Graduate schools that accept the most transfer credits

A LOT of schools need to be looking at these areas. Good for Franklin!

 

Columbia Southern University (nationally accredited with DEAC, candidate for regional accreditation with SACS): "A maximum of 18 semester hours may be awarded as transfer credit for a master’s degree. Transfer credit for experiential learning may not exceed 25% of the degree program."

Another general avenue: At times a university will have a policy on second master's degrees under which a lower number of total credit hours is required for one, e.g., 24 sh. A first master's degree from an outside institution might open up this avenue, or it might not, depending.

 

Regent University: Up to 49% of a graduate degree may be earned by any combination of transfer and/or advanced standing credit. Individual schools and programs may have stricter limits. Faculty evaluations and school permissions required. Will consider ACE "military and/or workforce training." No grades of B- or below (C- for the JD). 10 year recency, "ordinarily."

 

University of North Alabama: Up to 49% of a graduate degree could potentially be transfer. "Courses may not be applied to degree plans more than eight years after completion, exclusive of time spent in active service in the Armed Forces of the United States. Credit accepted by transfer must comply with these limits."

 

Delta State University: "When circumstances merit," the department chair and the school or college dean could approve an exception to the institutional standard maximum 12 sh into a master's or specialist's degree. (The standard maximum 12 sh excludes nursing which is more stringent. "No graduate credit is accepted for courses completed by correspondence," but remember that's a term of art specific to traditional postal distance learning courses. Delta State has several online programs.)

 

ASU Online has become a monstrosity. I tried to ask questions about a doctoral program and, as expected, admissions reps didn't have the answers. I asked for contact information for the department chair or program coordinator, and they wouldn't give it to me. I asked if they could forward my contact information to them, and they said they would try. They never got in touch with any of the professors in the program. A doctoral degree is a serious undertaking; it would be foolish to go into a program blindly without knowing the particulars of practicum requirements. Since I couldn't find contact information myself, I crossed them off my list.

 

For one of the public universities I was looking at, I saw that the transfer credit limit was set by the board governing the state university system. You'd have to appeal all the way up to them.

 

* Individual programs may impose stricter limits.

University of New Mexico - Up to 50%
Virginia Tech - Up to 50%

 

Considering they are making all of these partnerships to offer new programs with different incentives to prospective students, it becomes just a sales pitch after all. It shows that educational businesses are willing to forgo customer service for more money to their schools. They gain enrollment but won't care much about the satisfaction of their students. It could also be that they just put you on a back burner because you are not their target student for enrollment numbers.

 

Northern Michigan University: 49% into a graduate degree. B or higher. 7 year recency.

Western Michigan University: Maximum 16 sh into a master’s with a concurrent minimum 24 sh to be completed at WMU. B or higher. “Moreover, the student’s overall grade point average for all graduate work taken at the other institution must also be ‘B’ (3.0) or better.” 6 year recency, based on WMU graduation date.

 

University of Memphis: Institutional "Minimum Graduate Degree Requirements:" "The maximum amount of combined hours of transfer credit, credit by examination, course validation and experiential learning that can be used to fulfill [master's] degree requirements is two-thirds of the number of hours required for the degree.… Individual colleges, schools, and graduate programs are encouraged to set more stringent requirements as necessary to meet their accreditation and student needs." 8 year recency but there's a process for "validating old courses." Maximum 12 sh into the MALS.

 

Cutting-and-pasting schools' policies paints a partial picture.

If you have a unique or unusual situation, go have a discussion.

I was coaching a client a few years ago. He was interested in doing a master's degree at a local state university. On the website, the school required a 2.75 GPA in one's bachelor's program (which he didn't have), plus the submission of GRE scores (which he didn't have). He confided in me that he goofed his way through his degree program, barely graduating. But he'd spent the subsequent 15-or-so years building a fine career in government, and had risen to a 6-figure salary and a significant level of responsibility. What could he do? I advised him to go have a conversation with the school, which he did. They let him know they would have no concerns about admitting him fully, and would waive the GRE. That possibility simply didn't exist in the school's literature, yet it was a no-brainer for the admissions folks.

Go ask.

 

I eventually took the GRE after finishing my first master's degree, but prior to that, I didn't want to take it because it was expensive and my work schedule made it difficult. I tried talking to several schools about waiving the GRE to no avail. Do you know what was a lot faster? Applying and being accepted by a school that didn't require the GRE if you had a 3.0 or better on the last 60 credits.

 

There are always exceptions that are not documented and none of us would know unless the student speaks about it. My Christian life coach graduated with a Bachelors in Computer Science after dropping out of a program 10+ years earlier. She then transferred to another school who on the record did not accept her CIS transfer credits due to a lot of course mismatches in her previous program. The department made up some courses that were independent study and she did not have to complete any coursework to which they then allowed her to graduate after only completing 1 or 2 semesters of general education courses.

 

If you take the 'talk to a guy' approach, it may well help if you can point to a similar allowance in the policy of a peer institution to the allowance you're asking for.

 

Antioch University: Up to 45% of a graduate degree “may be… any combination of transfer credit and prior learning.” Nationally accredited institutions and foreign institutions with approved evaluations are admissible. Minimum “B” or equivalent for graduate transfer credit. Credits previously applied to a completed degree cannot be transferred to a degree at the same academic level.

One policy document addresses both graduate and undergraduate transfer credit, and that document is open toward ACE recommendations and CAEL portfolios. The relevant Chief Academic Officer could approve exceptions to transfer credit policies. The 45% could be exceeded if there is an articulation agreement between Antioch and the other institution.

Programs include highly learner-guided online MAs in Individualized Studies with focus in Humanities or focus in Social Sciences. Landing pages for those programs highlight ability to transfer up to 15 sh toward the 36 sh degrees.

 

Pennsylvania Western University California: Max one third of a graduate degree can be transfer. But mentioning because their graduate transfer credit policy indicates potential openness to grades of CR, P, or S, and also to credit from a source that isn't an accredited college or university but is "verified as college/university level by an independent third party." ACE military is also mentioned specifically. Approval required for credit over 6 years old. Also mentioning because they have an online MS in Legal Studies and related grad certs. This could be a place to ask about bringing LawShelf grad credit.

 

Ana G. Mendez University: "A student must complete a minimum of 25% of their applicable program credits from AGMU to meet the residency requirements." This is part of the Residency Policy in the current undergraduate catalog and also the current graduate catalog. Transfer of Credit Policy and Advanced Standing Policy are separated from each other in the catalogs. "B" grade minimum for graduate transfer, "pass" grade considered. 5 year recency for "Core/Major courses including business, technical and specialty courses." No transfer credits to clinical mental health counseling at this time. Advanced Standing Policy indicates openness to "credit from standardized placement assessment, prior learning, or challenge examinations." Coopersmith (NCCRS) lists AGMU as an affiliate/partner.

 

I can't remember if Concordia University of Chicago was posted. They allow students to transfer up to 50% of the required credits.

https://gero.cuchicago.edu/