Transfer of Credit Policy

Custodian of Policy: Registrar

Relevant Minnesota State System Policy: 3.21

Effective Date: Fall 2016

Last Review: Fall 2023

Next Review: Fall 2030

Policy

All credit evaluation will be based upon official transcripts received from the original credit issuing institution. Transfer courses will not be calculated in the MSUM cumulative GPA. Transfer courses will be included in LASC, major, and minor GPA requirements.

Accreditation

Transfer credit from institutions accredited by regional associations (North Central, Middle States, etc) will be accepted by MSUM subject to limitations. Transfer credit from nationally accredited schools on the CHEA/US DOE list will be reviewed for transfer credit acceptance on a case-by-case basis.

Liberal Arts and Sciences Curriculum/General Education

Transfer students will receive evaluations indicating the extent and distribution of credits which are accepted by MSUM toward LASC and degree requirements. LASC requirements will be considered complete for transfer students who complete the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum (MnTC), the North Dakota General Education Requirements Transfer Agreement (GERTA), or an equivalent (must meet credit and goal standards) Associate of Arts (AA) or Associate of Science (AS) degree. Courses will be evaluated to meet LASC goal requirements based on the sending institutions general education components, or the equivalency assigned when transferred to MSUM in accordance with Minnesota State system transfer policy. If general education requirements are not completed before transfer, transfer students must complete 40 credits in LASC courses and meet all goal areas. Transfer students must also meet MSUM’s first year experience and writing intensive requirements based on the number of credits transferred in.

Transfer credits may not be applied to meet an area requirement (LASC, major, or minor) unless they also meet the corresponding GPA requirement for the academic area.

Repeated Coursework in Transfer

Students who wish to take advantage of the repeated course opportunity to improve a grade may register for a tri-college course under current tri-college policies. Tri-college courses are considered resident credit and the credits and grade will replace the MSUM attempt. Students may also take an equivalent course at another college or university. These attempts will be considered transfer credit and the MSUM credit and grade will be removed. The transfer grade will not be included in GPA. The most recent attempt, whether at MSUM or another institution, will be counted.

When a course previously transferred to MSUM is repeated at MSUM, the transferred course is considered duplication and removed from GPA and credit totals. The most recent attempt is counted.

Lower and Upper Division

Courses designated at the 100-200 level at the sending institution may not be used to meet the 40 credits of upper division courses required for graduation, even if they are deemed equivalent to a 300-400 level course at MSUM.

Other Types of Credit

Courses transferred to MSUM which are evaluated as developmental in nature will not be granted college level transfer credit, even if the sending institution has awarded credit. However, these courses may be used to satisfy pre-requisite requirements.

Credit awarded for departmental examinations, waivers of credit, etc. may be eligible for credit based on MSUM Credit for Prior Learning Policy.