Transfer Credit

Westminster College participates with the Utah State Transfer Articulation Committee and has established well over 67,000 course equivalencies from Utah schools and schools around the country. Transfer evaluations are processed in the Registrar's Office within 48 hours of the receipt of most college transcripts. Transfer guidelines are as follows:

Westminster College awards transfer credit for coursework that meets the following criteria.

• The transfer institution is regionally accredited*
• The credit awarded is for non-remedial coursework taken in general academic areas that are part of the Westminster curriculum
• The credit awarded is for coursework with grades of C- or better. Marks of credit (CR) or pass (P) are not accepted unless verified as equivalent to a C- or above. (Except physical education classes which are offered only for grades of CR or P.)

A maximum of 72 credit hours may be awarded from two-year institutions and it is not possible to earn upper division hours from a two year school. A maximum of 88 credit hours transferred from all collegiate institutions attended (two-year and four-year) and external credit (i.e. CLEP, AP or other credit earned by external means) may be applied toward meeting the total number of hours required for graduation.

Courses transferred from other academic institutions count for credit hours and requirements only; grades from transfer course work are not calculated into the Westminster College GPA.

Transfer Credit Appeal

Westminster makes every effort to award transfer credit that is relevant to a student's anticipated major, fits within our general academic areas, and does not artificially inflate completed hours in a way that might jeopardize a student's ability to be eligible for continued financial aid. However, it is not always possible to determine the nature of a class from just a course title on the transcript and often, more information is required to determine Westminster equivalencies. Any student that wishes to appeal a transfer decision may proceed as follows:

• Review your transfer evaluation thoroughly with your transfer advisor in the Start Center.
• Provide a syllabus to your transfer advisor for any course in question.
• The Start center advisors will forward your syllabus to the Transfer Coordinator and the Dean of the Appropriate School for a review.
• You will receive written confirmation regarding any transfer decision either with an adjusted Transfer Evaluation award or a letter outlining any decision to deny your appeal.

A change in intended major may necessitate a revision of transfer credit if particular courses were eliminated as part of our initial screening for course work applicable to your stated major. Transfer students are advised to meet with faculty advisors in their major as soon as possible to resolve any remaining transfer issues.

State of Utah Transfer Guide

For information about how your specific course work transfers to Westminster, please see the TransferUtah website below:

www.transferutah.org

International Transfer Credit

All international transcripts are evaluated by external services such as Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute (ACEI) or World Education Services (WES), which determines the level of coursework taken and the semester hour and grade equivalents. Only coursework that is determined to be equivalent to college-level academic work that meets the criteria noted above will be considered for transfer. Transfer acceptance of hours from foreign institutions does not guarantee fulfillment of like courses in majors and minors at Westminster unless approved by the faculty.

Submitting Transcripts for Evaluation

Contact your previous schools and request an official transcript be sent to the Admissions Office at Westminster at the following address:

Admissions Office
Westminster College
1840 South 1300 East
Salt Lake City, UT 84105

Residence Requirement

Undergraduate students earning baccalaureate degrees from Westminster must complete a minimum of 36 hours of coursework at the college. In addition, undergraduate students must complete in residence

• their last 36 hours of course work
• at least 12 hours of upper division course work in any major
• at least 8 hours of course work in any minor

A maximum of 88 credit hours of external credit is accepted toward a degree. External credit includes any transfer credit, credit by examination, and credit earned through Prior Learning Assessment.

Challenge Examination Policy

1. The course challenged must be offered by Westminster College, and the student requesting the examination must be currently enrolled as a degree-seeking student in the college.
2. The student must pay a non-refundable fee of $50 per semester hour of credit prior to taking the examination.
3. Permission to take the Challenge Examination must be secured from the dean of the school under which the course falls and the instructor who teaches the course. The instructor prepares, administers, and grades the examination. Permission to take the examination must be secured 30 days prior to examination, and reasonable assurance of the student's ability to pass the examination must be provided when the request is made.
4. The course being challenged must not be a course for which the student has previously received credit, a course in which the student is enrolled, or a course in which the student was previously enrolled and dropped later than the first week of class.
5. When students successfully pass the Challenge Examination, they receive a letter grade of A, B, C, or D and the appropriate number of semester hours of credit. Students not passing their examinations receive no grade or credit.
6. A course may be challenged only once.
7. Seminars, directed studies, laboratory portions of a course, or activity courses may not be challenged.
8. No more than 30 semester hours of credit by Challenge Examination may be offered toward graduation. Credit received through challenge examination is not counted as in-residence credit.
9. The Challenge Examination for the public speaking skills requirement must be taken at least one semester prior to the semester in which the student plans to graduate.

Challenge Examination forms may be obtained in the Registrar's Office.

Advanced Placement Examinations

Advanced Placement (AP) examinations in most subjects cover a full-year college course equivalent to eight credit hours. Some subject areas such as Computer Science A, Economics (Macro and Micro), Environmental Science, Comparative Government and Politics, U.S. Government and Politics, Physics C, Psychology, Statistics, and Human Geography, are equivalent to one semester of college-level coursework and are awarded credit based on the credit hours for the equivalent course at Westminster.

A score of 3 is the minimum score accepted by the college; however, individual departments may require a minimum score of 4 to award credit for the equivalent course. Individual departments determine how they will apply AP credits toward specific major or minor requirements. Students may receive a maximum of 40 hours of Advanced Placement credit.