Grades, S-D-R and Transcripts

Do my grades count in my GPA?

Yes.  Your course titles, credit and grades from abroad appear on your St. Thomas transcript and will be calculated into your St. Thomas GPA. 

May I take courses pass/fail?

Students may take a course S-D-R according to UST requirements. 

• If you choose to take a course S-D-R, they must make arrangements with St. Thomas, not your overseas program. You must contact the Study Abroad Advisor by fax or e-mail, and then take the course for a letter grade on the program or the university abroad. Once your transcript arrives at St. Thomas, the Registrar will then record the appropriate S-D-R mark. If a student receives a letter grade of C- or above, the mark of S (satisfactory) will be given.
• Requests to take a course S-D-R must be made to International Education within the first five weeks after classes begin in a semester program or within the first week of a January or summer program.
• The International Education Center may grant approval for elective courses to be taken S-D-R. If the request is for a major or minor course, approval of the department chair is required. Core requirements may not be fulfilled using the S-D-R option.

May I get a course approved to fulfill a requirement once I'm abroad?

You may find courses abroad which were not pre-approved but which may fulfill requirements. You may attempt to contact the appropriate faculty department chair from abroad to seek approval or may choose to wait and ask the faculty to review the course syllabus, and your course work, etc., upon your return to St. Thomas in order to determine course equivalency. If you receive email approvals while abroad, please forward a copy of the email to a Study Abroad Advisor.

Program Transcripts

Students are responsible for requesting that a copy of their transcript be sent from their program or university abroad to: 

Admissions
Mail #32-F
University of St. Thomas
2115 Summit Avenue
St. Paul, MN  55105

Students who do not present a transcript showing record of academic work completed abroad receive the grade of "F" for the period they were overseas. Contact International Education if your transcript is going to arrive at St. Thomas more than one semester after your return.