Acceptance of Credit

Acceptance of Credit Policy

A. Course work transferred or accepted for credit toward a degree, diploma or certificate must represent collegiate course work relevant to the credential with course content and level of instruction resulting in student competencies at least equivalent to those of students enrolled in the College’s degree, diploma or certificate program.

B. Any such earned credit must meet the minimum College academic standards of a grade of “C” or higher and must parallel the content of similar courses offered. Transfer credit will not be awarded for courses in which a student has received a grade for credit by exam or has been granted credit for proficiency placement exams. The maximum amount of credit allowed to be transferred is seventy five percent (75%) of the College’s curriculum. Any course taken at a North Carolina Community College System institution will be accepted for the equivalent course except as specified herein.

For all others, the following criteria will be considered in determining the acceptability of the transfer course work:

          1. Accreditation of the school by a regional or national accrediting body recognized
              by the United States Department of Education. Accreditation does not guarantee
              acceptance of transfer credit.

          2. Equivalency of course descriptions, outcomes and analysis of course level, content,
              quality, comparability, and degree program relevance. It shall be the student’s
              responsibility to provide documentation of this equivalency, which may include,
              but is not limited to, syllabi, course catalogs, course outcomes, etc.

          3. Use of recognized guides, such as those published by the American Council on
              Education, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions
              Officers and the National Association of Foreign Student Affairs.

          4. If the school was not accredited by a regional or national accrediting body
              recognized by the United States Department of Education at the time the
              course was taken, additional documentation may be required.

          5. For skills-based courses, particularly those in the advanced technology programs,
              demonstration of student skills may be a component of the evaluation process.
              Once a course is approved for transfer from a particular school, the course will be
              entered on a master list maintained by Student Services. Courses will be re-evaluated
              at least once every two years. Decisions related to acceptance of credit will be made
              by the appropriate faculty member(s) and Dean, in consultation with the
              Vice President of Instruction.

C. The responsibility for determining transfer credit from other colleges and universities rests with the Director of Records and Registration. When there is doubt about the appropriateness of transfer credit or when a student wishes to appeal a transfer credit decision, the transcript will be referred to the appropriate Dean, in consultation with the Vice President of Instruction or designee whose decision will be final.

D. When a student transfers from a post-secondary institution to the College, the following steps will be implemented:

           1. The student completes an application for admission and is responsible for providing an official
               high school transcript and an official transcript from any other post-secondary institution.

           2. The Records and Registration office staff will evaluate the transcript(s) and credit is awarded in accordance
               with the College's program offerings and the procedure stated herein. No credit for a
               course with a grade lower than a “C” may be transferred. The transcript evaluation is
               conducted in cooperation with the appropriate faculty member(s) and Dean, as applicable.

            3. The student is given placement test(s), if applicable.

            4. The student continues with registration procedure.

E. Non-curriculum to Curriculum Transfer Credit: Non-curriculum course work from the College related to curriculum instruction may be transferred or accepted for credit towards curriculum courses in specific programs. Students must have earned a minimum letter grade of a “C”, passed the final assessment with a proficiency of 70% or better or successfully passed the applicable credentialing exam. The appropriate Dean for each division will approve non-curriculum course material prior to officially granting curriculum credit. Faculty teaching courses for which CE to CU credit may be awarded must meet all SACSCOC credential requirements.