limits on Transfer Courses

Core Courses

The following Business Administration core courses must be completed at W&L and may not be transferred from another institution: 

• BUS 2100 – Foundations of Business Communication 
• BUS 2200 – Management and Organizational Behavior 
• BUS 2300 – Marketing Management 
• BUS 2400 – Ethics, Business, and Society 

Courses taken elsewhere that are similar to these courses will not be approved towards the business administration major.

To receive credit for BUS 2002 – Fundamentals of Business Analytics from outside the university, the course must include a coding component, preferably Python. However, the department strongly recommends completing BUS 2002 at W&L.

Organizational Strategy

To get credit for the Organizational Strategy requirement of the major, students must take an appropriate course back at W&L. Any organizational strategy courses taken abroad may count towards a business elective.

Number of Credits from Outside W&L

A maximum of nine credits completed outside W&L may be applied to the Business Administration major. This limit includes coursework completed through study abroad programs, summer courses, and other transfer coursework.

Within the nine-credit maximum:

• No more than six credits may count as BUS-prefixed courses, including BUS, FIN, and ENT electives. (Remember FIN and ENT electives count towards BUS electives in the business administration major.)
• Up to nine credits may consist of approved non-BUS courses that count toward the non-business elective requirement.
• Students may combine the two types of credit within these limits. That combination may look like:
  • Six BUS credits and three non-BUS credits
  • Three BUS credits and six non-BUS credits
  • Nine non-BUS credits
  • Remember: no more than six BUS credits may be transferred into the major.