Academic Information

University classroom students

IVSP students can participate in academic courses and experience being in classes with Canadian and other international students. Choose from hundreds of available courses in the humanities, social sciences or sciences - the options are vast!

Course Registration Requirements

In order to register in an academic course, the following requirements must be met:

  • Checked box The IVSP student has a strong enough level of English to be successful in the course.
  • Checked box The IVSP student has the background (prerequisites) for the course.
  • Checked box There are seats available in the class.
  • Checked box The student has permission from the Faculty, Department, or instructor to remain in the course.

All academic course registration is done in consultation with an IVSP advisor.

Available Academic Courses

Information about the academic courses available for registration can be found online by searching Bear Tracks (log in as a guest), or viewing the course listing in the University of Alberta calendar.

IVSP students can register in Open Studies courses in the following Faculties:

  • Agriculture, Life & Environmental Sciences
  • Arts
  • Education
  • Native Studies
  • Physical Education and Recreation
  • Science

If the course(s) you are interested in are not available through Open Studies, you will require official permission from the teaching department in order to register. Requests are submitted by IVSP staff after you start your program. Permission is not guaranteed.

Courses that require official permission requests include, but are not limited to:

  • Courses in the Alberta School of Business (e.g. finance, marketing, management, human resources) 
  • Courses in the Faculty of Engineering 
  • All Economics (ECON) courses 
  • Senior level courses (e.g. courses with numbers 300 and higher)

Students who require non-Open Studies courses to graduate may need to consider a different study abroad program.

Academic Courses for Credit

A student's level of English will determine how many academic credits they can earn while at UAlberta.

Auditing Academic Courses

IVSP students may choose to audit an academic course. When auditing a course, students can attend the lectures but do not need to complete the assignments or exams. Students do not receive academic credit for audited courses.

The tuition for an audited course is half of the for-credit course fee.

Restricted Academic Courses

IVSP students cannot take courses in the following Faculties:

  • Graduate and Postdoctoral studies
  • Law
  • Medicine & Dentistry
  • Nursing
  • Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Academic Success Centre

The Academic Success Centre provides professional academic support to help students maximize their academic success and achieve their academic goals. They offer appointments, advising, group workshops, online courses, and specialized programming year-round to students in all university programs and levels of achievement and study.