Is travel insurance is provided?
How much should I help my student?
How do credits transfer?
For UCEAP and other UC study abroad programs, credits will appear automatically as UC units on the UC Merced transcript. It may take up to 90 days after the completion of the program for grades to arrive.
For IOP, students must have coursework pre-approved if they wish to receive financial aid. Upon return, students should submit their official transcripts for IOP to the UC Merced Office of International Affairs. Once reviewed and approved, courses will appear as transfer units on the UC transcript.
What are the costs?
For UCEAP, tuition costs remain the same as if students stayed on campus but other fees may apply. The greatest fluctuation in program costs stems from differences in the costs of living and the cost of airfare. Some programs will cost less than living on campus — even with airfare included — because the cost of living is so much higher studying on campus. UCEAP costs — including airfare — are available through the UCEAP website. All programs should be compared to the cost of living in Merced.
For IOP, students should review the program costs on the provider's website. IOP costs do not generally include airfare as students leave from many different airports. There is an additional IOP fee of $150 charged to students participating in IOP options.
Does financial aid transfer?
For summer, students must file a summer application for financial aid mid-spring semester. Summer aid can be quite limited for students.
For UCEAP, yes: the Office of International Affairs will automatically notify the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships of students participating in programs and the budgets for those programs. Student aid will be repackaged according to program costs, including airfare, incidentals, health insurance, and pre-departure expenses.
For IOP, usually: students must have coursework pre-approved for transfer and be full-time students. Transcripts must come from institutions eligible to disburse US financial aid. If students participate in programs eligible for financial aid, they will be able to bring California and federal financial aid, but cannot bring UC financial aid (e.g. UC Regents Scholarship or Bobcat Grant/Scholarship).
Is travel insurance is provided?
For UCEAP and most study abroad providers, travel insurance is mandatory and is included in program costs. Student travel insurance should also include emergency evacuation and, in the most unfortunate of cases, repatriation. UCEAP travel insurance information is available online.
When should I visit?
We recommend that parents aim to visit students during holiday breaks. Many parents are tempted to arrive with their students to the program, but this is often distracting to their student who is often suffering from jetlag while trying to secure housing and collect vital information during program orientations.
When parents arrive during program breaks, students can easily serve to help guide their parents around, use their language skills (if any), and will be familiar with local customs and transportation systems.
How much should I help my student?
While it is tempting for parents to help their students because they do not wish to see their children struggle, processes involved in the preparation for and participation in study abroad provide many unique opportunities for student growth in self-suffiency and independence. We encourage you to prod your student to collect information to share with you, but — as much as possible — you should encourage your student to handle everything on his or her own: advising, travel arrangements, passport and visa applications, paperwork submission, formal petitioning, and communicating with study abroad staff.
Parents should also make themselves familiar with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (a.k.a. FERPA), which also applies to minors at UC Merced.
