Answering Your Top Questions about Transfer Credits

A large percentage of our students use transfer credits upon their acceptance to Penn State World Campus. Director of Transfer Credit Services Tasha Rockey answers some of your questions regarding the process of transferring in credits from another academic institution.

Will courses from my previous schools transfer to Penn State?

For a course to qualify for credit at Penn State, it must meet the following criteria:

  • must be from a regionally accredited school
  • grade earned must be a C or higher
  • Penn State must have a program or course offering similar to the one(s) you would like to transfer
  • must be useful in your program of study

How are transfer credits evaluated?

Transfer credits are first reviewed by the Undergraduate Admissions Office to determine if they will transfer into Penn State. During this initial evaluation, courses may transfer into the University as general credits. General credits typically fall into your electives area. Transfer credit specialists review transfer credits by looking at course titles and course descriptions and using a record of courses previously reviewed by the program. When additional information is needed to evaluate courses, transfer credit specialists will request syllabi directly from you.

How do I know if my credits were transferred into Penn State?

With an offer of admission, you will receive a transfer evaluation letter from the Undergraduate Admissions Office. In the letter, it is likely that you’ll be asked to submit multiple syllabi for your transfer courses to determine if and how they will transfer into Penn State. Syllabi should be sent to crediteval@psu.edu for further review. Syllabi are then sent to the academic department for review. When decisions are made regarding the course work, this will be updated in your student center in LionPATH.

Can I send a course description instead of a syllabus for review?

A course description is a short summary of the main topics covered in a course. It typically does not cover enough key information for the academic department to make a decision regarding the substitution of a course. A syllabus includes information about the textbook used in the course, the grading scale, weekly assignments, and course objectives. If a syllabus is requested from you, a course description will not be accepted for review, because it lacks the detailed information about the course that is included in a syllabus.

How does an academic department or college decide if my course is transferable?

When your transfer course is being reviewed by the academic department, they are typically looking to see that the course content from the transfer course matches about 80% of a Penn State course.

Can I receive credit for military experience?

Active-duty military or veteran students are encouraged to submit Joint Services Transcript, Defense Language Institute, and Community College of the Air Force (Air University) transcripts to the to the Undergraduate Admissions Office. Some majors are able to use more military credits than others.

Will international credits be evaluated?

In order for your international credits to be reviewed, a syllabus is typically required, and it must be in English. 

Is there a maximum number of credits that I can transfer into Penn State?

There is no limit to the number of credits that you may transfer into Penn State; however, it is likely that not all of your transferred credit may count toward your intended degree program. The academic department in which you enroll will have the final say on what credit can be accepted toward your degree. Penn State’s Transfer Credit Tool, a convenient, step-by-step tool, may help you to determine approximately how much of your previous credit may transfer but cannot determine which credits will apply to the program you choose.

Additionally, you must earn a minimum number of credits from Penn State to earn your degree through World Campus:

  • To earn an associate degree, 18 of the last 30 credits that you take to earn your degree must be from Penn State.
  • To earn a bachelor’s degree, 36 of the last 60 credits that you take to earn your degree must be from Penn State.

Where should my official transcripts be sent?

Your official transcripts must be sent to the Undergraduate Admissions Office. It is important that you send transcripts from ALL institutions (high school/GED and college) that you have attended. Official transcripts can be sent to:

Undergraduate Admissions Office
The Pennsylvania State University
201 Shields Building
University Park, PA 16802

Fax: 814-863-7590

Transcripts can be sent through mail or fax, or electronically through email, Parchment, National Student Clearinghouse, or SCOIR directly to Penn State from the college/university where course work was attempted. If your school requires an email address to send a transcript electronically, please use admissions@psu.edu.

Contact transfercredit@worldcampus.psu.edu if you have additional questions about the transfer credit process at Penn State.

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