The Engineering Department and the Global Education Office have updated the GPA requirement for two-semester study aways for Engineering students to a 3.9 unofficial GPA, which means that first year grades will also be considered. The previous GPA requirement was 3.8.

The change was first announced in the spring semester of the previous academic year. It was to be implemented for the Class of 2027 and all consecutive classes. However, the requirement is officially in place for the Class of 2026 as well.

The communication was received by the Class of 2026 via the Engineering academic representative. The change is non-negotiable, but the expectation is that this will be the only major change to study-away requirements for Engineering students. No courses have been taken away from the list of required courses which can be viewed on the Student Portal under the Study Away guidelines.

Another specific of the new requirement is that the GPA of the student must be 3.9 or above at the time of departure for study away. If there is a sudden drop in academic performance after the student has been approved for a two-semester study away, their approval will get rescinded and they will only be able to go abroad for a maximum of one semester.

The above GPA requirement of 3.0 and above for the regular single semester study away has not changed and is also available on the Student Portal for reference.

The change in the two-semester study away GPA requirement has sparked significant discontent among many Engineering students, who think the expectations and requirements were already quite high. It remains fairly unclear what sparked the implementation of this new policy, but it was clarified that it was put in place by the Engineering Department and not the Office of Global Education.

The Engineering Department recommends that students schedule a meeting with a study away advisor as soon as possible in order to discuss their plans and obtain the most up-to-date information about the study away pathways.