Catalog HOME General Information College of Arts and Sciences   General guidelines   Degree Programs   Graduation Requirements   Major and Minor Study   Advising & Academic Standing   Grading   Transfer of Credit   Miscellaneous Information   Abbreviations Conservatory of Music Double-Degree Program Registrar's Office Transfer of Credit I. Transfer of Credit Policy and Regulations A. General Policy Within the limits stated below, Oberlin College permits credit earned at other fully accredited colleges and universities to be applied to the requirements for the Oberlin degree provided that the following two criteria are satisfied: 1. The student has done C-level work or better. 2. The course work falls within the scope of a liberal arts curriculum. Special regulations apply to work done in music, in foreign countries or at non-degree-granting institutions. Please see below for details. B. Transfer of Credit Regulations Quarter: Work from a college or university where instruction is on a quarter or trimester system will transfer as follows: one quarter hour equals 2/3 of a semester hour as transferred credit. For example, three hours of credit from a quarter based system represents two semester hours when transferred. Student withdrawn from Oberlin: Oberlin College will not accept credits earned at other institutions by students while they are withdrawn from Oberlin. Duplicate Courses: Transfer of credit is not granted for courses that duplicate course work taken at Oberlin. Education Courses: Credit for education courses taken at other institutions may be transferred only after approval by an appropriate department chairperson or the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences if there is no appropriate department. A student requesting a transfer of such credit must supply documentation demonstrating that the course had substantial liberal arts content. Music Credit: Please see section V. Work Applied toward a major: coursework transferred to Oberlin does not automatically apply toward the major. See Major Credit Limits section, below, for more information. C. Transfer of Credit Limitations Oberlin College does not grant credit for: • correspondence courses; • courses taken at other institutions while the student is currently enrolled at Oberlin; • courses taken at the National Outdoor Leadership School; • courses taken concurrently with, or in place of, an Oberlin Winter Term; • mathematics courses below the calculus level (Pre-calculus courses were discontinued at Oberlin in 1999); • one-half Quantitative Proficiency (transfer of credit for one or several courses equivalent to Oberlin courses designated "Quantitative Proficiency Certification-Half" will not satisfy all or part of the Oberlin Quantitative Proficiency requirement under any circumstances); • courses taken in secondary schools, in the case of students who have been admitted to Oberlin prior to fall 1993, even if taught by college or university professors or for college courses which also satisfy secondary school graduation requirements; • course work that is at a lower level than a course already taken at Oberlin (e.g., pre-calculus after passing Calculus I at Oberlin); • courses that also satisfy graduate school graduation requirements; • normally, the college does not grant credit for extension courses and continuing education courses. Only extension courses or continuing education courses that are (1) on standard liberal arts subjects and (2) accepted for credit by the sponsoring institution for its own standard bachelor's degree may be granted credit, subject to all other transfer of credit regulations. The following limitations apply to online courses: • Oberlin College will accept credits transferred from accredited institutions only; an online course proposed for transfer must be on a standard liberal arts subject, must be accepted for credit by the sponsoring institution for its own standard bachelor's degree, and must be recorded on the sponsoring institution's official transcript. • The maximum number of credits from online courses that can be transferred during a student's college career, including credits earned before matriculation, is seven. All other existing rules governing transfer of credit shall apply to online courses, including disallowing concurrent enrollment at other institutions. D. Numerical Limits Total limit: A student may apply no more than a total of 56 semester hours of transfer work toward an Oberlin degree. After matriculation limit: No more than 36 semester hours of transfer credit for work done after a student has matriculated at Oberlin may be applied toward an Oberlin College degree. Semester limit: A student may transfer no more than 16 semester hours credit for each semester (10 semester hours for each quarter or trimester), 32 semester hours for each academic year. Summer school limit: no more than 16 hours for a semester session or 10 hours for a quarter session per summer. Personal Leave limits: A student on a personal leave of absence from Oberlin may transfer no more than 6 credit hours for a semester session or 4 hours for a quarter session. E. Time Limits Students have one calendar year from the completion of coursework or a qualifying event (e.g., receipt of scores from an Advanced Placement exam or an International Baccalaureate) in which to request the credits be transferred. Graduating students must file a completed request for transfer of credit by the end of the add/drop period in the fall if graduating in May and by the end of the add/drop period in the spring if graduating in December. Allowances will be made for students on leave in the event that the deadline occurs during a leave. F. Academic Program Limits Consult the appropriate section of the Oberlin College Course Catalog for individual degree programs (Arts and Sciences, Conservatory, Double Degree) to see specific information about limitations within each program. G. Major Credit Limits Credit accepted for transfer to Oberlin does not automatically apply toward the major. Application of credits earned elsewhere toward the completion of major requirements at Oberlin is granted only with departmental, program, or Individual Major Committee approval. Students who wish to apply a substantial amount of credit earned elsewhere toward their major should consult with the appropriate department or program. Students may obtain forms from the Office of the Registrar to gather department chair signatures for work to be applied toward major requirements. II. Work Done in Foreign Countries Transfer of credit for work done in foreign countries either on programs sponsored by accredited American colleges and universities or at foreign degree-granting colleges and universities is subject to the following regulations: A. A currently enrolled student is required to obtain approval in advance for the program of study from the Office of the Dean of Studies. The approval procedure will require the student to obtain preliminary departmental approval of individual courses and the amount of credit to be transferred. Final approval signatures must be obtained at course completion. B. Following an academic leave, the student is required to fill out a program evaluation form before credit is transferred. The form will be reviewed by the Office of the Dean of Studies to assess the quality of the program. The Dean's Office or academic departments may intervene at any time to question the suitability of a particular program. This evaluation of the program will be used by departments and the Dean's Office in making decisions about the approval of the proposed transfer credit. C. In the case of summer courses taken at a foreign institution, approval is required from an appropriate departmental chairperson. D. A new or transfer student must obtain departmental approval for credit taken at a foreign institution to be transferred on a course-by-course basis. E. Normally, full credit will be transferred if the work satisfies criteria 1 and 2 under A. General Policy, above. III. Work at Non-Degree-Granting Foreign and Domestic Institutes Transfer of credit for work done at foreign and domestic institutes (non-degree-granting institutions) is subject to criteria in Section II, A – E, in addition to the following additional regulations: A. The Office of the Dean of Studies keeps a current list of approved institutes. Credit for work done at approved institutes may be transferred if it satisfies criteria one and two under General Policy above, and if written documentation (e.g., a transcript, a certificate, or a letter) from an on-site representative of the institute certifying participation in class work is provided by the student. This written documentation may be supplemented by, but not replaced by, a transcript from a college or university which acts as an agent for the institute. B. Academic departments will determine the amount of credit to be awarded on a case-by-case basis. Departments may administer examinations to determine the appropriate amount of credit to be awarded. Credit is not granted, however, on the basis of an examination alone, that is, in lieu of formal course work. C. Departments may limit the amount of transfer credit which may be applied toward the major as well as the total number of hours which may be transferred in that area of study. IV. Application of Transfer of Credit Regulations and Student Status A. For New Students Entering Oberlin College 1. Oberlin will grant no more than 30 semester hours of credit work (including Advanced Placement credit and credit for work done in the "thirteenth-year" programs such as the International Baccalaureate and French Baccalaureate programs) done before a student has matriculated in a college program. 2. Students who choose to defer matriculation at Oberlin for one or two semesters may earn no more than six semester hours of credit per semester of deferral. The six semester hours of credit allowed for deferred semesters will be counted as part of the 30-hour limit. 3. Oberlin does not grant credit for courses taken in secondary schools, in the case of students who have been admitted to Oberlin prior to fall 1993, even if taught by college or university professors or for college courses which also satisfy secondary school graduation requirements. 4. Students who matriculate at Oberlin with more than 30 semester hours of prior credit will be considered to be transfer students. 5. Please see sections II. and III. for more details on transferring credits from foreign institutions and institutes. B. For Transfer Students Entering Oberlin College 1. College of Arts and Sciences students may transfer a total of 56 semester hours of credit. All of these hours may have been taken prior to matriculation. 2. Double-Degree Students: Because of the requirements of two degree programs, double degree students should consult with their respective advisors regarding how transfer work will be applied to the Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Arts degrees. 3. Please see sections II. and III. for more details on transferring credits from foreign institutions and institutes. C. Continuing Oberlin Students 1. Currently enrolled students who wish to do academic work away from Oberlin during the academic year must successfully apply for an academic leave of absence and must have completed at least two semesters in residence at Oberlin. Students must obtain approval in advance for the program of study from the Office of the Dean of Studies. See the Off Campus Study information in this catalog under "Academic Life." 2. The approval procedure will require the student to obtain departmental approval of individual courses and the amount of credit to be transferred. 3. In the case of summer courses taken at foreign institutions or domestic or foreign institutes, approval is required from an appropriate departmental chairperson. Please see sections II. and III. for more details on transferring credits from foreign institutions and institutes. V. Music Credit Elective music credit is approved by the Office of the Registrar. Course work toward fulfilling major requirements is approved by the appropriate Conservatory division director and the Assistant or Associate Conservatory Dean. For further information, please see "Transfer of Credit" in the Conservatory section of this catalog. VI. Procedures The transfer of credit process is administered by the Office of the Registrar. Questions regarding the transfer of credit policy, regulations, and procedures should be directed to the Office of the Registrar. 1. In the case of questions regarding policy or regulations, the final decision will be made after consultation with the appropriate dean's office. 2. If the eligibility of a particular course is unclear, the final decision to transfer is made by the chairperson of the appropriate department, program, or curricular committee. 3. Forms to initiate the transfer of credit process and to apply for credit to be applied toward a major are available in the Office of the Registrar. (See www.oberlin.edu/regist for more information.) VII. Transfer of Credit Fee For details, please see the "Expenses" section of this catalog.