The University of Maryland greatly values its diverse student body and encourages students and prospective students to take advantage of opportunities to work, live, and study abroad. These opportunities can be invaluable for individual students and help us to build a multi-lingual and multi-talented student community on campus.

Many students choose to spend a year or semester in Israel either before entering the University or during their junior year. Currently students accepted to the University of Maryland are studying at over twenty different Israeli institutions. These students will bring a great deal of knowledge and experience back with them to College Park.

While we encourage students to take advantage of the broad array of Israel programs, not all of them are appropriate for the transfer of credit towards graduation. The University of Maryland can only accept credits from accredited, baccalaureate-granting institutions of higher learning.

Credits received from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Haifa University, and the regular Bar Ilan University courses, whether offered in Hebrew or English, will be evaluated on a course-by-course basis. In cases where the course has not been pre-approved, syllabi or other documentation may be required. Most students should expect to receive one-half to three-quarters of the credits listed on their transfer transcripts, based on a conversion system applied to all foreign universities.

In addition, the Young Judea Year Course program, which offers credit through the American Jewish University, is eligible for transfer on a course-by-course basis following the conversion ratio above. There is no guarantee of course equivalencies for requirements at the University of Maryland for any of these programs.

Courses taken in yeshiva programs, irrespective of denomination and including the Institute for Advanced Torah Studies, Midrasha for Women and Kollel for Men at Bar Ilan University, are not eligible for transfer credit. We take seriously the rigorous and high-level study in such programs but recognize that both the method of instruction and goals of these programs differ markedly from those in standard academic institutions.

The Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Studies, the Hebrew Language Program, and, less formally, the University of Maryland Hillel all offer courses designed to help students with strong Hebrew and Judaics backgrounds to continue their studies and improve their skills.

The University of Maryland is committed to honoring the backgrounds and experiences of all of its students and seeks to offer academic, social, and other avenues for pursuing ongoing engagement with areas of personal, political, religious, and social import.

More information, including contact information, about study abroad, transfer credits, Jewish Studies and Jewish life on campus is available at the following websites.

Transfer Credit Center: www.tce.umd.edu

International Education Services: www.intprog.umd.edu/ies/

Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Studies: www.jewishstudies.umd.edu

University of Maryland Hillel: www.marylandhillel.org