Auburn University publishes policies for evaluating, awarding, and accepting credit not originating from the university. Auburn University ensures (a) the academic quality of any credit or coursework recorded on its transcript, (b) an approval process with oversight by persons academically qualified to make the necessary judgments, and (c) the credit awarded is comparable to a designated credit experience and is consistent with the university’s mission. Auburn University defines one credit hour (or “credit”) as the unit of work that includes no less than one 50-minute period of classroom or direct faculty instruction and completion of assignments that typically require 2 to 2.5 hours of out-of-class student work each week for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester (or the equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time).

Auburn University does not award credit for professional certificates, experiential learning, prior learning assessments, or other non-credit experiences outside a collegiate course.

Procedures for Accepting Undergraduate Transfer Course Credit

Auburn University ensures that all transfer credit is aligned with content taught at the University and is comparable to the university's course credit by using multiple layers of review. Initial entry of transfer credit onto the student record is conducted by Enrollment Operations. Courses that have already been articulated get matched to their discipline-qualified, faculty-determined equivalents from our transfer credit database in Banner software. For courses that have not yet been articulated, a workflow process is begun in which course descriptions are reviewed by trained University Transcript Evaluators in the Office of the Registrar. New articulations may be established by the Office of the Registrar in those cases where the proposed credit is evidently equivalent to an Auburn University Core Curriculum course. In cases where a clear equivalency to an Auburn University Core Curriculum course cannot be readily established, the course description is forwarded to the appropriate academic department for further and final review. Departmental review is conducted by the Chair of the Department (or designee) whose disciplinary expertise qualifies them to evaluate the equivalency. In the case where a course description does not provide enough information for full articulation, the departmental expert will request a full syllabus for review. Articulations are then routed to the Office of the Registrar for entry to Auburn University’s transfer credit database where they are maintained for consistency of application of transfer award and for course review.

At the undergraduate level, Auburn University monitors and enforces transfer credit limits and the awarding of transfer and advanced standing credit through our degree audit system, DegreeWorks. DegreeWorks is where the application of transfer credit onto a student’s degree plan is tracked by college academic advisors. The monitoring of these requirements is discussed in detail in Standard 9.4.

Transfer Admissions Course Credit 

In order to be considered for admission to Auburn University as a transfer student, applicants must provide official transcripts from each college they have attended, including any at which the applicant was enrolled while in high school. Transfer applicants who were not eligible for admission to Auburn University when they graduated from high school must present a minimum of 30 semester hours of college credit earned post high school, on which they have earned a cumulative grade-point average of at least 2.5 on a 4.0 scale. These hours must include a minimum of four standard academic courses as required by Auburn University's Core Curriculum. These hours must include at least one course in English (college-level composition), history, mathematics, and natural science with a laboratory. Certain programs have established higher transfer admission standards.

For students transferring from accredited public institutions within the state of Alabama, the amount of credit for freshman and sophomore course work is governed by the Articulation and General Studies Agreement, created pursuant to Legislative Act 94-202 amended Section 16-5-8 of the legal Code of Alabama, which established for students a computerized Statewide Transfer and Articulation Reporting System (STARS). This statute also created an Articulation and General Studies Committee (AGSC) to develop a statewide articulation agreement for the transfer of credit among all Alabama public institutions of higher education. The State-articulated general studies curriculum guidelines—including course names, numbers, and established equivalencies—are found at the AGSC and Auburn University websites,. An example of a transfer student transcript is provided.

Undergraduate students who wish to transfer work from foreign institutions must provide official transcripts and course syllabi. Auburn University evaluates coursework from institutions outside the United States to determine if they are transferrable. This evaluation takes into consideration two primary concerns: accreditation/recognition and course transferability. Collegiate work will be considered for transfer credit for courses completed at colleges and universities outside of the United States that are accredited or approved by the Ministry of Education (or other appropriate governmental agency) of the country in which they are located. The courses must also be of comparable content, level, semester hour credits and appropriate for meeting baccalaureate degree requirements at Auburn University. Sample transcripts of students with credits accepted from a foreign institution are provided,,.

Course Credit for Classes Taken at Other Institutions 

Students looking to take courses at other institutions while still enrolled at Auburn are permitted to do so. The process is generally similar to receiving course credit as part of transfer admission.

Auburn University accepts transfer credit of similar content from accredited institutions. Students are required to submit official transcripts for all post-secondary institutions attended. All transferable work will be posted to the Auburn University transcript; students are not able to pick and choose specific courses for transfer. Students may receive specific course credit or general elective credit for courses taken at other institutions. Transfer courses that are considered “Core” are evaluated in the Office of the Registrar by the University Transcript Evaluator. All other courses are reviewed by the respective department. Coursework that is technical or remedial in nature is generally not accepted for credit at Auburn. Transfer credit is applied as appropriate to a student’s degree program. The authority to apply transferred credit toward degree requirements rests with the student’s college of enrollment. A sample transcript of a student with credits accepted from another institution is provided.

Students can determine if the courses they take or plan to take at another institution are eligible for transfer credit can compare courses using transfer equivalency tables provided on the University Registrar’s website.

Credit by Examination 

Entering students with superior preparation or with special competence in a specific area may qualify for advanced placement or credit. Placement or credit may be granted on the basis of Advanced Placement Examinations of the College Board, International Baccalaureate scores, scores on college ability or achievement tests, departmental proficiency examinations, and other evidence of experience and competence. Students enrolled at Auburn University may apply to an academic department for a Departmental Proficiency Test if they have demonstrated a reasonable basis of experience or study in the subject area. If they score a satisfactory grade on the examination, they will be eligible for placement in an advanced course and for credit in the subject. Students who have previously enrolled for the subject at Auburn are not eligible for this test in the same subject. The amount of advanced placement credit granted in each subject area is determined by the recommendation of the academic teaching department with the approval of the student’s academic dean and the Provost or designee.

Tables of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate credit are posted on the web site of the Office of the Registrar. Programs that accept Advance Placement and International Baccalaureate credit post the transfer credit values of applicable scores to their departmental websites,. A sample transcript of a student with advanced placement credit is provided.

Student Exchange Agreements 

Through formal agreements, Auburn University has established and maintains a number of student exchange agreements with institutions in other countries. Auburn University notifies SACSCOC of all such agreements and supplies final, signed copies. The purpose of these agreements is to enrich the teaching and learning programs of each institution by allowing students, reciprocally, to study for a short period of time at a host institution in a new country. These agreements stipulate the responsibilities of each institution and describe the means by which the two institutions will mutually monitor and assess academic quality. Academic quality encompasses student learning outcomes, faculty credentials, and pedagogy within the classroom. Auburn University’s Office of International Programs assists in all these processes. As an example, the student exchange agreement between Auburn University and the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (Ecuador) is included as supporting document.

Auburn University does not transcript as its own course work taken by students at a partner institution for student exchange. Instead, Auburn evaluates and accepts such course work as transfer credit. An example of an undergraduate transcript where exchange transfer credit is clearly identified is included as documentation.

Procedures for Accepting Graduate Transfer Course Credit

Procedures for accepting graduate transfer course credit are described in the Auburn Bulletin. For accepted students, graduate credit taken in residence at an international institution or at a regionally accredited US institution may be transferred when recommended by the student's major professor at Auburn University, as well as by the other members of the student's advisory committee, the graduate coordinator, and the dean of the Graduate School. The Graduate School uses a workflow process to assure all required approvals are completed.

Graduate transfer credit must have been completed during the time limits of the Auburn University degree that the student is seeking. Students seeking transfer credit must provide documentary evidence showing that the course credit proposed for transfer is comparable to similar graduate courses at Auburn University and is relevant to the student's proposed plan of study at Auburn University. Students must also provide an official transcript showing the credit earned for the course. No course on which a grade lower than B was earned may be transferred. Additionally, transfer credit is not allowed if the student's combined grade-point average on graduate work taken at other institutions is less than 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, nor may transfer credit be used to improve the student's cumulative grade-point average on courses taken at Auburn University. The total number of credit hours that may be transferred from another accredited institution towards a master’s, education specialist, or doctoral degree varies by program and may be no more than 50% of the total credit hours for the program.

To ensure these policies are followed, graduate students must apply for graduation, which triggers a review of their credits using a software called DegreeWorks. The student’s official Auburn University transcript also shows the total hours of transfer credit approved by the Graduate School and the source institution of those credits,. This is also the software that Graduate School staff use to confirm that the student’s total number of transfer credits does not exceed the maximum allowed by Auburn University, described in detail in Standard 9.5.

Conclusion

Auburn University publishes policies for evaluating, awarding, and accepting credit not originating from the institution. Auburn University does not award credit for professional certificates, experiential learning, prior learning assessments, or other non-credit experiences outside a collegiate course. Auburn University ensures (a) the academic quality of any credit or coursework recorded on its transcript, (b) an approval process with oversight by persons academically qualified to make the necessary judgments, and (c) the credit awarded is comparable to a designated credit experience and is consistent with the institution’s mission.