I've noted several comments here that not all RA schools accept transfer credit from other RA schools. Of course, this is understandable in the case of, say, a small liberal arts college that will not take petroleum engineering credits. But what about when comparing apples to apples? Anybody know of an instance when an RA school would not accept transfer credits from another RA school with similar courses (e.g., second semester Spanish II)? I'd really be interested in knowing the specifics. Thanks.
I think where most students get hit is when courses are similiar but not identical. Schools often get selective about what they will accept and how the will apply it.
My guess is that this is more common on the graduate level where specificity becomes more germane. Jack
I think that if RA schools don't accept credits from other RA schools, they can usually give reasons why they don't. Usually that's because the courses aren't really equivalent. That might happen in the case of 'Physics 101', where a university that requires a calculus-based physics sequence with substantial laboratory time, rejects a less sophisticated general-ed course with fewer labs and less sophisticated mathematics. I know for a fact that UC Berkeley accepts classes from RA community colleges like my own City College of San Francisco, even major core courses, so long as UC is confident that the syllabi match sufficently well. In California there is an elaborate set of articulation arrangements where UC and the CSU say in advance which community college classes equate to which UC and CSU classes, so that community college students who anticipate transferring into UC and CSU can plan their programs with a reasonable assurance that their credits will count. The bottom line around here is that so long as the schools are RA, the relative prestige of their names isn't a huge factor. Even the determinedly proletarian community colleges are recognized by the big-name research universities as peer institutions that offer sound university courses that succeed in teaching their students the expected stuff. Or at least they are for lower division transfer courses where the course syllabi are equivalent.
Just so. But one of the fallacies promoted by those who say things along the lines of "See? See? We found one or two (RA, NA, Whatever) schools that will accept our dubious-school credits on at least one occasion. See?" is that a rare exception proves a categorical acceptance, leading to the wild leap of faith that the dubious school is a) just as good as an RA, NA, Whatever school and b) widely accepted (Well, it happened once, dinnit, dinnit?) Bill is obviously not saying anything of the kind, but there are folks who do, sadly. There isn't any sort of "industry standard"--absent the kind of specific articulation agreement Bill cites--that guarantees transfer of credit between like-accredited institutions, let alone across accreditation lines. We seem to get a fair number of posts from folks who have come to grief when this expectation has not proved out in reality. The annoyance they feel is understandable, but the assumption back of it appears unfounded (for better or worse).
No obligation to accept transfer credits There are several RA schools (usually very top tier) that accept no upper level courses from any other school, or no credits from a junior college once you are in your third year. Some colleges do not accept language class transfer at all. There are colleges that don't accept "similar" courses from different colleges in their own university. But as Uncle said - none of this means anything broad. It just means that some schools set certain standards regarding transfer credit policy. The rules are not secrets and if people are dissappointed then chances are they did not read the handbooks. On the graduate level course transfer is very limited. There is no obligation on the part of any college or university to accept any credits from anywhere. However, for every university that will not, there are many more that will. The goal is to find a college that will take your credits - which is easier if the college you are coming from is RA, but do-able with fewer choices if it is NA. -Pat
Also note that RA is not the only accreditation needed on some courses. Real Life Example: I took Calculus at one RA school, but it would not transfer to another when my major became Mfg Engineering. Reason: it was not ABE accredited. So I re-took what was almost the same material, with an Engineering rather than Business emphasis.
Re: No obligation to accept transfer credits Based on a High School reunion story (second-hand, anecdotal information): A guy I knew from high school wanted to attend Harvard. He was denied admission based on ? He attended Colgate University (no toothpaste jokes please) for a year and then applied for transfer to Harvard. His grades were superlative. He was accepted as a transfer student on the condition that none of his cedits were transferred. He had to start from scratch as an entering Freshman. He accepted the deal and is now a Harvard alum. Worth it? He thought so. Jack
