Transfer Credit

5340.1 General Policy

Students may transfer courses (credits) completed at another academic institution to their Wright State academic record and apply those courses toward the requirements of graduate degree and certificate programs. The courses must have prior approval from the Wright State program accepting the transferred credits and must have been completed at an appropriately accredited academic institution or at an academic institution with high academic standards deemed appropriate and acceptable by the Wright State academic program accepting the transferred credits. The sources of such transferred credits may include any military institution or military-related experience deemed equivalent to graduate course credit by the American Council of Education in its Guide to the Evaluation of Educational Experiences in the Armed Services, provided that the graduate program officials in question agree that such credits meet the requirements of that particular degree program.

5340.2 Conditions

A student may transfer graduate credit if all of the following conditions are met:

  1. The student's advisor reviews the transfer of credit request and recommends that the course(s) be accepted for transfer credit.
     
  2. The student was admitted and enrolled as a graduate student at the institution where the graduate credit was completed. In addition, the student must be or have been in good standing at that institution.
     
  3. The graduate credit to be transferred is within the seven year time limit for completing a master's degree, the five year limit for certificate programs, or the ten year time limit for doctoral programs. Graduate Credit transferred toward a program's elective credit requirement does not have to meet the seven or ten year time limit.
     
  4. The amount of credit to be transferred does not exceed 50% of that required by the particular degree the student is pursuing. For graduate certificates, students may transfer in no more than 33% of the credit hours required for the certificate, with the proviso that a minimum of 9 semester credit hours for that certificate must be taken at Wright State. An exception is made for civil servants and military personnel employed by Wright Patterson Air Force Base who have been transferred to the base within the previous three years, who have no limit to the amount of graduate credit they may transfer. All such transfer credit is subject to all other requirements of this policy.
     
  5. The student has a Program of Study on file in the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies. The Program of Study must clearly reflect the student's required courses (professional, core, advanced, introductory, general, etc.) and elective courses. Transfer courses do not have to be placed on the Program of Study until the courses have been approved by the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies. The grade for the credit is "B" or better, or equivalent as determined by the School of Graduate Studies. The College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies may require additional information from the student and/or the institution in order to determine grade equivalency.
     
  6. An official transcript reflecting the credit to be transferred is on file in the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies.
     
  7. The credit to be transferred has not been applied toward an awarded degree, except when the student is pursuing an approved combined degree program as described in UP# 5330.  If the credit in question appears on a transcript from a non-WSU program in which the student is currently active, the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies will approve such credit for transfer only when it has written assurance from the current non-WSU program that the credit will not be used to satisfy degree requirements in that current non-WSU program.  While credits that were applied toward an awarded graduate degree are not eligible for transfer credit, they may be used, with program approval, as justification to waive certain course requirements.
     
  8. The student is actively pursuing a graduate degree program at Wright State.
     
  9. The transfer of credit request is approved by the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies.

5340.3 Residency Requirement

At least 50% of the required credit hours for the candidate's desired credential must be awarded at Wright State and completed within the five-year time limit for certificate programs, the seven-year time limit for master's degrees, or the ten-year time limit for doctoral programs.

5340.4 Advisor Approval

A student wishing to transfer credit should consult with his or her program advisor.  If the advisor approves the courses for transfer credit and the courses meet all the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies requirements, then the advisor should request in writing that the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies have the courses posted on the student's academic record.  The request should indicate the courses and number of hours to be transferred (the hours to be transferred may be less but cannot exceed the number of hours the student earned for the courses(s)).

5340.5 Non-degree Credit

Graduate courses completed at Wright State in non-degree status and later applied toward degree requirements are not considered as transfer credit from outside the University. Should students be accepted into degree status, a maximum of one-half (50%) of the graduate hours required for completion of degree requirements may consist of applicable graduate hours completed in non-degree status.

5340.6 Transfer Credit for Doctoral Programs

Beginning doctoral students without a Master's degree may transfer the equivalent of up to 30 semester hours of approved coursework to their Wright State transcript. For beginning doctoral students with a relevant Master's degree, the student must complete a minimum of 60 semester hours at Wright State. Students who transfer to a Wright State doctoral program along with a recently hired regular graduate faculty member may either transfer up to 30 semester hours. These students must complete a minimum of 30 semester hours at Wright State University. In all cases, the student's supervisory committee may require any coursework deemed necessary for preparation for the dissertation research. Finally, all students must satisfy the two-semester residency requirement (UP#5720).

A student may transfer credit toward the requirements of a doctoral program the credit meets all conditions specified above in 5340.2.