Study Abroad Petition Information – Honors in the Liberal Arts
Overview
The L&S Honors Program encourages all Honors students to consider studying abroad and to take advantage of enriching learning opportunities in a new place and culture.
A Honors in the Liberal Arts Study Abroad Petition may be relevant to you if you are participating in a UW study abroad program that is not an Honors-affiliated program and you have unmet Honors in the Liberal Arts requirements.
Through the Honors study abroad petition process, one course taken during a term abroad may contribute to completion of Honors in the Liberal Arts degree requirements. When a study abroad petition is approved, the Honors advisors submit an exception request so the course will count toward relevant requirements in the Honors in the Liberal Arts section(s) of your DARS. We encourage early and ongoing conversations with advisors about your plans.
On this page
Steps to Complete an Honors Study Abroad Petition:
Before you go abroad:
- Determine what type of Honors credit you still need for your Honors in the Liberal Arts degree.
- Review the eligibility information and frequently asked questions on this page and consider what types of courses you might take abroad.
- Preview the Study Abroad Petition Form, so that you know what to expect later.
- Discuss your plans with an Honors advisor.
- If you hope to enroll in Senior Honors Thesis credit (681 or 682) while away from UW-Madison, you must discuss this with the Associate Director for Advising and Curriculum and obtain permission before departure. Note that this type of permission is rarely granted, and it would be in your best interest to plan on completing thesis credits during semesters in Madison.
While you are abroad:
- Save your course syllabi.
- As part of the course equivalency request process through your MyStudyAbroad account, verify the breadth designations of any course equivalencies, particularly if you have unmet HLA breadth requirements.
- Make the most of your experience!
When you return:
- Wait for your courses from abroad to be applied to your student record.
- Run a DARS report to verify which Honors in the Liberal Arts requirements you still have remaining and do not have other plans to satisfy.
- Double-check the policy information on this page and in the petition form. Contact an Honors advisor with any questions.
- Submit a completed Study Abroad Petition Form.
- Receive confirmation of approval or other feedback from the Honors Program advising team. Honors advisors will submit a relevant DARS exception for approved petitions.
Petition Eligibility
You are eligible to submit an Honors in the Liberal Arts study abroad petition if:
- You are currently an L&S Honors Program student with Honors in the Liberal Arts as part of your degree plan.
- You have unmet Honors in the Liberal Arts requirements.
- You completed a UW-approved study abroad program (programs found on UW’s Study Abroad website), and it wasn’t one of the Honors-affiliated programs.
- You are petitioning for only one course per term abroad. A term could be fall, spring, summer, or winter intersession.
- You have not received approval for more than two previous Honors study abroad petitions. (Maximum three petitions during your undergraduate career.)
Through the petition process, one course taken during your study abroad term can contribute toward unmet Honors in the Liberal Arts requirements in the following categories:
- Total Honors credits
- Automatic Honors credits: A course taken as part of a semester- or year-long program could be approved to count toward the Automatic Honors course requirement. Courses from summer or winter intersession (“winterim”) study abroad programs cannot count toward Automatic Honors requirements.
- Honors breadth: If the UW course equivalent of your study abroad course has a breadth designation (e.g., humanities, biological science), it could be approved to count toward the corresponding Honors breadth requirement. A course can count toward a maximum of one Honors breadth category.
If you have academic plans that would satisfy Honors in the Liberal Arts requirements without the use of a Study Abroad Petition, do not submit a petition.
The course from your program abroad is eligible to be approved through the petition process if:
- You earned a final grade of B or better in the course.
- The UW course equivalency carries LAS credit.
- The course was NOT a directed study, research credits, or internship course.
- If the course was part of a summer or winter intersession program abroad, the course duration abroad was at least 3 weeks long.
Frequently Asked Study Abroad Petition Questions
There is no specific deadline for submitting a study abroad petition as long as it is submitted before completion of your degree. We encourage submitting materials as soon as you can after the study abroad course equivalencies and grades are applied to your UW record. Note that it usually takes several weeks for your petition to be reviewed and for approved petitions to be reflected in your DARS.
Students may submit one petition per term abroad and up to three total petitions. For example, a student who studies abroad on a year-long program and a separate summer program could submit two petitions related to the year-long program (one per semester) and a third related to the summer program.
- The L&S Honors Program Advising Team will evaluate completed petitions for eligibility, completeness, and appropriateness of the requested Honors credit.
- Proposals are typically reviewed within two weeks of the submission deadline. If there are questions about the Honors credit requested or other clarifications are needed, you will be allowed to revise and resubmit the proposal.
- Upon approval of a study abroad petition, you will receive an email from the Honors Program, and the Honors Program will submit an exception request to have the course count toward the approved HLA requirement(s) on your DARS. Note that approved courses will not appear with Honors credit on your transcript.
This study abroad petition process does not apply to Honors in the Major. If you hope to have a course from study abroad apply toward Honors in the Major requirements, please discuss with your major advisor whether that might be possible.