With the right planning, your experiential travel experiences—including volunteering at home or overseas—may count towards your degree or diploma.
Volunteering abroad or participating in an experiential travel program is a great way to gain real-world experience and take time out for self-discovery.
But for many students, structured travel programs can also feel like a luxury that costs both precious time and money. After all, how can you rationalize spending $5,000 to volunteer abroad during the summer months, when you could work during the same time period to save money for tuition?
If you’re nodding along in agreement, we have an argument that might tip you over the edge toward getting on that plane: Your experiential travel experiences—including volunteering at home or overseas—may be eligible for academic credit.
A concrete way to add structure and accountability to your experience, earning academic credits for travel not only helps you work towards your degree, it can even save you money since it’s one less course you have to pay for. If you’re Canadian, it may also allow you to access your Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) or maintain your eligibility on a parent’s healthcare plan.
The flip side is that coming up with a strategic plan to earn credits—and have them recognized—can be complicated, depending on your institution’s policies and the program you’re enrolled in. Here is our advice to help you get started on the paperwork.
How to earn credits for travel if you’re a high school student
In many ways, high school is more flexible than university when it comes to gaining credits for experiential travel and volunteering. This is why there’s a proliferation of programs that run from one week to a year or more, offering everything from immersive language classes to classrooms at sea to training for performing arts opportunities.
Many programs that are run by private schools or companies can be expensive and, as high school programs, they may not be RESP eligible. However, there is also a variety of government-funded programs like the OLP (Explore, Destination Clic, and Odyssey) French and English courses and Katimavik. These programs are recognized by ministries and departments of education across the country, which means the experience is recorded on your transcript and scholarships may be available.
Like all programs, check with an academic advisor before committing to ensure that a semester of volunteer work or language class abroad meets your goals.
How to earn credits for travel if you’re a college or university student
Gap year programs
Specialized gap year programs often promise an educational component, but turning that benefit into usable credits can take planning. One option is to participate in a program that has partnerships with colleges and universities and offers a gap year experience while simultaneously offering core first-year subjects for academic credits.
Gap year programs tend to be more common in the US than in Canada, and some programs have partnered with universities in the U.S., Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and England. In Canada, Class Afloat is the most well-known: students embark for one or two semesters at sea and earn credits through Acadia University in Nova Scotia. For Canadians wanting to brush up on one of our official languages, the OLP (Explore, Destination Clic, and Odyssey) are funded by the Government of Canada and administered by ministries and departments of education across the country—so you can spend a month somewhere cool learning French or English and earn language credits.
Earning academic credits for travel not only helps you work towards your degree, it can even save you money.
However, if you’ve been accepted by a university and want to defer the start of your studies for a gap year with a program that is not directly associated with your institution, be sure to read the fine print. Many schools do not allow you to earn credit from other institutions while in deferral. And, as with all programs, you’ll want to confirm that the credits are transferrable towards your degree.
If a structured program doesn’t offer credits, try a school like Athabasca University that allows you to take online or distance classes while you travel.
Exchanges, international co-op opportunities and terms abroad
If your goal is to combine travel with postsecondary study, a formal program that includes exchange, co-op or other travel opportunities as part of the coursework may be the way to go.
Because of the popularity of doing a semester or more abroad, schools across Canada offer a wide range of options. One example is the Go Global program at UBC. In this program, third- or fourth-year students who meet minimum grade requirements have the option to study for a term or two at one of over 200 partner universities around the world. At the University of Ottawa, students in their second year can apply to the Go Abroad program, which has 250 partner institutions in 52 countries.
For Canadian students, these study abroad terms are usually the same cost as tuition. (You pay tuition at your home school, rather than the international student fees at the host university.) Of course, there are additional expenses to consider—such as flights, insurance and vaccinations—but many mobility scholarships are also available through international student centres.
Typically, you need to plan a minimum of six months ahead for international exchange or co-op programs, attend an information session, maintain a full course load, meet a minimum grade requirement and work with an academic advisor to make a plan. While credits typically transfer over, it’s worth noting that the curriculum can vary greatly from country to country, so you may also need to plan for an extra academic term or year.
Volunteering or internship opportunities
Volunteering is a popular way to make a difference while seeing new countries and experiencing different cultures. While volunteering is a great way to help you find a future direction or bolster a CV, the hours you spend in service may also fulfill academic course requirements and earn credits. Some programs, such as the Canada Service Corp and US-based AmeriCorps, the National Health Services Corps, and Peace Corps even help cover costs.
The easiest option is to see if your school or program has a volunteer, experiential learning, or community-service program. These have become more common in recent years and earning credits for time spent in service is often quite straightforward. Many schools even have departments dedicated to walking students through the process and helping them find placements. In some cases, you may even be eligible for funding to help cover costs.
For example, students attending Mount Allison in New Brunswick are able to earn three or six academic credits for their volunteer work. In some cases, you may even be eligible for funding to help cover costs.
“All students, from all degree programs are encouraged to explore experiential learning opportunities,” says Rebecca Leaman, Mount Allison’s director of experiential learning and career development. “[The credit program] gives flexibility to students and allows them to be recognized for work that they're doing outside of their course load.” In the past, students have done everything from working with local not-for-profits to helping with programs with children, confronting food security and developing tech programs.
If not, your first step is to identify internship or volunteer abroad placements that are relevant to your field of study. (This may include placements that are a good match for elective courses you might need to take as part of your studies.) Ask the prospective organization if they’ve helped students gain academic credit in the past. For example, Unite For Sight's Global Impact Corps program has partnered with a range of public health, medical, and optometry programs and offers volunteers advice on how to apply for credit in advance of embarking on a stint of volunteering, while Volunteer Southern Africa has worked with universities to provide credit for students participating in conservation biology, wildlife management, and rural development projects.
Next, approach your international office to find out how you can get the experience officially recognized on your transcripts. In addition to being a good match for existing course outcomes, experiences will often need to meet a minimum time requirement.
Once you have approval, you’ll need to seek out an academic advisor willing to help you develop the “curriculum” and sign off on the credits for what’s essentially considered an independent course. Much like it’s not simply enough to show up for class, it won’t be enough to simply go abroad: You’ll also likely have to meet other course requirements, such as writing an essay about your experience or organizing a presentation at your school.
Don’t give up if you hit some walls. With the right preparation and faculty on your side, getting credit for your overseas experience can become a reality.
Adding travel or volunteer work to your academic career isn’t the same as kicking back and taking a holiday. In fact, the clearer your goals are for your experience, the more likely it is to be a success. But Dittmer suggests you keep in mind that earning academic credit shouldn’t be an experience’s “make or break.”
“Earning credits should align with your goals and make sense overall,” she says.
The result? An experience that gives you the chance to learn and to take the time and space to figure out who you are, all while having a meaningful experience.