Transfer of Credit Guidelines

Undergraduate Transfer Credit Policy

1. For all academic programs, the Registrar has the responsibility for the evaluation and awarding of transfer credits according to university transfer policies. In cases where the transferability of a course is unclear, the Registrar’s Office will contact the appropriate academic division chair for a recommendation.
2. Credit earned from an institution located outside the United States must be evaluated by a foreign transcript evaluation service.
3. Transfer credit will be accepted if the following requirements are met:
   • Official transcripts of all previous postsecondary education and any standardized tests are received for a final evaluation (unofficial copies can be used for unofficial evaluations).
     • The University of Saint Mary reserves the right to require official transcripts at any time during the admissions process and rescind any offer of admission made if discrepancies between the unofficial and official transcript(s) are found.
     • Official transcripts are defined as those received on official paper, or through secure electronic method, directly from the educational institution or its third-party servicer, to the University of Saint Mary. Transcripts issued to students are not considered official.
   • Undergraduate coursework was completed at institutions accredited by an agency recognized by the United States Department of Education.
   • Coursework was completed with the grade of “C-” or higher. Some program requirements may be higher. Grades of Pass, Credit, or other such equivalent grades are not accepted in transfer.
     • Exception: Students from appropriately accredited institutions that have earned an Associate of Arts, an Associate of Science, or Bachelor’s degree will be given full credit for all courses within the degree, completed at the grade of “D-” or higher, provided all other transfer policy guidelines are met. Some program requirements may be higher.
   • Coursework must be completed at the same academic level (undergraduate lower level, upper level, graduate or doctoral) as the University of Saint Mary course or requirements detailed in this catalog.
   • Under no circumstances may a student transfer more than a total of 48 credit hours toward an Associate’s degree, or more than a total of 90 credit hours for a Bachelor’s degree, to the University of Saint Mary from any source.
   • Students may transfer no more than 4 credit hours of sport or activity-related credit hours toward the university’s bachelor’s degree or associate of arts degree requirements, and no more than 2 credit hours of sport or activity related credit hours toward the university’s associate of science degree.
   • Undergraduate transfer credits will not be accepted for courses completed more than eight (8) years prior unless given prior approval by the applicable academic division chair. Individual academic program sections of this catalog may contain shorter time restrictions.
4. Regardless of transfer credit amounts and source, all requirements for graduation must be met by students wishing to obtain a degree from the University of Saint Mary.
5. No coursework completed at other institutions or standardized test scores will be factored into the calculation of the University of Saint Mary GPA.

Transfer Credit Procedure

In order to provide consistency of transfer credit evaluations from any/all sources of credit recognized by the University of Saint Mary, the following procedure will apply:

• Per regulations promulgated by the United States Department of Education and Department of Veteran Affairs, official transcripts are required and must be received directly from all accredited and non-accredited secondary and postsecondary institutions and testing agencies.
• Transfer credit for College Level Examination Program (CLEP); DANTES Subject Standardized Test (DSST); Advanced Placement (AP) test scores, and International Baccalaureate (IB) will be awarded according to the American Council on Education (ACE) published guidelines.
• Transfer credit will be awarded for military training according to ACE published guidelines if documented on the applicable Joint Service Transcript (JST); Coast Guard Institute (CGI) transcript; or Community College of the Air Force (CCAF) transcript. CLEP, DSST, or other standardized tests listed on these documents will be considered official copies.
• Transfer credit for experiential learning will be awarded according to the University of Saint Mary's Experiential Learning Assessment policy. Refer to the Experiential Learning/Credit for Prior Learning policy located in the Academic Policies section of this catalog.
• Quarter hours will be converted to semester credit hours; one quarter hour equals two-thirds (0.67) of a semester credit hour. Transfer courses converted from quarter hours to semester credit hours will be rounded down for purposes of meeting University of Saint Mary coursework. (Example: a 5-quarter hour course is multiplied by .67 to equal 3.35. This is rounded down to 3 and would transfer into a 3-credit hour University of Saint Mary course but not a 4-credit hour course).
• Only those courses that are accepted for transfer will be recorded on the official University of Saint Mary transcript and will be listed without an earned letter grade. No grades for transferred courses will factor into the University of Saint Mary GPA.