1.   What is the quickest way to obtain viewbooks and other promotional material?
Send an e-mail with your request to materials@bestsemester.com

2.  Who receives materials on the various programs?
Council chief academic officers (CAOs) are asked to designate a main contact person on their campus, as well as individual program contacts (if applicable) and to notify them of the appointment.  Some CAOs indicate that they will be the main contact person; others choose a faculty member or another administrator (the Off Campus Study Coordinator) to fill the role.  Every year student program materials and updates are mailed to these appointed persons or, if no one has been designated, to the chief academic officer.  In addition, faculty and administrators who request materials on a regular basis are also added to the programs’ mailing lists.  Anyone may request information by contacting the Council’s student programs office at materials@bestsemester.com.

3.    How does financial aid work?
The eleven Council semester programs (ASC, ASP, CMC, CSP, LASP, LAFSC, MESP, RSP, SSO, USP and WJC) are extension campuses of Council member institutions, in effect, under contractual arrangement.  Most of the Council colleges and universities allow all applicable financial aid to continue during the time that the students are attending the Council student programs.  This includes federal and state aid, private grants and/or scholarships, and institutional scholarships and grants. Several colleges cover the difference in price if their TRB is lower than that of the program.  Others designate a certain amount of institutional aid to be made available for students studying off-campus. This is a decision that must be made by individual institutions. It is important that whatever decision is made, the people responsible for working with students be aware of the policy.  Students are strongly encouraged to find out what their school’s policy is prior to applying.

4.  How are students billed?
Four to five weeks prior to the beginning of each semester, the Council sends a bill to each sending institution via the office of the chief academic officer, unless other arrangements have been made. It is sent c/o this office so that it can be forwarded to the proper person along with any necessary information and/or approval of payment. We request that this bill be paid within 30 days. Each campus is responsible for billing the students involved, including applicable financial aid. Payment plans can be established on an individual basis. Since Fall 2003 bills have been e-mailed as PDF attachments.

Any questions regarding billing should be directed to Jennifer Procopio, Accounting & Human Resources Administrator, at 202.546.8713 x 348 or e-mail: jprocopio@cccu.org  

5.  How is credit granted?
Since Council programs are considered “extension campuses” of your college or university, the hours of credit for each semester and summer program are not granted by the programs, but are recommended by the Council to the home institution.   (Sixteen-Seventeen credits are recommended for each semester program and six credits for the Oxford Summer Programme.) The student’s home college or university grants the credit. “Transcripts” are sent to the registrar’s office at the end of each semester.

Credit can usually be applied in a variety of ways--usually a combination of major/minor credit, general education credit, and general elective credit.  Council recommendations are provided on program websites. Students are advised in advance of program participation to follow their home campus policies and procedures for determining applicability of program credit.    (Usually this is with their academic advisors and/or the registrar.)  Most syllabi are available on bestsemester.com in the academics section for each program and are usually useful in determining the applicability of credit.

6.   How does the Council prepare students for their off-campus semester?
 After students are accepted and they respond by submitting their non-refundable acceptance deposit, they are sent detailed information on what to expect during the semester, how to prepare for it, and what to bring. International programs that include travel in their costs (ASC, CSP, LASP, MESP, RSP and USP) also notify them about their flights from the U.S. gateway city to the site of the program and arrange for visas if required.  They are given phone numbers to call if they have any questions.  Copies of this information are available to faculty contacts upon request.