Acadeum College Consortium
Lourdes University offers select online courses to its students each semester including summer and winter terms. Lourdes continues to support its students and their educational goals by being a member of the Acadeum College Consortium. This partnership allows for select online courses, found through the College Consortium Platform, to be taken by our students and is a conscientious effort to assist them academically. Courses taken through the platform could be used for increasing one’s GPA, to repeat a course, or to maintain athletic eligibility. In addition, Lourdes University will soon offer courses to students of other institutions a part of the consortium to assist their educational goals.
Designated consortial courses are transcribed on the student’s Lourdes transcript, and this practice makes it possible for:
- the home institution to apply financial aid to the courses;
- offer students an opportunity to improve the cumulative GPA by a substituting consortial course grade when the course is eligible for course repeat (typically a D, F, FN or WF); and,
- to count the course(s) towards part- or full-time status and residency requirements.
Designated transfer courses are transcribed on the student’s Lourdes transcript as transfer credit, and follows the University transfer credit policy as follows:
- Must be completed with a C grade or higher to transfer.
- An official transcript from the teaching institution must be provided to Lourdes University with the course is finished.
- Are documented on a Lourdes Transcript as transfer credit not bearing a grade.
- Does not apply financial aid at the home institution to the courses.
- Does not improve home cumulative GPA.
- Does not count towards enrollment or residency requirements.
Approved Courses
The provost, deans and the registrar collaborate to approve a list of consortial courses to make available to students. In choosing courses, they review course syllabi, faculty credentials, and additional assessment of learning outcomes data.
Steps to request to take a course(s)
A Student can request courses in two ways:
- Through a student portal (requires login to the College Consortium Platform)
- Through an advisor or the registrar (particularly for courses that are not in the student portal but that a student may need)
Approving student request
Lourdes will review the student’s course request through the College Consortium Platform while taking into consideration eligibility (e.g., does the student need the course, is the student on a financial hold, has the prerequisite(s) been met, etc.) and will either approve or deny the request.
Communication to student about request
After a student submits a Acadeum College Consortium course request, the Registrar will send one of two e-mail communications:
- Denied, which may require the student to respond with additional information.
- Approved, which gives the student key information and directs them to make a tuition payment.
Course billing and student payment
The student pays the Home Institution’s tuition rate per credit hour for the course. Many teaching institutions require full payment before a student can start the course. The Home Institution will bill the student for courses offered on the College Consortium Platform.
Refunds
Once a student enrolls in a course offered through the College Consortium Platform the student agrees to pay the course fee(s). The College Consortium Platform course(s) will not follow the Lourdes Tuition Refund policy beyond the last day to add/drop a course at either institution (whichever comes first).
Maintaining the official course record
Institutions transcribe consortial courses differently, but Lourdes designates the courses as follows:
- Uses the course number that is the same or similar to the equivalent home institution courses.
- Course numbers may vary from the strict home institution equivalent, but in all cases they will correspond to the academic level.
- Section number will designate the course was taken through the Acadeum College Consortium in the University student information system.
The teaching institution will communicate course withdraws, and grades to the home institution. The record will be transcribed accordingly in a timely manner, however, may not meet Lourdes calendar dates.