The Financial Aid office will review each student's eligibility for federal, state, and institutional aid. Any program administered by Radford University will typically be eligible for institutional scholarships and federal financial aid. Any program operated outside of Radford University will typically not be eligible for institutional funds but may be eligible for federal financial aid. Please check the Education Abroad section of the Financial Aid office website for more information.

Funding for any Education Abroad program disbursed by the Financial Aid office will be available on the regular disbursement schedule for that particular term. Requests for advanced disbursements, for example deposits for a program or airfare, are not possible. Therefore, there is a possibility a student may have to pay "up-front" for some of the associated costs of education abroad.

All students participating in an education abroad program must do so in accordance with Radford University's academic policies and procedures in order to safeguard the transfer of credit. To this end, please note the following:
 

• All transfer credit earned during a education abroad experience is processed as Pass/Fail only. Only grades equivalent to a “C” or above will be considered for transfer credit.
• It is critical that students be registered in the placeholder course at Radford University, which may allow students to have access to their financial aid, retain scholarships (depending on program), and continue their enrollment at Radford University for the duration of the education abroad program.
• In order for the McGlothlin Center for Global Education and Engagement and the Registrar's Office to process a student's registration, all application documents must be completed at submitted to the McGlothlin Center for Global Education and Engagement.
• If your course registration changes while you are abroad, it is your responsibility to immediately notify the Education Abroad Coordinator at RU about the change. This will ensure that any new courses are included in the approval course list.

Students who are not approved, or have been denied, for a study abroad experience will not be able to transfer their credits back to Radford University.

The McGlothlin Center for Global Education and Engagement utilizes the World Education Services (WES) grade conversion system when converting grades from another educational system into the American grading system. In occasion, we may also utilize other tools and resources to complete the grade conversion.

Students participating in a European program that utilizes the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) should be aware that Radford University utilizes a 2:1 transfer credit ratio. Therefore, students must ensure that they take sufficient credits abroad in order to earn the correct number of RU credits while abroad.

Students wishing to participate in an education abroad experience for which RU does not already have a formal program, may elect to negotiate a consortium agreement between the host institution and RU in order to keep enrolled at Radford University and able to take some financial aid. Once a student completes the education abroad experience and official transcripts have been received and evaluated by the Office of the Registrar, specific course equivalencies will be identified and incorporated into the student's RU transcript. Grade values are available on a pass/fail basis only. However, the hours earned will count towards academic progress. There is a $25 per-credit-hour fee for consortium agreements.

If a student does not follow the steps to participated in an education abroad program established by the McGlothlin Center for Global Education and Engagement and attends an education abroad program "on their own" (without the consent of the appropriate RU officials or the creation of a consortium agreement), the students will not then be registered as a student at Radford University. Not following the process and obtaining approvals prior to attending the education abroad program will cause the student to be considered absent/withdrawn during the semester abroad and may have consequences for financial aid purposes. Once the student completes the experience abroad and returns to the U.S. they may submit an official transcript to the Office of the Registrar for consideration of traditional transfer credit.

All students participating in any experience abroad (study, internship, service learning, teaching, conference or research program) are required, and will be automatically enrolled, in the mandatory RU Education Abroad Health Insurance Plan administered by CISI. Other health insurance plans are not accepted.