The course credit transfer process can be divided into a few stages:
- Pre-enrollment, where you ask the "what if' questions." What if I change my major during transfer? What if I go part-time? What if the course credit transfer impacts my financial aid?
- Enrollment and Application, where admissions works with the academic departments to determine the acceptability of prior coursework, course credit and the associated degrees you may have earned like an Associate's Degree.
- Post-enrollment, where the school's Registrar actually articulates the course credit and applies each course toward a specific set of degree requirements and produces a degree audit report.
What college courses will be accepted as course transfer credit?
Generally, college-level courses completed at regionally-accredited institutions will transfer, provided that a grade of at least "C" (2.0) is earned and the course is similar in content and scope to work offered at your targeted college or university who will assess your academic history. Sometimes, you will find institutions that will accept grades of "D" or better providing they exhibit appropriate coursework completed at regionally-accredited institutions. Regional accrediting bodies include the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, New England Association of Schools and Colleges, North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
What is the maximum number of college course credits transferred and accepted?
Generally, 60 credits from a community or two-year college or 60-90 credits from a combination of two and four-year institutions may be applied towards the degree. Students are required to complete at least the final 30-60 credits in residence (at their new institution) to earn a degree.
How do college courses credits transfer from schools on the quarter system?
Most colleges and universities award a split credit converting the units to a .67 credit per credit-hour of study at institutions on the quarter system. A 3-credit course would merit 2 credits on a trimester program. The college or university should work with you to assign these credits within your program of study and electives.
My previous school awarded course units and not semester credits. Will they transfer as course semester credits?
Most colleges and universities will convert your course units to semester credits based on the number of units required to earn a degree at your previous school.
Do my grades transfer with my college courses?
Although your grades from transfer courses are used in making admissions decisions, they are not calculated into your GPA as transfer courses. Your transfer courses will appear on your official academic history transcript, but the grades you received in the classes will not count toward any GPA or class ranking.
Can I get college course credit for courses taken PASS/FAIL?
Most Colleges and Universities will award credit if it can be determined that you earned a passing grade. At some institutions students must earn at least a "C" to pass the course.
What if the college course at my old school is more or fewer credits or units than the equivalent college course?
Most colleges and universities will not take any credits away from you, nor will they add any additional credits to your earned hours. There may be calculations to convert semester credits to course units and back again, or there may be calculations to convert the quarter semester to trimester basis. For example, a 5-semester hour calculus class at a sending school will be awarded 5 semester hours, even if it is deemed directly equivalent to something offered at fewer semester hours. Schools will apply a multiplier of .67 to all credits earned under a quarter system, thus a 4-quarter hour course at any institution will be worth 2.67 semester hours. Some schools will take the 5 semester hours and apply it to a 3 credit course and then apply the 2 remaining credits toward another elective.
What if the college courses and credits were taken and earned many years ago?
Most colleges and universities have a time limit on the validity of course credits. Some will work with you on determining equivalencies for older courses, but you will have some homework to do. If you do have several courses from many years ago (say more than 10) it may be to your advantage to repeat the introductory level courses, even though you will lose transfer credit. If you have more specialized courses, let's say in Computers, much of the technology may be obsolete or changed. Academic Departments could be contacted to see if they would give you credit or partial credit for the historical value for instance. In all cases, collecting course syllabi and assessments to be presented during the assessment would be helpful.
What if my college courses and studies were taken at an institution overseas?
Most colleges and universities evaluate coursework taken at overseas institutions of higher learning in a several-step process. Schools will need to have as much information as possible regarding your coursework, your previous institution and your previous educational system. Courses will be evaluated on the basis of their comparability to courses and curricula offered. Generally, institutions must be recognized by the Ministry of Education in the home country. All transcripts and course syllabi and descriptions must be translated from the original language into English and certified by a professional translator. A diploma supplement prepared by your sending school would be most helpful. Credits will be evaluated on the basis of comparable bachelor’s degree requirements at the sending institution.
Can I receive college course credit for military study, for work experience or test out of courses?
Most colleges and universities award military credit earned through regionally accredited institutions. Schools recognize comparable credit from the Community College of the Air Force, the Defense Language Institute, the National Cryptologic Institute, one of the service academies or to any other regionally-accredited institution. Many schools do award credit based on ACE or Dantes recommendations; however, many don't. Just like many schools will award credit for non-traditional or experiential learning if a portfolio process is supervised by their own faculty. Examples include internships, externships, practicum or co-op work. The bigger issue is that most institutions won't accept as transfer credit course credit awarded as PLA credit by other institutions for such work. In some instances, schools will recommend sitting for a departmental exam or attempting to earn credit through the CLEP College-Level Examination Program.
How can I determine how my college course credits will impact my course and degree requirements?
If you are enrolled, then visiting with your advisor is the right thing to do. They can help you request a preliminary degree audit report prior to commitment and enrollment.
Explore published transfer articulation agreements to see how program to program transfer works between specific institutions. Transfer agreements followed can save you thousands of dollars in tuition, fees and time. Don't underestimate them. They may be more restrictive than just taking courses open to all to schools, but in the long run, a student following an agreement - like a checklist, can finish sooner - and reduce the frustration of having to defend course by course applicability and acceptance by the receiving institution.
Explore published transfer equivalencies to see how specific courses will transfer and count. This may be more tedious, but checking transfer disclosure will help you see how courses may count or not before you enroll in them - not after. Plan transfer proactively to reduce the likelihoodcourse credits won't count.
Explore "Will My Credits Transfer and Count" on CollegeTransfer.Net next... Our service will help you build an online transcript compiling all courses across the institutions you have attended - as well as the examinations you have taken. Save your work and come back each semester to check your progress. The service is free and sponsored by participating institutions.
