Hurdles after Admission

Requirements for the Dual Degree Program

To be eligible to take the courses at the Australian National University (ANU), students must meet standards for academic ability and English proficiency which are called the Academic and English Hurdles. Hurdle requirement is assessed only once at the end of the semester when students have undertaken courses and received grades for a total 32 credits at Ritsumeikan University (RU). Withdrawn grades are not included in this calculation.

At GLA, the Academic Advising Center (AAC) will conduct a mid-semester survey of students performance in the courses so as to ensure timely support and advising every semester. Students are strongly encouraged to visit the AAC to ensure they are making an informed decision about how to manage their courseload towards the Dual Degree requirements.

As indicated, the hurdle assessment is conducted only once. Students who do not meet the standards cannot continue coursework in the dual degree program and are not eligible to earn an ANU Bachelor of Asia-Pacific Affairs degree. Students in this situation will work to graduate by completing their second and subsequent years of study in the Single Degree Track, which consists of all RU courses. The student will obtain a bachelor’s degree from RU in Global Liberal Arts once all degree requirements are completed.

Please see the following page for more information about the Hurdles.

English as a Second Language

In order to continue with their studies in the Dual Degree Program, students who did not meet standards of the English Hurdle at the time of enrollment must first fulfill certain score criteria before being assessed for the Hurdle. To fulfill the score criteria, the student is provided with the option to take an “English as a Second Language (ESL)” program which is offered as an extracurricular subject by GLA. Please note that no course credit can be provided for an ESL course.