Off-Campus Study Credit

Swarthmore College encourages its students to include study abroad as part of their educational experience. The Department of Mathematics and Statistics recognizes that international study has an important place in the educational programs of its students. Each year, many students take mathematics and statistics courses while studying abroad. 

If you are planning to take mathematics or statistics classes while abroad, we recommend first discussing your plans with your advisor in the math/stat department.  In order to receive department credit for an off-campus study math/stat course, students must submit a request for pre-estimation of credit to our department using the Off Campus Credit Evaluation System found on mySwarthmore. There, students should upload as much documentation they have about the course; at minimum, this should include a detailed course description or syllabus as well as how many credit hours the course is worth.  Instructions on how to use the Credit Evaluation System.  After the documentation has been uploaded, the department will evaluate it and award a pre-estimation of credit.  Note that pre-estimation of credit is not a guarantee of final credit.  Once the course has concluded, students must submit the completed coursework to this online system for review by our department before any credit can be awarded. 

Our department allows courses taken elsewhere to count for the major. However, the number of upper-level transfer credits for the major is limited. Normally, at least 3 of the 5 upper-level courses used to fulfill the major must be taken at Swarthmore, including at least one of the core courses MATH 063 and MATH 067.   Exceptions should be proposed and approved during the Sophomore Plan process, not after the fact.  For MATH 063 and 067, students are responsible for the syllabus we use, and should the course not cover our entire syllabus, the student will not complete the major until they have demonstrated knowledge of the missing topics.   Similarly, for honors preparations, students are responsible for the syllabi we use; we will not offer special honors exams based on work done at other institutions.  For more details, refer to the Swarthmore Course Catalog.

For the 2024-2025 academic year, credit requests for Mathematics classes will be evaluated by Professor Janet Talvacchia and for Statistics classes by Professor Phil Everson.