Responsible Office: Academic Affairs
Policy Officer: Chief Academic Officer
Scope: |Faculty |Staff |Student

Approved By: Office of the President

Approved Date: 2/1/2017

Effective Date: 2/1/2017

Category: Academics

Description/Purpose:

To provide clear and consistent practices for accepting graduate credit for transfer to Saint Francis University.

Scope:  

Students formally accepted and enrolled in a graduate-level program at Saint Francis University.

Details:

Policy Statement:

Students who are formally accepted into a graduate program and registered for courses may request transfer credit for relevant graduate courses completed at regionally accredited institutions, including courses taken at SFU while enrolled in another graduate program, whether or not a master's degree was awarded.

Credits taken prior to the term of graduate admission and used to satisfy program requirements are considered transfer credits. Transfer of graduate credit is subject to the approval of the Program Director, the Dean, and to the regulations of the SFU academic program in which the student is enrolled.

Transfer credits are awarded only for courses:

• completed within five years to the date of admission to the SFU graduate program. (The Graduate Education department considers transfer of credit for courses completed within seven years to the date of admission.)
• completed at a regionally accredited institution in the United States or an officially recognized degree-granting international institution 
• comparable in content and rigor to the SFU course.

These are general guidelines. It remains at the individual program's sole discretion whether or not to grant approval for transfer of credit.

Additional limitations:

• A maximum of six graduate-level credits may be transferred.
• Credits for courses in which the student earned a grade below B (3.0) or received a non-letter grade such as a pass/fail are not transferable.
• Courses used as part of a previously completed bachelor's program may not be transferred. The Graduate Nursing program will not accept transfer credits from any previously earned degree.
• Grades in courses transferred from other institutions, or from a prior master's degree program completed at SFU, will not be calculated into the student's grade point average (GPA).
• SFU will not accept transfer credits titled as "workshops." Each transfer request is evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
• Academic credit cannot be awarded for life or military experience, or previous work experience.
• Transfer institutions outside the United States must be recognized as degree granting institutions by their home country. A course-by-course evaluation of all foreign university transcripts by an independent service based in the United States is required for international transfer students.
• The MOT, DPT, MPAS, DPT/MBA, and MMS programs do not accept transfer credits at the graduate level.

Procedures:

• Students must provide official transcripts from any previous institution(s) to the graduate program director.
• Students must provide a "Transfer of Credit Request" form for consideration of credit transfer no later than the end of the first enrolled semester. Students are responsible for providing any course descriptions or syllabi that may be needed for accurate evaluations to be made.
• Granting of transfer credits requires the written approval of the Program Director of the relevant program and the Dean of the relevant school. The Program Director completes and signs the "Transfer Credit Evaluation" form, and forwards it to the Office of the Registrar.

Approval:

Committee on Graduate Studies: 01/2017
Faculty Senate: 02/2017
University President: 02/2017