CIC Online Courses

Semester CIC Course Eligibility

A student who wishes to enroll in a CIC course that coincides with a Luther semester must be pre-approved by Luther College. The Associate Provost and Dean of Academic Affairs will approve or deny all requests, taking into account the recommendation(s) of their primary academic advisor and/or visa focal-point.

Students eligible to submit requests to enroll in a CIC course include, but are not limited to:

• Students who have an approved accommodation from Accessibility Services to take online courses.
• International students who are unable to physically return to campus due to travel or visa restrictions. International students should contact their visa focal-point at Luther College and their primary academic advisor before submitting a request.

The Registrar’s Office will be notified by the Provost’s Office when a student receives approval for registering for a CIC course. The Registrar’s Office will provide additional information and the link to the Acadeum portal where the student can search and request enrollment in a course.

Summer CIC Course Eligibility

A student who wishes to enroll in a CIC course that coincides with a Luther Summer Term is not required to seek pre-approval by Luther College. The student should contact the Registrar’s Office and staff will provide additional information and the link to the Acadeum portal where the student can search and register for courses.

CIC Course Transfer Policies

The policies pertaining to CIC courses are outlined below. Advantages of using the Acadeum platform include selecting from a list of pre-approved courses with the knowledge of how each course will fulfill some Luther graduation requirements. Additionally, the process happens without the need for a transcript from the teaching institution.

• Only courses from institutions belonging to the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) will be considered for approval.
• Accepted courses may be used to satisfy course prerequisites, general education requirements, or major and minor requirements, with appropriate approvals.
• Consortial credits apply toward completion of a Luther College degree. The semester credit hours carried by any CIC course will count towards the minimum of 128 semester credit hours required for graduation.
• The semester credit hours carried by any CIC course will count towards the minimum of 64 in-residence credit hours required for graduation.
• Consortial credits are considered as attempted credits for the purposes of determining Satisfactory Academic Progress.
• If a course is to be used to satisfy a specific graduation requirement, in most cases, it must have a value of at least 3 semester hours.
• If a CIC course has a Luther equivalency, it will automatically fulfill the core curriculum requirements fulfilled by the Luther course. For example if CIC course xxx-131 is equivalent to the Luther course yyy-130, and the Luther course fulfills the Creative Literacy requirement (CRE-L), the CIC course will do so as well.
• Grades (to include W and lower than C-) and credit earned in consortial courses are included in the calculation of a student’s Luther College semester, cumulative, major and minor grade point averages.
• Courses from community colleges will only be equated at the 100-200 level.
• Unlike transfer courses, courses repeated through consortial arrangements may serve the purpose of improving grade point averages or to continue to make progress towards graduation. Procedures regarding repeating courses apply.
• Luther College will not intervene in grade disputes involving a consortial teaching institution.
• Luther College will not intervene in disputes regarding date-of-drop or withdrawal, or disputes regarding refunds in cases in which the student did not correspond with the consortial teaching institution per the deadlines published for the course by the consortial teaching institution.
• Students are responsible for adhering to course policies of the consortial teaching institution (e.g., course participation, logging in/attending, submitting assignments, securing course materials, and all other actions as stated on the syllabus and by the teaching institution).

CIC Course Selection

A Student can identify a CIC course by logging into the Acadeum Student Portal and selecting a course from a pre-approved list, or if a desired course is not found on the pre-approved list: 

• The student can submit a course search request to Acadeum using the Acadeum Student Portal’s search form to find a CIC candidate course offering that may suit their needs.
• The student will receive an email from Acadeum with links to CIC candidate courses that may fulfill the student’s need.
• The student must forward this email the Registrar’s Office (registrar@luther.edu) with the CIC candidate course information when one or more courses have been found. Prior to forwarding the email, the student must clearly identify what requirements each candidate course is intended to fulfill.
• Approval of a candidate course will be determined by the Registrar’s Office (in the case of general education requirements) or the appropriate academic department if the course is intended to fulfill a major/minor requirement.
• The approval or denial of the candidate course will be reported to the student by email.
• The student should wait for this response before attempting to register for the CIC candidate course.

CIC Course Registration

• The student requests their Luther academic advisor email the Registrar’s Office (registar@luther.edu) their approval for specific CIC course registration.
• The student requests enrollment for CIC course(s) (pre-approved or approved on request) through the Acadeum Student Portal.
• Acadeum notifies the Luther Registrar’s Office that the student has requested enrollment in a CIC course.
• The Registrar’s Office will either approve or deny the request for enrollment.
• Acadeum notifies the student of the Registrar’s Office decision by email.
• If the request is denied by the Registrar’s Office, an explanation is provided in the email.
• If approved by the Registrar’s Office, the request for enrollment is automatically sent to the teaching institution.
• The teaching institution registers the student if a “seat” is available.
• The teaching institution informs the Registrar’s Office the student has been registered.
• The Registrar’s Office will email the student they have been registered for the course.
• The student will be held to the teaching institution’s drop policies.

Course Billing and Student Payment

• Tuition for CIC courses taken during a semester is included in Luther tuition. Full-time students will be eligible to maintain their financial aid award. Students must register for at least 12 hours each semester to establish full-time enrollment status for financial aid purposes.
• Tuition for CIC courses taken during the Summer Term will be charged at the Luther College summer rate per semester hour.
• Students will not be charged room, board, or CAF if they are not on campus.
• Luther College will pay the course fee(s) to Acadeum on the student’s behalf.
• Refunds: Withdrawal from CIC courses will follow Luther’s Tuition Refund policy. Please follow this link for additional information.

The Official Course Record

• The credit hours as well as the letter grade (to include W and lower than C-) will be included on the student’s Luther College transcript.