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Transfer Credit

A student who wishes to receive credit for a course taken at another institution must receive approval from the Office for Undergraduate Studies and the related department in the College of Arts and Letters.

Approval Policies

  1. Courses must be taken at an accredited university except in the case of certain language classes as described below.
  2. Summer courses for transfer should be approximately six weeks long, have at least 38 contact hours and should be taught in a similar department in which credit is to be granted (e.g., History should be taught in a History department).
  3. Courses must be worth at least three credits.
  4. A grade of “B” (equivalent to a 3.000 on a 4-point scale) or better is necessary in order to transfer the credit. All courses must be taken in residence for a grade. Courses may not be taken as pass/fail, S/U, as audit, correspondence, etc. Official transcripts should be sent directly from the college or university of origin to the Office for Undergraduate Studies.
  5. Online Learning will be accepted with 2 conditions met.
    1. Student to provide proof that the course was not asynchronous.
    2. The Department judges the content and rigor of the course.
  6. The Academic Code states that during the Notre Dame Summer Session – not more than 8 concurrent credit hours (including courses taken at ND) may be approved for a single summer.

Approval Procedure

  • Initiate a Transfer Course Pre-Approval eForm. This can be accessed through InsideND.

Exception for Certain Language Programs

The Office for Undergraduate Studies may award up to eight credits by examination for participants in well-structured, non-credit bearing language programs or in programs at unaccredited and/or non-degree bearing institutions with the following conditions:

  • Students must receive departmental and dean’s permission in advance of attending such a language program.
  • Standardized testing (ACTFL or other nationally respected testing as appropriate) must be done for the student at the end of the period of study.
  • The Office for Undergraduate Studies will correlate the results of individual students’ standardized tests with data acquired regarding range of results at each level of Notre Dame courses to ensure accuracy of placement and credit (the department is responsible for establishing cut-off points for credit amounts and providing this information to the Undergraduate Dean’s Office and the Registrar’s Office).
  • Students must successfully complete at least one semester of the next level of language study (when offered) in order for credit to be awarded.