The Graduate College Handbook - 2009
C. Transfer of Credit
Credit may not be transferred to count toward Stage II or Stage III of a doctoral program (see chapter VI.C). The only credit that will be considered for transfer is credit:
- that has not previously been applied toward a degree or a transcripted certificate,
- that is graded graduate level course work from an accredited institution,
- in which the student has achieved a grade of B or better, and
- that would not be more than five years old for a master’s degree, or Certificate of Advanced Study, or seven years old for a doctoral degree at the time of degree conferral.
There are two types of credit that a graduate student may wish to transfer. Students may wish to transfer credit from one graduate degree program to another graduate degree program within the Graduate College at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Alternatively, graduate students may wish to transfer credit completed outside the Graduate College. Different rules apply for each type.
Generally, a maximum of 12 semester hours of graduate work completed outside the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Graduate College may be counted toward a graduate degree. Work completed outside the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Graduate College that can be transferred includes these four types:
- graduate level work taken as an undergraduate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, but not used toward a degree or transcripted certificate,
- graduate level work taken through Guided Individual Study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
- graduate level work taken at another accredited institution, but not used toward a degree or transcripted certificate,
- graduate level work done while enrolled as a non-degree student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Students who have earned up to 12 hours of graduate credit while enrolled as a non-degree student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign may petition those hours and up to 12 hours of graduate credit taken at another institution. These petitions may be submitted after the student receives their notice of admission.
To request transfer of credit from outside the Graduate College, a student should submit a Graduate Student Petition, accompanied by official transcripts if these are not already available in the student’s file, and validation by specialists in the area of the course work in the student’s department that the course work is both applicable and of an appropriate level of difficulty. A student must have successfully completed at least 8 semester hours of graded graduate work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before submitting a request for transfer of credit, except when the request is for graduate course work taken at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign while enrolled as a non-degree student.
Most transfer credit will be reflected on the transcript without course titles and grades. The exceptions are:
- graduate credit transferred from the University of Illinois at Chicago or from the University of Illinois at Springfield,
- graduate credit earned through the CIC Traveling Scholar Program,
- credit earned in the Illinois College of Medicine that is approved for application to the student’s graduate program for students in the Medical Scholars Program, and
- graduate credit earned through an Urbana-Champaign off-campus course or program.
Distinct from credit transferred from outside, credit may be transferred from one graduate program at this University to another graduate program at this University as long as it was not applied toward another degree. The Graduate College requires that both departments involved approve of the transfer of work from one program to the other; and that the courses will only be applied to one degree program.
To request a transfer of credit from one program to another within the Graduate College, a student should submit a Graduate Student Petition clearly specifying the above requirements.
For these petitions, there is no limit on the number of hours that a student may request be transferred. Credit taken while in the CIC Traveling Scholar Program is considered to be within the Graduate College.