Transfer Credit and World Campus

Many World Campus students have credit from prior learning. You do not have to be transferring directly from another degree program to be considered a transfer student. Whether you are coming from a current program, have credits earned within the last academic year, or several years have elapsed since you have participated in your studies, your admission will be processed as a transfer student. Please read the following information carefully in order to understand World Campus policies regarding transfer credit. 

Transfer Credit Requirements

Prospective undergraduate students may transfer credit from college-level work done at a regionally accredited institution. There is no limit to the number of credits that you may transfer into Penn State; however, it is likely that not all of your transferred credit may count toward your intended degree program. The academic department in which you enroll will have the final say on what credit can be accepted toward your degree. Penn State’s Transfer Course Evaluation Guide, a convenient, step-by-step tool, may help you to determine approximately how much of your previous credit may transfer, but cannot determine which credits will apply to the program you choose.

Additionally, you must earn a minimum number of credits from Penn State to earn your degree through World Campus:

• To earn an associate's degree, 18 of the last 30 credits that you take to earn your degree must be from Penn State.
• To earn a bachelor’s degree, 36 of the last 60 credits that you take to earn your degree must be from Penn State. 

For a course to qualify for credit:

• the course grade you earned must be equivalent to a grade of A, B, or C (2.0) at Penn State
• there must be an equivalent course at Penn State
• the transferred course credits must be useful to your program of study

The actual letter grade received will not be transferred — only the credit — so your Penn State grade-point average (GPA) will not be affected. Transferred credit is not recorded on your transcript until after you have completed at least one 3-credit course at Penn State. Your GPA will be calculated starting from the completion of your first World Campus course.

Graduate Transfer Students

For graduate degree programs, transfer credits are reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the respective department to which you are applying. To receive transfer credit:

• the courses you want to transfer must appear on a graduate-level transcript from a regionally accredited institution
• courses appearing as undergraduate level on your transcript cannot be transferred to a Penn State graduate degree program
• courses used to complete a graduate degree at any university may not be used as transfer credits in your new World Campus degree program
• you will need to submit official copies of your academic transcripts to the academic department hosting the degree program to which you are applying for admission
• no more than 15 nondegree graduate credits can be applied toward a degree program

Approval to apply any transferred credits toward a degree program must be granted by the student's academic adviser and the Penn State Graduate School. Questions should be directed to the program contact person listed on the individual program's "How to Apply" page. Visit the Admissions Requirements section and select your program of interest to find contact information. If you have not yet chosen a program, you may contact an admissions counselor for more information.