Transfer Credit Acceptance at CalSouthern

All college and military transcripts are evaluated on a course-by-course basis in accordance with CalSouthern policies. (For international learners, please see International Official Transcripts section of this catalog.) Certain degree programs may have specific transfer credit requirements; please refer to the degree program page for additional information.

Credit earned for undergraduate courses for which a grade of “C” or higher was earned will be considered for transfer. Only college-level, post-secondary, degree-applicable coursework will be eligible for undergraduate transfer credit, which excludes pre-college level or remedial-level courses. For graduate programs, a grade of “B” or higher is required. In evaluating credits earned at other institutions, the University will consider, among other factors, the academic relevance of the courses to the degree being sought.

Credits earned at post-secondary institutions that are available for transfer to CalSouthern and applied toward the required core or required courses in a degree program do not expire as long as the learner maintains continuous enrollment with the University. However, where current courses significantly and materially change, learners may be required to take the updated version of older courses with similar titles to meet degree requirements.

For programs leading to credentialing or licensure, required core content must be verified by providing official course syllabi for any requested potential transferrable course. Transferrable credit will only be accepted into credential or licensure-bound programs if the course content can be verified to be substantially equivalent to that which is required in the comparable CalSouthern course.

CalSouthern follows the semester credit system. For potential transferrable credit consideration, the conversion of quarter credits to semester is as follows: Number of quarter credits ÷ 1.5 = Number of semester credits. For example, 4.5 quarter credits = 3 semester credits.

Maximum Credits Accepted in Transfer by Degree Program

DEGREE PROGRAM	MAX. TRANSFER CREDITS
Associate Degrees	45
Bachelor’s Degrees	90
Master’s Degrees (all except MA in Psychology)	6
Master of Arts in Psychology	12
Doctorate Degrees	30

Certificate Programs

Applicants/learners may transfer up to 50% of the total number of credits from external institutions in a certificate program.

Courses Ineligible for Transfer

The following courses must be completed at CalSouthern and cannot have transfer credits applied. Additional courses may be subject to transfer credit restrictions on the basis of programmatic accreditation or affiliation.

Capstone courses, including Master’s Thesis courses
Doctoral Projects
Internship
Practicum
Comprehensive Evaluation
UNI 1000 – University Success Online*

*RN-BSN learners may have UNI 1000 satisfied through block transfer via their completed associate degree or diploma in nursing.

Duplication of course transfer is not permitted in any degree program. Any degree plans or schedules are tentative pending the receipt of official transcripts. Notwithstanding the above policies, all transferred course credit is subject to review and approval by Academic Affairs.

General Education Credit Transfer

CalSouthern requires that at least 24 credits toward an associate degree, and 36 credits toward a bachelor’s* degree must be earned in General Education (GE). This requirement may be satisfied wholly, or in part, by transfer of courses completed at other accredited or approved schools and/or credits completed at CalSouthern. Depending on the degree program, prerequisite course requirements may need to be satisfied, and additional courses may be required if the courses are essential for successful completion of the learner’s degree program.

When evaluating GE credit transfer, the University accepts the GE courses in “bulk transfer” thereby acknowledging that the GE requirement is being met through transfer. Even though the sending institution’s GE courses may not map directly into CalSouthern GE courses, nevertheless they are accepted as counting toward the respective associate or bachelor degree GE requirements. Additional GE courses beyond the respective associate or bachelor degree GE credits required may be accepted as “Elective Courses” to meet the total credit maximum transfer limit. If the applicant/learner does not have the full amount of GE credits to fulfill the respective associate or bachelor degree GE requirements, the University will schedule applicable GE courses to satisfy the GE credits required.