Program Alert
If you are applying to a Duke-Approved or petition program, please complete your Duke general application in the MyExperientialEd portal as early as possible to expedite the Duke Dean’s and conduct checks required for GEO to approve your application. Delaying the completion of your Duke general application could jeopardize your semester abroad.
PETITION A PROGRAM
When Duke-In and Duke-Approved programs don’t meet your academic needs, you can petition for approval of a program of your choice. This approval is granted by the Faculty Global Education Committee and is a one-time approval of one particular program, for one particular student.
After the student returns to Duke from the program, their work must be evaluated by the relevant Directors of Undergraduate Studies (DUS). If these evaluations are positive, the program can then be petitioned by other students in the future.
After a minimum enrollment of two different students in two different terms, the program may be considered for review by the Faculty Global Education Committee, which has the final say on which programs ultimately appear on the list of Duke-approved programs.
Download the Application Guide
The Application Guide for Petitions contains step-by-step guidance for petitioning a study away program.
PETITION DEADLINES
Petition Deadlines-Spring 2023
For programs taking place in Summer 2023 or Fall 2023
- Friday, January 20, 2023
- Monday, February 13, 2023
- Thursday, March 16, 2023
All items need to be completed and submitted by 5 pm on the petition deadline date.
Process for Filing a Petition
Before initiating a petition application, you should have a good idea of the main details of the program you're interested in. Some of the program elements you will be asked about in the initial Petition Advising Questionnaire include:
- Program calendar
- Housing type(s) available
- Type of onsite supervision
- Program pre-requisites or eligibility requirements
- Full time course load on the program
- Name of institution that will issue a transcript for the program
- Type of courses offered on the program
After deciding which program you'd like to petition, start a Petition Application in MyExperientialEd and complete the Petition Advising Questionnaire.
In order to petition a program, you must meet with an advisor in the Global Education Office for Undergraduates. You will not be allowed to continue the Duke online petition application in MyExperientialEd without attending an advising session. Please schedule an appointment online with a GEO advisor.
The GEO advisor will determine if the program meets Duke’s requirements for study abroad transfer credit based on the information presented in the Petition Advising Questionnaire.
Some of these criteria include:
- The program’s school of record (which will issue the transcript for your academic work) must be an accredited college or university based in the U.S. or in the program’s country. Duke does not accept transfer credit from language institutes or from community colleges.
- For semester or yearlong programs, the program must offer you the opportunity to take a foreign language for graded credit, and this work MUST appear on your transcript. This is only waived if the program is in a country where English is an official language used by the government.
- For semester or year-long programs, you must be able to take a full-time course load that is equivalent to 15-16 U.S. semester credit hours per semester.
You will also discuss the merits of the petition program with the GEO advisor, as well as your academic rationale for requesting the program.
If the GEO advisor determines basic criteria are met, your application in MyExperientialEd will be unlocked and you will then have access to complete it before the deadline provided. Deadlines for the current semester can be found above.
The Global Education Office will not accept partial petitions from students; pay careful attention to ensure that you complete all items.
The Global Education Office submits completed petition applications to the Faculty Global Education Committee at their meetings. The Committee makes all decisions on petition submissions. You will receive an email from GEO when the Committee has reached a decision about your petition, usually about two weeks after each petition deadline. See the petition notification dates above.
For next steps once a petition has been approved, consult the Application Guide for Petitions.
Petition Cap
A maximum of six petitions will be approved per term for any given program. That means a maximum of six petitions for any one program will be submitted for a single Global Education Committee meeting on a first come, first served basis, determined by the order in which each application is completed. New applications will be submitted to future Committee meetings until the maximum of six per program have been approved. An application will be eligible for consideration when all components of the online application are submitted and no more than one transfer credit form is outstanding (e.g., if a full course load is 5 classes, we must receive at least 4 transfer credit approval forms for the petition to be considered complete). Therefore, it is to the students’ advantage to begin the petition process early.
These procedures are in place for summer, semester, and academic year programs.
Returning from a Petitioned Study Away Program
Upon return to Duke from a petitioned study away program, students are required to complete a petition evaluation. After a program has received positive evaluations in two different semesters or summer terms, it may be considered for addition to the Duke-approved program list by the Faculty Global Education Committee. Petitioned programs are reviewed annually to determine their eligibility for the list.
Petition evaluations are comprised of the following two parts:
A link to a Qualtrics survey will be emailed to you at the end of your term (for semester or yearlong programs).
After you complete the program and have received the official transcript, please email geocourses@duke.edu to initiate the DUS evaluation of your petition coursework. You will be emailed instructions on how to upload all course materials from the program (syllabi, reading lists, papers, tests, and exams) to a DukeBox folder, which will be shared with the DUSes who originally approved each course. The DUSes will evaluate your coursework and provide feedback to GEO to be used in determining whether the program should be added to the list of Duke-approved programs. Once the DUS evaluations have been received for all courses taken, the credits from your semester abroad will be added to your Duke transcript.
Petitioning Programs Formerly on the Approved List
If a Duke-approved program has not been attended by a Duke student for a period of five years, it may be removed from the active Duke-approved program list. If a student wishes to attend a removed program, they must petition the program as normal, but the program may be reconsidered for addition to the approved list only after one successful petition and follow-up evaluation process.
See What Study Away is All About
The student experience blog is your source for student stories, the latest news, and other important details.
Explore All Programs
For any major and every interest, there’s a Study Away Program that matches your needs.
GEO ADVISING IS HERE FOR YOU
Get advice on choosing a program, exploring courses and credits, and covering the costs of study away when you engage the Global Education Office's advising network.