Domestic Transient Study
Domestic Transient Study is designed for students with less than 64 credit hours at Emory College of Arts and Sciences. The program allows students to enroll at accredited institutions within the United States (including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) during the summer to earn credits towards their Emory College of Arts and Sciences degree. Students must be in good standing at Emory with a GPA of 2.0 or higher to be eligible for Domestic Transient Study.
Students seeking approval for international transient study should visit the International Transient Study page.
Students who wish to take courses outside of Emory but don't plan to have the credits transferred back (i.e. graduate school requirements), do not need to submit a transient study application. However, these students should plan to complete the necessary requirements for the host school's transient study process.
Participation
To participate in Domestic Transient Study, you should:
Please refer to the Eligibility Requirements & Guidelines page and the FAQ page before submitting your first application.
Complete the online application process, attach required course documentation, and pay the one-time $100 application fee, if applicable.
Monitor the status of your application via your ‘Application Status Page’. You will receive an email notification when there is a status change on your application.
Receive a decision letter detailing course approval (or rejection).
If approved, apply to the external institution as a transient or visiting student. You will also receive a Letter of Good Standing via your application status portal that you may provide to the Host Institution.
After you’ve completed the transient coursework, you must request that the host institution send an official transcript to:
Transient Study
Office for Undergraduate Education
Emory College of Arts and Sciences
550 Asbury Circle, Suite 200
Atlanta, GA 30322Or electronically to transientstudy@emory.edu.
Please submit your transcript request as soon as summer grades are posted. We should receive your transcript by October 1 at the latest in the following fall semester. Transcripts must be received directly from the host institution. Transcripts mailed or emailed from students cannot be accepted as official.
Application Process
First Application
If this is your first time submitting a Domestic Transient Study Application, you will be prompted to pay $100 application fee at the end of your application. Your application will not be processed without the $100 application fee payment unless a fee waiver is requested.
The upcoming Domestic Transient Study application for Summer 2026 opens Monday, February 16, 2026 and ends Friday, July 31, 2026.
Domestic Transient Application
For students who can demonstrate financial need, you may request an application fee waiver as you complete the application.
Supplemental Application
If you have already applied for Domestic Transient Study but wish to add a different school or additional courses to your application, then you can create a second / supplemental application. But adding all schools and courses at once and submitting one application helps to facilitate the process.
No payment is required for supplemental applications.
Drop-in informational sessions: The Transient Study team holds two weekly drop-in sessions – one in-person and another via Zoom starting February 16, 2026. Please follow this link to review the dates/times and to access the link for the Zoom session.
Please note that for first-year students:
- You can satisfy:
- Humanities and Arts (HA)
- Social Science (SS)
- Quantitative Reasoning (QR)
- Natural Science (NS)
- Intercultural Communication (IC)
- Experience and Application (XA)
- You CANNOT satisfy:
- First Year Seminar (FS)
- First Year Writing (FW)
- ECS 101
- HLTH 100
- PE
- Continued Communication and Writing (CC)
- Race and Ethnicity (ETHN)
Upperclass Students
For students with more than 64 credits at Emory College, submitting a Transient Study Application can be requested in some scenarios with relevant supporting documentation and requires approval. Students who are in good standing may be eligible to receive up to 16 semester hours and one semester of residence credit towards their degree for advanced-level courses taken at another college or university.
Students can take a sequence of language courses that could count towards their Continuing Communication requirement. If these language courses are not offered at Emory, completing these courses through Transient Study does not require department approval, but students will still need to submit a Transient Study Application.
If planning to take advanced level courses (300+): These courses must apply to the students' major/minor program of study and be courses not offered at Emory. To be eligible, the chair of the appropriate department at Emory must approve the programs of study, certify the advanced level of the proposed courses of study and provide a compelling reason the student cannot complete their major/minor programs of study at Emory. Once the department chair has certified the courses of study, students must complete the Domestic Transient Study application process for final approval. Eligible courses may be complete in the fall, spring, or summer.
If planning to take any lower level or GER courses, students may submit a petition to the Committee on Academic Standards (CAS). This requires that the student has a compelling reason to complete a course through Transient Study beyond the general eligibility requirements. In that case, students will need to provide specific documentation to support the request per the guidelines that you can review here. Eligible courses may be completed in the fall, spring, or summer. Once CAS has granted permission for transient study, students must complete the Domestic Transient Study application process for final approval by the department.
*Please note that the 64-credit maximum does include currently enrolled courses and courses planned to take through Transient Study.