F-1 Students

• Follow USD, scholarship sponsor, and immigration rules
• Understand what your sponsor requires of you!
• Maintain a valid financial guarantee (or financial support letter)
• Make sure your official Financial Guarantee is submitted to Student Accounts at studentaccounts@sandiego.edu.
• Check your Financial Guarantee end date:
  • If you have an expired Financial Guarantee, you will not be able to register for the following semester. It is your responsibility to work with your sponsor to ensure a valid Financial Guarantee is given to Student Accounts so USD can continue to invoice your sponsor.
• Check your student account in your MySanDiego portal and pay any outstanding personal balance each term
  • You are responsible to pay for any fees that are not covered by your sponsor. These include: parking citations, printing, library fines, etc.
• Check your USD email frequently
• Be aware of holds
  • Reasons for holds may be:
    • Outstanding balance (check your student account frequently and pay on time!)
    • Expired Financial Guarantee
    • Academic Standing (Grades, Attendance)
    • Lack of official documentation such as the submission of high school transcripts or language scores
    • It is your responsibility to seek the appropriate office to remove your hold before your course registration date!It may take up to 10 business days to remove a hold. If you are unsure of which office to contact email internationaloffice@sandiego.edu for guidance.
• Submit the Authorization for Release of Information waiver (FERPA form) for your sponsor.
  • We ask you to complete this form before the first day of classes.

Types of Letters & Where to Request Them:

• Major Letter: a letter stating a student’s intended or declared major.
  • Request from:
    • New/Incoming Students: Contact USD International Undergraduate Admissions for this document: intladmissions@sandiego.edu
    • Current/Continuing Students: Complete this Verification of Enrollment form which will be processed by the University Registrar.
• Academic Plan: this document confirms the length of your study at USD
  • Request from: Please see your Academic Advisor for this document. You can see the name of your Academic Advisor by logging in to your MySanDiego portal, click on “My Academics” and then “Degree Works”.
• Verification of Enrollment Letter: this document confirms your enrollment at USD
  • Verification of Enrollment Request form
• Evaluation of Transfer Credits (Transfer Students Only): complete this document to transfer credits to USD from another institution.
  • A formal evaluation of your transfer credits will be conducted once you have confirmed your enrollment. Once complete, it will be available in your Degree Works located in your MySanDiego portal. If you are an incoming student and have further questions about your transfer evaluation in Degree Works, please contact your assigned Academic Advisor.
• Good Standing Letter: this letter confirms you are a student in good standing at USD
  • Requested from: Office of International Students and Scholars via iTorero.
• Concurrent Enrollment Letter: this letter states the courses you have requested to take at another institution
  • Requested from: Office of International Students and Scholars via iTorero.
    • Please keep in mind that the issuance of a Concurrent Enrollment Letter does not guarantee that your classes taken outside of USD will transfer back, nor should this letter be used for tuition reimbursement purposes. Please consult with your embassy adviser or scholarship benefactor with regard to taking classes off campus. Also refer to this resource on petitioning to transfer credits.
• Official Transcript: a comprehensive record of a student's academic progress at the University of San Diego.
  • Current USD students or former students/alumni who still have access to the MySanDiego Portal can order official transcripts online through the MySanDiego portal.
    • Log into your MySanDiego Portal
    • Click on My Academics under Torero Hub
    • Click on Request Official Transcript under My Classes
• Unofficial Transcript: an unofficial (not certified by the university) comprehensive record of a student's academic progress at the University of San Diego.
  • There is no fee for this request. Current students can view and print unofficial transcript through the MySanDiego portal.
    • Log into your MySanDiego Portal
    • Click on My Academics under Torero Hub
    • Click on View/Print Unofficial Transcript under My Classes
• Immigration Related Documents (such as an I-20)
  • Request from:
    • Current International Students: iTorero.
    • New/Incoming Students: Contact USD International Undergraduate Admissions for this document: intladmissions@sandiego.edu

The Office of International Students & Scholars encourages all sponsored students to complete a FERPA authorization form. In order to facilitate requests and documents from embassy scholarship advisors on your behalf please complete one of the following steps:

• Grant FERPA authorization to your embassy advisor, OR
• Upload your signed scholarship agreement to iTorero.

Students and visiting scholars have the option of enrolling in the USD Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP), coordinated through USD’s provider Gallagher Student Health, or waiving with a comparable plan. Embassy scholars have the following options to waive or enroll in the USD SHIP:

Option 1: Request your sponsor send a valid Financial Guarantee (also known as a Financial Support Letter) to Student Accounts at studentaccounts@sandiego.edu. Once the university has this document on file the health insurance charge will be dropped from your student account and you will be waived from the health insurance requirement.

Option 2: If you are unable to provide a Financial Guarantee by the health insurance deadline please follow the waiver instructions here. If you have questions on the waiver process email internationaloffice@sandiego.edu.

Option 3: If your scholarship does not include health insurance you can either enroll in the USD Student Health Insurance Plan or waive with a comparable plan.

Learn more about the USD SHIP enrollment and waiver deadlines and what is considered a “comparable plan”.