Transfer of Credit

The Registration and Records office works with faculty to determine if and how previous credit may transfer into a student’s Hamline degree. Official transcripts from the credit-granting institutions are required. Students may be asked to provide copies of appropriate course catalogs, syllabi, or other materials to assist in the evaluation of transfer credit. Transcripts and other documents submitted from other institutions and agencies are the property of Hamline University. Hamline will not give these documents, or copies of them, to applicants, students, alumni, or other individuals.

Only credit from regionally accredited colleges and universities, specific credit-by-exam programs listed below, and ACE approved military courses may transfer. Classes will be evaluated on a course-by-course basis. Please note that acceptance of credit may be for general credit only; equivalency to Hamline courses is determined by individual departments.

Policies and Procedures

Transfer Eligibility

Policies and Procedures

Grades and Credits

• Grade point averages do not transfer.
• Grades from transfer courses are not factored into the Hamline GPA.
• Non-semester credits are converted to semester credits; 1.5 quarter credits equals 1 semester credit.
• Courses from another college or university transfer in with the number of credits awarded by that school. This is true even if the course is considered the same as a Hamline course with a different number of credits. For example, Century College ART 1022 is 3 credits and is considered equivalent to Hamline’s ARTH 1210 which is 4 credits; ART 1022 transfers in with 3 credits.

Repeat Courses

A student may not receive credit for the same, non-repeatable course twice.

• A transfer student who chooses to take a Hamline course that is equivalent to a course already accepted for transfer credit has two options: 1) take the course as an audit or for zero credits or 2) ask Registration and Records to remove the transfer course from the Hamline transcript.
• A Hamline student who chooses to repeat a course already completed at Hamline by taking an equivalent at another institution will not get credit a second time. However, the student can transfer the course into Hamline so that the original Hamline credits and grade will be excluded from their degree and GPA calculation.

Credit Limits

Students must earn at least 56 semester credits at Hamline in order to receive a Hamline degree (60 credits at Hamline, graded on the A-F scale, are required to earn Latin Honors). A minimum of 16 semester credits in a student’s major must be taken at Hamline. In addition, the following transfer limits apply:

• 64 semester credits from two-year colleges.
• 64 semester credits from credit-by-exam or college level coursework taken while a high school student, including AP, IB, PSEO, CIS, CLEP, DSST.
• 20 semester credits each from AP and IB.
• 16 semester credits each from CLEP, DSST, and College in the Schools, or other college courses taken in the high school.
• Credit in narrowly vocational courses is not transferable. Nursing, mental health, chemical dependency, law enforcement, military, and other focused professional program credits are transferable up to a limit of 32 semester credits and only if the course content is suitable for a liberal arts program.

Transfer Evaluation Systems (TES)

Course equivalents for all college and university classes previously transferred to Hamline from across the country can be found at: www.hamline.edu/tes. Equivalencies on this list are subject to change.

Requesting Major/Minor Credit

Students who have transferred in coursework which they would like to have approved for their major or minor must follow these steps:

1. Obtain a copy of the course syllabus and/or course description from the official course bulletin of the institution where the course was taken.
2. Have the course reviewed by their major/minor advisor and the chair of the department.
3. If the chair and advisor in the major/minor department approve the course, obtain a Program Sheet online at www.hamline.edu/ugrequirements or at the Student Administrative Services office.
4. Complete the substitution column of the Program Sheet and both advisor and department chair will sign the form.
5. Return the signed form to the Student Administrative Services office.

Requesting Hamline Plan credit

Students who have transferred in coursework that they would like evaluated for Hamline Plan requirements must follow these steps:

1. Obtain a copy of the course syllabus. If a student no longer has a copy of the syllabus he or she may have to contact the former institution or instructor in order to provide a more complete description of the course than the course description provides.
2. Attach a memo to the syllabus listing the course and the desired Hamline Plan designation(s).
3. Email the syllabus and a request for the desired Hamline Plan designation(s) to transferarticulation@hamline.edu.
4. The Transfer Articulation Coordinator will work with the faculty to review the course and will email the decision.

Transfer Eligibility

Colleges and Universities

All Colleges and Universities

This information is applicable to college coursework completed after graduating high school, on a college campus during high school, or in a high school classroom.

• The school must be regionally accredited. See the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) website for a list of accepted regional accreditors: https://www.chea.org/regional-accrediting-organizations-accreditor-type.
• The course must be considered college-level (not remedial).
• The course must be relevant to a liberal arts degree.
• The grade earned must be a C- or higher. If a course is taken as Pass/No Pass, and the school awards a Pass for grades below a C-, a letter must be submitted from the institution’s registrar indicating the student would have received a C- or above before transfer credit is awarded.

International Schools

Transcripts from foreign schools (except those from a Hamline study abroad program) must be submitted to an outside agency for course-by-course evaluation and processing before a Hamline evaluation can be completed. The agency must be a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES). These organizations usually charge students a fee for evaluation services. Two commonly used agencies are:

• World Education Service (WES)
• Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE)  

Credit by Examination

Advanced Placement (AP)

• Generally, the minimum score required is 4. In some cases (mostly foreign languages) a score of 3 is accepted.
• Each accepted exam receives 4 semester credits.
• English (Language and Composition and Literature and Composition) exams do not meet Hamline’s first-year writing requirement.
• Check if your AP scores qualify for credit at https://www.hamline.edu/undergraduate/admission/transfer-credits.html#Advanced_Placement.
• Request AP scores from College Board at https://apscore.collegeboard.org/scores.

International Baccalaureate (IB)

• Credit is granted for the Higher Level exams only.
• The minimum required score is 4 or 5 depending on the subject area.
• Each accepted exam receives either 4 or 8 semester credits, depending on the exam.
• English A exams do not meet Hamline’s first-year writing requirement.
• Check if your IB scores quality for credit at https://www.hamline.edu/undergraduate/admission/transfer-credits.html#International_Baccalaureate.
• Request IB scores from IB at http://www.ibo.org/programmes/diploma-programme/assessment-and-exams/requesting-transcripts/.

College Level Examination Program (CLEP)

• Scores at or above the American Council on Education’s recommended score (usually 50) may receive academic credit.
• English Composition CLEP exams are not accepted.

DSST Examination Program (DANTES)

• Scores at or above the American Council on Education’s recommended score (usually mid- to upper-400s) may receive academic credit.
• Credit must be approved by the appropriate academic department at Hamline.
• Technical Writing DSST exams do not meet Hamline’s first-year writing requirement.

Military Credit

• Credit is granted for courses from Joint Military Transcript (JST) and the Community College of the Air Force/Air University (CCAF).
• Courses must be considered college-level and relevant to a liberal arts degree.
• Request a transcript from JST at https://www.goarmyed.com/public/public_programs_services-aarts_transcripts.aspx.
• Request a transcript from CCAF at http://www.airuniversity.af.mil/Barnes/CCAF/Transcripts.aspx.

Study Abroad

• Academic credit is granted for course work completed through a Hamline-approved study abroad program.
• Grades must be equivalent to at least a C- to be eligible for transfer.
• Transcripts from study-away experiences should be sent to the Global Engagement Center.