Transfer Credit

(See Primary Writing Requirement, Intercollegiate Registration, Inactive Status, Study Abroad, Summer School Courses, Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, A-Level Examinations. Note that a Transfer Credit Manual containing detailed procedures and information is available in the Center for Academic Support.)

Students should be advised to follow the instructions outlined below in order to ensure that courses will transfer back to the College.

  1. Request a catalog or summer bulletin from the other school or go on line. (No approvals are needed for UR summer courses.) Summer bulletins are generally available in mid-March or April. Any 2- or 4-year accredited school is acceptable.
  2. Pick up a Course Approval Form from the Academic Services Counter outside Lattimore 312.
  3. Pick out the courses. The general faculty policy is that courses that are similar in content to courses offered by UR will transfer. (Students cannot earn credit for a similar course already successfully completed here.)
  4. List the courses on the Course Approval Form, attach the course descriptions, and seek approval as follows:
    1. Elective courses - but not distance learning (on-line) courses -- can usually be approved by any adviser in the College Center for Academic Support (or SEAS Dean's Office). (Departmental approval is required for distance learning courses.) In the case of an ambiguous description, or when a department has requested it, the adviser may refer the student to a department for approval. Note: Courses may not be transferred into Clusters .
    2. Courses for the Major or Minor must be approved by the authorized faculty member in the appropriate department. A list of faculty who approve transfer credit on behalf of their departments is posted at the Academic Services Counter.
    3. Courses to be used toward a Certificate first require approval as noted above. Students in Management Studies need then to request a special form at the Academic Services Counter and follow the instructions printed on that form. Students in Actuarial Studies, Asian Studies, International Relations, and Mathematical Modeling request the written approval of the Chair of their Certificate Committee and return the Course Approval Form to the attention of Academic Support in Lattimore 312. Students in Polish and Central European Studies request the written approval of their PCE adviser and likewise return the form to Academic Support.
  5. Submit the approved Course Approval Form to the Academic Services Counter.
  6. Upon completion of the course(s), ask the Registrar at the other school to send an official transcript to the College Center for Academic Support.

Approved courses that are completed with a grade of C or better will transfer. A maximum of 64 credit hours is transferable to the UR degree from two-year schools.

Please note: Only the credit will transfer. The grades do not transfer and will not affect the g.p.a., therefore the grades cannot replace grades earned at UR. A Transfer Credit Evaluation will be mailed to the student. The number of transfer credit hours to be granted is determined by comparison of total hours required for graduation; for example, a student who had earned 15 credits at a school requiring 120 credits for the degree would be awarded 16 credits here, based on our degree requirement of 128 hours.

Courses taken while a student was in high school which were sponsored by a college but were taught in the high school are not approved for transfer credit. Students who believe their situations warrant an exception may submit the special petition form available at the Center for Academic Support along with a comprehensive letter of support from the appropriate faculty member. The final decision then is made by the Dean of the College.

Students who have taken credit-bearing courses at the University of Rochester while in high school, through the Taste of College program or otherwise, should be aware of the following. Grades for these courses will be factored into the cumulative grade point average and credit will count toward undergraduate degree requirements. Students have the option of requesting that these courses be treated as if they were transfer courses, in which case the grade will be removed from the average, and credit will be counted toward degree requirements as long as the grade was a "C" or better. Petitions should be submitted to the College Center for Academic Support.

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