Current/Potential Sponsored Students

Sponsored students have a dedicated International Student Adviser (ISA) to assist with navigating immigration concerns.  These can include academics, enrollment, extension of stay in the U.S., travel, on and off-campus employment, change of major, and a wide range of other issues.  A list of topics the ISA often assists with can be found on Penn State Global's 'forms' page.

Sponsored students are strongly encouraged to meet with an ISA to address concerns. If it is not something the ISA normally assists with, the ISA will redirect you to the Sponsor Student office or other appropriate resources.    

Please use the Starfish system to schedule a zoom or in-person appointment.  For in-person advising, check-in on the fourth floor of Boucke about five minutes before your appointment. Concerns and inquiries can also be submitted on iStart using the Submit A Question form.

For non-immigration matters (such as getting assistance completing sponsor forms, letters, or getting help with requests from your sponsor), please email Sponsor@psu.edu.   In the subject line of the email, be sure to include wording to express what is needed.   For example, "SACM Letter Request," or "Sponsor Letter Listing Web-based courses for Fall 2023," etc.

Sponsored Relations has a dedicated finance staff who provide sponsors with itemized invoices after the drop/add period. In addition to supporting sponsors, our finance staff support students by responding to questions about financial guarantees, bursar accounts, and financial holds.

Students are encouraged to contact our office, should a financial discrepancy arise. Students can reach our finance staff directly at sponsor@psu.edu with "Finance" in the subject line and your PSU ID in the body of the email.

The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) law protects the confidentiality of student information. Penn State University does not release student information to sponsoring organizations and/or other stakeholders unless there is a legal reason to do so, an emergency situation, or the student has given written consent.

Sponsored Relations provides sponsored students with a Release of Information form (ROI). The ROI gives Penn State the permission to share important academic, financial, and enrollment information with sponsoring organizations. Typically, sponsoring organizations require this level of permission for sponsored students, granted through the ROI.

For more information or to receive a blank copy of the Penn State ROI document, please contact sponsor@psu.edu with "ROI" in the subject line and your PSU ID in the body of the email.

All international students at Penn State University are required to purchase Penn State Student Health Insurance. However, international sponsored students are eligible for a waiver from this mandate, if their sponsor provides health insurance that is approved by Penn State Health Services. 

For more information, please contact the Sponsored Relations office at sponsor@psu.edu.

Sponsoring organizations may periodically require official transcripts or other official reporting from the University Registrar. This includes an official document which verifies transcripts, conferral date, and degree earned. This documentation does not include online course verification or campus location. Official transcripts can be ordered online through the University Registrar.

For more information and to order official transcripts, please visit the Penn State Registrar.

Sponsored Relations provides students and sponsors with course schedules upon request. This service is available for current and future semesters. Course schedules for past semesters cannot be provided; however, this information is available on academic transcripts.

Please submit your course schedule request to sponsor@psu.edu with "Course Schedule" in the subject line and your PSU ID in the body of the email.

Penn State University is a network of 24 campuses across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Often, sponsorship is limited to a specific campus in the Penn State system. Sponsored Relations provides students and sponsors with campus verification upon request.

Please submit your campus verification request to sponsor@psu.edu with "Campus Verification" in the subject line and your PSU ID in the body of the email.

Sponsoring organizations may require periodic academic verification. This could include verification of academic progress, course justification, degree requirements, and other requests. Academic verification can only be provided by Academic Advisors and departmental staff.

Please submit your academic verification requests to your Academic Advisor and/or your departmental staff.

Sponsoring organizations may require the University to track and report the number of online/hybrid courses taken. This type of verification is a special request which can only be processed by the University Registrar.

Please submit your online/hybrid course verification and enrollment history request to embassyverifs@psu.edu including your PSU ID.