Degree Completion and Graduation Deferral
- Completing a Degree During an Education Abroad Program
- Students who plan to participate in an education abroad program during their final semester must remain enrolled at the University of Kentucky for the following term (typically winter or summer) for your program’s academic credit to be received, processed, and posted to your UK transcript.
- Participating on an Education Abroad Program After Degree Completion and Before Graduation
- Students may postpone degree conferral to participate in an education abroad program after completing degree requirements. This often takes place during a final semester or the winter or summer after completing the degree.
- Students participating on an education abroad program after completing degree requirements may participate in their normally scheduled commencement ceremony and events but must defer their official graduation date and degree conferral to the following term.
- Participating on an Education Abroad Program After Graduation
- For Faculty-Directed programming: Students choosing not to defer graduation, must reapply to UK as a non-degree seeking student to be eligible to participate.
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For all other programs: Students will not be eligible to apply through UK EA, use university scholarships, earn transfer credit, or receive university support for their participation in a program.
Residency Requirements for Graduation
- Courses taken as part of an education abroad program or through the NSE program are considered courses taken at UK for the purpose of satisfying the university’s residence requirement and for determining eligibility for commencement honors at the time your degree is awarded.
- To meet the undergraduate residence requirement, the following must be completed through the University of Kentucky:
- At least 25 percent of the credits presented for the degree
- A minimum of 30 total credit hours
- At least 30 of the last 36 credits presented for the degree
- Courses taken elsewhere and transferred to UK, as well as courses taken through the UK International Center (except for courses taught by UK faculty) and NSE programs, do not count toward the 25 percent credit requirement.
- To meet the undergraduate residence requirement, the following must be completed through the University of Kentucky:
- For more information, review the graduation and residence requirements in the university catalog: https://catalogs.uky.edu/index.php?catoid=3.
Credit Resolution Requirement
- All education abroad academic credits must be fully processed before a student can graduate. Students cannot graduate with EANEEDCR (reference EANEEDCR policy for details) on their UK transcript. Any unresolved education abroad credit will be temporarily posted as EANEEDCR until the credit from abroad has been evaluated. These placeholder credits must be resolved before the degree can be officially conferred.
Last Updated: March 10, 2026