Study Away From Columbia

After matriculating at the School of General Studies, permission to take courses toward the GS degree or, for Postbac Premed students, to satisfy prehealth requirements at an accredited U.S. institution of higher education other than Columbia is granted by special petition only in exceptional cases when critical areas of study relevant to a student's undergraduate program or prehealth studies are not available at Columbia. Such exceptional accommodations are usually granted only once during a student's degree or certificate program at GS. Students petitioning for this exception must be in good standing at Columbia. Credits from non-Columbia programs will be counted toward the GS degree as long as the maximum number of allowable transfer credits does not exceed 60. No credit is transferred when Postbac Premed students are approved to take courses outside Columbia; however, courses may be used to satisfy requirements.

Petitioning to Take Courses Away from Columbia

With the exception of approved study abroad programs, GS rarely approves petitions for students to have credits from another academic institution count toward the GS degree after a student has matriculated at GS. Students who believe they have exceptional reasons to submit such a request should meet with their respective GS advisors before formally petitioning the GS Dean of Students. Petitions to take courses away from Columbia must be made in advance of the study away program; credit will not be granted retroactively. As part of the formal petition process, students will also be required to provide departmental approval from their major departments for any courses taken away from Columbia that they wish to count towards their major requirements. Postbacs should be able to show that the course(s) they propose to take outside Columbia are both required for admission to the health professional programs to which they seek admission and not offered at Columbia. Such requests are most frequently made by preveterinary and pre-allied heath students.

Undergraduate and Postbac Premed students may not enroll concurrently at another academic institution unless such dual enrollment has been authorized by the GS Dean of Students Office; such work will not count toward the GS degree or prehealth requirements unless approved in advance.