College travel tips: Travel for course credit

Education without the boundaries of walls

Many students are constantly searching for ways to escape the brick walls, dusty chalkboards, and monotone professors. However, studying abroad or exchange programs are not an option for students due to lack of funds or fear of being away from home for long amounts of time. For students who are looking to travel for short amounts of time, while receiving course credit, the best option to consider is taking a class that involves domestic or international travel.

One way to travel while receiving course credit is to travel during the summer or during the winter if the university offers winter courses. For example, the Kentucky Institute for International Studies (KIIS) promotes summer study abroad programs that students can join for course credit. Universities in general usually offer study abroad opportunities over the summer for course credit, so students should ask the international center for more information on travel abroad opportunities. If the student knows the professor who is teaching the program, then he/she should ask the professor for more information.

These trips can last anywhere from a week to an entire month. Most courses usually have at least one week of classroom time in order to prepare students for the exciting adventure of traveling to another country. While there may be some classroom instruction, traveling for course credit involves an element of adventure that connects with the lessons. Many courses that relate to travel include environmental peace courses in Costa Rica, learning to tango in Argentina, and learning the language and history of numerous countries such as Mexico and Turkey. Many of these courses also offer chances of receiving grants or scholarship funding to help student travelers fund for these trips, so students should talk to the professor, study abroad advisor, and/or financial aid office for additional funding opportunities.

If there are no travel courses available during the summer or winter semesters, then students should consider creating their own course. In order to do this, students need to discuss this option with their academic advisors so they can create a class that counts as a credit. There may be additional work on the part of the student such as justifying the purpose of this course to the academic office and providing finding for the trip and accepting reimbursement later on if any is available. If a student is determined enough to travel to Paris to study Art History or travel to Washington D.C. to study the impact of lobbyists in a political setting, then the extra work is worth the adventure outside of the classroom.

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ISIC travel card

Travel while you are young