About Requesting Course Credit
Beacon programs do not automatically come with credit. However, we offer guidance to students who study at universities that give credit for outside experiences, such as internships. Students have often received credit from their home institutions for the Beacon experience, often using the mechanisms that universities have for granting credit for experiences such as internships, projects, trips, etc.
Most of our alumni do not request credit for their Beacon program from their university, because students generally have enough credits from their classes already. However, there are still plenty of Beacon participants every year who seek and receive credit for their Beacon program from their institutions. There are others who would like it but their universities do not provide it. However, most of those who do need the credit and are at universities with these mechanisms are successful at requesting it and Beacon is more than happy to assist.
What option is available for you depends on your university, and not all universities offer the option to recognize internships or learning experiences for credit. However, below are some common approaches available at many universities.
Common Approaches
Register for a generic internship course, at your university, to the extent its policies allow this. You may need to contact the career services office and apply for credit through their website.
Register for an independent study course. This option will require meeting with a faculty member and proposing assignments that will connect your Beacon experience to coursework or to that professor’s research. Ask your advisor or the career office if they can refer you to someone who’d be willing to supervise your independent study.
Less common: look at your local community colleges to see if they offer a for-credit internship course, and then confirm with your advisor that those credits can be transferred to your home university.
Ask your advisor to see what options are available at your university.