Grades and Transcripts

Upon completion of your program, CIEE center staff send final grade reports and, when available, a host institution transcript to the CIEE U.S. office. A CIEE Academic Record (CAR) or School of Record (SOR) transcript is then issued and forwarded to your home institution, along with any relevant host institution documentation. The CAR includes course titles, language and hours of instruction, recommended U.S. credit hours, and grade equivalency, along with an academic guide detailing the host institution, admissions requirements, course offerings, academic calendar, and grade conversion (if applicable).

Your home institution has final authority for awarding credit. Once credit is granted, the home institution or SOR transcript becomes the official record of your program participation. You will not be sent a copy of the CAR but can view your grades and credits in your CIEE My Account by clicking the “View” button next to ‘Course Registration & Grades’ within the ‘Course Information’ section; this section will only appear when your grades are available. Checking your CIEE My Account is the easiest way to determine whether grades have been sent to your home school.

Autonomous students participate on a CIEE program without a home university nomination and choose (prior to their program) to receive either a School of Record (SOR) transcript or a CIEE Academic Record (CAR).

SOR: Autonomous students who choose SOR receive two official copies of their transcript. Tulane University (CIEE School of Record) will either mail both copies to the student’s permanent home address or one to the home address and one to the previously designated institution.

CAR: Autonomous students’ CARs are not automatically sent to an institution. They may submit the Autonomous CAR Request Form within two years of program completion to request that an official CAR be sent to an institution. For a personal CAR copy, click "ORDER ACADEMIC RECORDS" under Q7. 

Home schools typically receive final grades from CIEE about 12 weeks after the program's official end date. If you’re attending multiple sessions or blocks, the processing timeline begins after your final session/block ends. We ask students to refrain from contacting CIEE about grade status unless grades are not recorded at your home school after 12 weeks.  

Note: Some sites, especially those involving host university courses (e.g., Amsterdam, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Gaborone, London, Madrid, Paris, Seville, Toulouse), may take longer due to local grade reporting procedures.

For students using CIEE’s School of Record (Tulane University), grade processing takes about 3 additional weeks. Tulane University creates and sends the official transcript to your home school and a copy to your permanent address. To check if you're a School of Record student, see if you completed the "School of Record Waiver" task under “My Submitted Materials” in your CIEE My Account. 

After receiving the CIEE Academic Record, your home institution or CIEE’s School of Record (SOR) processes the transcript according to their policies, creating the official record of your CIEE participation. Your home school decides how credits and grades are counted or transferred, regardless of whether your home school receives the CAR or SOR transcript.

Grades are withheld if participants have outstanding financial or administrative obligations to CIEE. If you owe funds, a bill will be posted to your online account shortly after the debt is reported, often before grade reports arrive, allowing time for payment to avoid delays. All balances must be paid, and required paperwork submitted, before grades are released. If a student fails more than 50% of their coursework, their home school may receive a preliminary grade report, but the official report won’t be released until obligations are met.

Only the CIEE Registration team can release final grades, and grades cannot be provided via phone or email. All grade-related inquiries should be directed to the CIEE Registration team at registrar@ciee.org, not international staff. Include your term, year, and program name in email subject lines.

Grades in Canvas are provisional and may change. CIEE generally defers to instructors' authority on grading, except in rare cases of administrative error, discrimination, or unfairness. For grade appeals, contact the CIEE Registration Coordinator or email registrar@ciee.org. Appeals require supporting documentation and must be submitted within three months of grades being published to CIEE My Accounts when there are no financial or administrative holds on the student account. Students with holds have up to five months from the program end date to resolve them and submit an appeal.

Appeals typically take 2-3 months to process, and the Academic Appeals Committee’s decisions are final. Late appeal requests will not be considered. Appeals for CIEE-administered classes can be filed directly with CIEE. For host institution courses, students must first use the host institution’s appeal process (if available) before appealing to CIEE. 

This page and these directions are intended for CIEE college- level study abroad students. For high school program information, please visit the High School Study Abroad page.

The process for requesting grades depends on the type of documentation you received for your CIEE program:

School of Record (SOR) Students:

• If you participated via SOR, request additional transcripts directly from the SOR. Check “My Submitted Materials” in your CIEE My Account to confirm if you completed the “School of Record Waiver” or email registrar@ciee.org to confirm. SOR transcripts are not available retroactively.
• SOR students (Fall 2016–present) in CIEE college Study Abroad or High School Global Navigator programs (Summer 2016+), contact Tulane University for your transcript.
• SOR students (Spring 2004–Summer 2016), contact Spelman College for your transcript.

CIEE Academic Record Students:

• If you participated as a CAR student, were an SOR student before Spring 2004, or participated on your program as an Autonomous student but did not opt for an SOR transcript, request your transcript via Parchment.

Order Academic Records

CIEE has partnered with Parchment to order and send your CIEE Academic Record securely. PDF academic records produced using this service contain identical information to the printed record and can be certified as unaltered by uploading the file to the Parchment website that is provided during the delivery process.  

Parchment Inc. has been granted the authority to deliver all such electronic academic record requests on behalf of CIEE and respond to any inquiries regarding these transactions.  

When you request a CAR, CIEE provides:

• Official CAR
• CAR guide with grading rubric (for programs from Fall 2000–present)
• Letter of explanation

Grade reports for study before Spring 2003 may not be available and are reviewed case by case, with potential delays.

Starting January 6, 2025, sales tax may apply to document requests, including transcripts and diplomas, in compliance with federal, state, and local tax laws. This change may affect the total cost of your request based on various factors such as document type, delivery method, and location. A detailed cost breakdown, including any taxes, will be shown before order completion.