Whether or not to study abroad is a question that most Colby students ask themselves at some point in their academic career. Each student's answer to the question will depend on a variety of factors: his or her major, career plans, foreign-language preparation, and personal factors. Students who decide to study abroad (and about 60 percent of the junior class goes abroad) will want to be aware of the regulations. Since Colby awards transfer credit for study abroad, it takes the academic quality of the experience very seriously.
The Office of Off-Campus Study regularly consults Travel Warnings and Consular Information Sheets issued by the U.S. Department of State and encourages students and parents to consult these statements as well.  College policy prohibits students from studying abroad in a country where there is a Department of State Travel Warning in effect at the time of departure.  The Office of Off-Campus Study has a protocol for advising parents in the event of any incidents occurring on Colby programs abroad that might pose a danger to students. Colby students studying on non-Colby programs should contact the organizers of these programs directly to find out about their policies.
A handbook giving details of study abroad and a list of Colby and other approved programs is sent to sophomores every fall and is available to any Colby student from the Office of Off-Campus Study and its Web site (www.colby.edu/off-campus). Students should be aware of the following rules and deadlines:
    *    To get permission to study abroad, students must have a cumulative GPA of 2.7 or higher; this minimum GPA requirement applies even when a student's major requires study abroad. If, by the end of his or her third semester at Colby, a student's GPA is below 2.7 and his or her major requires study abroad, the student should talk to his or her advisor about changing majors or possible alternative plans. Students should also note that some programs, including Colby programs, require a cumulative GPA of higher than 2.7.  A students whose GPA drops below 2.7 at any point prior to departure will not be permitted to study abroad.
    *    In order to be approved for study abroad, students must not be on any kind of probation (academic, disciplinary, social, or housing).
    *    Preliminary applications for study abroad (indicating choice of semester and, if possible, choice of country and program) are due in the Office of Off-Campus Study on November 15, 2006. The final application forms for study abroad for both the fall and spring semesters are due on March 15, 2007. This deadline applies to Colby and non-Colby programs.
    *    All students who wish to study abroad must have the written approval of their major advisor and the faculty liaison for their major department.
    *    Study abroad is limited in most instances to one semester. Foreign language majors are exempt from this rule, as are students who participated in a program abroad during the fall semester of their first year. Due to the necessity of balancing the semester enrollments at Colby, if may not be possible for students to study off-campus during the semester of their choice.  By vote of the faculty, academic reasons take precedence over extracurricular and athletic commitments when determining priority for studying abroad during one's semester of choice.
    *    There is a fee of $1,000 per semester billed to students who are studying abroad. This fee is included in the comprehensive fee for Colby programs abroad. Colby administers its own programs abroad in Spain, France, and Russia. Colby is officially affiliated with other programs in Japan, Sri Lanka, and France. There are other programs in a variety of countries around the world that meet Colby's standards and are listed as approved programs or departmentally-supported petionable programs in the off-campus study handbook.