Grading and Evaluating
Transfer Credit - 1J6
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville awards transfer credit for course credit earned at regionally-accredited institutions of higher education or institutions in candidacy status. Credit earned at any off-campus site where a complete degree program is offered by SIUE is considered residence credit and students need not request transfer of such credit. Transfer credit awarded for work at another institution will not be included in the SIUE grade point average.
Time limits for degree completion as outlined in Policy 1F1 apply to transfer credit.
Baccalaureate Degree
Transfer credit is granted for baccalaureate-oriented courses for which a passing grade was awarded. No transfer credit will be awarded for remedial or developmental courses.
Graduate Degrees and Certificates
Credit earned in a certificate program at SIUE may be applied to a graduate degree without limit (refer to Policy 1L14).
The Graduate School accepts as transfer credit a maximum of one-third of the total number of hours required for a graduate degree or a certificate program. Some programs may have more restrictive policies limiting transfer credit to less than one-third of the total hours required in their programs; in such cases, the Graduate School conforms to program limitations. Credit can be added to a graduate student's official record only upon approval by the Dean of the Graduate School.
Credit presented for transfer may have been earned for work at another university. The Graduate School automatically accepts up to 6 hours of coursework taken in unclassified status at SIUE. Programs may have more restrictive policies, in which case the Graduate School conforms to the program policy.
An evaluation of transfer credit is made in every case and might result in the transfer of less credit than was requested. Credit earned in the thesis/dissertation or any other concluding components at another university is not accepted for transfer.
Credit is granted only for courses bearing a grade of B or better. Requests to transfer credit for courses bearing a grade such as P (Pass) or CR (Credit) must be supported by verification from the institution that the student's work was of at least B quality on an A to F scale.
Course work completed for a certificate at another institution may be used to satisfy SIUE degree requirements. Programs may have more restrictive policies due to external requirements, in which case the Graduate School conforms to the program limitations.
Ordinarily, course work completed for one degree cannot be used to satisfy requirements for another degree at the same level. However, if a student is pursuing a degree at the master's level that is recognized by the Graduate School as a terminal master's degree and that requires completion of 60 or more graduate hours, one-third of the credits required for the degree may be transferred from a prior master's program of traditional scope and duration. In no case is transfer approved for credit earned in the thesis component or any other concluding components completed for the prior degree. Courses used for a prior degree that may be considered for transfer must be of a kind that encompasses or teaches a standard segment of the content normal to the terminal degree program to which the student is admitted, repetition of which would be unnecessary or of no additional benefit to the student. Before recommending such courses for transfer, the department determines that the student has mastered and retained the substance of the courses.
Recommendation of the student's graduate adviser and of the program director are required in support of requests for transfer of credit. An official transcript showing completion of the courses requested must be on file in the Graduate Records Office. Requests to transfer credit for some types of courses are to be accompanied by syllabi or other descriptive materials that help to define their nature or content, as well as by documentation showing satisfactory completion of course requirements. Examples of courses requiring such descriptive materials include those which have no published description, which are identified by titles such as "Independent Study," "Special Topics," "Readings," or which were completed at institutions that do not issue a graduate catalog or are not listed in the indexes of standard accrediting agencies.
Approved by Chancellor effective 1/19/21
This policy was issued on January 25, 2021, replacing the February 15, 2017 version.
Document Reference: 1J6
Origin: CC 2-83/84; CC 17-00/01; GR 15/16-05; GR 19/20-11
