Student Information

• Communicating with your Advisor and University:

  We cannot stress more strongly the importance of communicating with the Cultural Office constantly, especially with your academic advisor, with your university academic advisor, and the office of international students at your university. Please check your email regularly as this is the primary way our office will contact you with important notices and reminders.

• Community College Courses:

  Students must receive permission/approval from our office before enrolling in community college courses

• Contact Information:

  Please keep the Cultural Office up to date with any changes in personal information as soon as they occur (such as changes to your email address, mailing address, phone number, etc.).

• Credit Requirements:

  Students should register for at least 12 units per semester (Semester and Quarter systems) in order to maintain legal status in the U.S.; and, it is recommended to register for 15 units per semester overall. You will need to earn 27 semester credits or 42 quarter credits with a minimum GPA of 2.0 in each school calendar year in order to be entitled for summer salaries, book/equipment allowances and your annual ticket allowance.

• General Education Courses:

  Students are not permitted to enroll in any unnecessary general education classes (such as sports, general activities, swimming, backpacking, scuba diving, etc.). Units earned in such classes will not be calculated or considered for the required units needed for ticket allowances or outstanding academic achievement awards.

• Health Insurance:

  Please note that it is your responsibility to waive out of the university health insurance plan each term/year since your scholarship provides you with health insurance. Our office will not be able to pay for any university health insurance fees that are not waived.

• Official Transcripts:

  This is required at the end of every term and must be sent directly from the school to our office.

• Online Course Audit Request Form

  This is required at the end of every academic year and must be sent directly from the school to our office.

• Online Courses:

  • Students must receive permission/approval from our office before enrolling in online courses.
  • Students are permitted to take 4 online classes ONLY or 12 credits of online classes. If you exceed this online course allotment, we will be unable to authenticate your degree upon graduation. Online courses taken in accordance with the rules and regulations due to COVID-19 are exempted.

• Verification of Enrollment

  This is required at the beginning of every term.

• Withdrawals:

  If you withdraw from any classes after the add/drop deadline at your school, you will have to repay any classes that you receive a W (withdrawal grade).

• Bank Account Changes:

  In the event that you change your bank account, please inform the Cultural Office within the first week of the month to avoid having us inadvertently make deposits in your old account hence causing delays in you receiving your salary.

• Book/Equipment Allowances:

  Book/equipment allowances will be released biannually upon receipt of required documents.

• Monthly Salaries:

  Salaries are released around the 20th of each month for the following month. The salary released to you each month is for the next month's expenses. For example, the December salary is released around November 20th. Please check your bank account before contacting us about your salary. Your monthly salary may be on hold (meaning you do not get paid) if you do not submit the required documents to your advisor every term. Please email your Cultural Office advisor regarding any salary-hold questions.

• Ticket Allowances:

  To request a ticket allowance, please submit the completed ticket allowance form to your advisor who will review your eligibility.

If you have any questions about your scholarship rules, your financial entitlements or anything else related to your scholarship, please contact your advisor

• Congratulations on your upcoming graduation! We are extremely pleased to see you reach this important milestone. Now that you are close to completing your degree, our office will need to prepare your graduation report and authenticate your transcripts.

• Required Documents:

  Please ensure that once your degree has been conferred and it has posted to your transcripts, please have the following sent to your advisor directly by the university:
  
  
  • Final official transcripts with degree posted (must be sent directly from the school to our office)
  • Official transcripts for all transfer credits posted (must be sent directly from the school to our office)
  • Online Course Audits for your home university and any transfer institutions (must be sent directly from the school to our office)
• Other documents may be required as well.
• Please contact your advisor for any questions related to graduation and graduation allowances.

• Student Forms