Academic Catalog

Policy Summary

Defines the parameters for accepting credit from non-NAU courses and for Prior Learning Assessment as transfer credit for graduate-level programs.

Reason for the Policy

Establishes (a) the criteria for accepting transfer credit from other regionally accredited or recognized foreign institutions, (b) the criteria for accepting prior learning experiences as credit, (c) the procedures for evaluation of credit and prior learning experiences, (d) responsibilities of different groups in relation to this policy. 

Entities Affected by this Policy and Those Who Should Know this Policy:

• Associate Deans
• Center for International Education
• Chairs/Directors
• Enrollment Management (Admissions and Financial Aid)
• Faculty
• Graduate College Coordinators
• Graduate Program Coordinators
• Graduate Program Directors
• Institutional Research and Analysis
• Office of Curriculum & Assessment
• Office of the Registrar
• Student and Department Account Services
• Undergraduate Students
• University Advising

Policy

A. Criteria for Accepting For-Credit Transfer Credit from Regionally Accredited U.S. or Recognized Foreign Institutions

Graduate courses completed at other accredited colleges and universities may be applied as transfer credit toward a graduate degree at Northern Arizona University at the discretion of each graduate program.

For programs that accept transfer credit from a regionally accredited institution in the United States or from a recognized foreign institution, the following criteria must be met:

• The Advisor and Graduate Program Coordinator/Director or Academic Unit Chair/Director approve the acceptance of the transfer course(s) to the student’s Program of Study.
• The course earned graduate credit (500-level or higher) at the previous institution.
• The course is comparable to Northern Arizona University graduate-level coursework in that it meets and/or contains equivalent core learning competencies to a required or elective course within the student’s Academic Advisement Report or Program of Study.
• The student earned a grade of "A" or "B" (or the equivalent if another grading system was used).  The Graduate College will accept a "Pass" grade if the course is graded only on a pass-fail basis.
• Aligns with ABOR’s contact hour equivalency requirement adopted by NAU (Policy: Academic Credit; 45 contact hours per unit of credit).
• The credit was earned (a) within the six-year period required for completing the Master's degree or Graduate Certificate or (b) within the eight-year period required for completing a doctoral degree.
• The credits were not applied toward an undergraduate degree.
• For international transfer coursework, institutions must be recognized by their nation’s governing academic body (e.g., Ministry of Education).

B. Criteria for Accepting Transfer Credit through Prior Learning Assessment

Prior Learning credit, or credit received for abilities students may have acquired through non-credit courses, structured, non-credit professional development programs, and professional work experiences, may be applied as transfer credit toward a graduate degree at Northern Arizona University at the discretion of each graduate program.

For programs that evaluate and will accept transfer credit for prior learning, the following criteria must be met:

• The student must demonstrate mastery and application of knowledge and skills commensurate with graduate-level academic expectations and the graduate program’s student learning outcomes through one of the following approaches:
  • Completion of an experience through a verifiable non-credit learning opportunity approved by the academic unit for the degree program.
  • Knowledge-based examinations designed or accepted by the academic unit.
  • Portfolio review.
  • Academic unit acceptance of transfer credit for Prior Learning that has previously been evaluated and accepted by a CHEA-recognized institution.
  • Military experience and training documented on a Joint Services Transcript with American Council on Education (ACE) credit recommendations, provided the credit recommended is at the graduate level.
  • Completion of coursework by a non-regionally accredited U.S. institution or a non-recognized foreign institution.
  • The Advisor and Graduate Program Coordinator/Director or Academic Unit Chair/Director approve the acceptance of the experience to the student’s Program of Study.
  • The experience is equivalent to learning at the graduate level (500-level or higher).
  • The experience is comparable to Northern Arizona University graduate-level coursework in that it meets and/or contains equivalent core learning competencies to a required or elective course within the student’s Academic Advisement Report or Program of Study.
  • The student earned a passing or competent grade if the experience was graded on a pass-fail basis.
  • Aligns with ABOR’s contact hour equivalency requirement (Policy: Academic Credit; 45 contact hours per unit of credit).
  • The experience occurred within (a) the six-year period required for completing the master’s degree or graduate certificate or (b) the eight-year period required for completing a doctoral degree.
  • The experience was not applied toward an undergraduate degree.

Transfer coursework is not computed in the Northern Arizona University grade point average (GPA)

C. Amounts of Transfer Credit Accepted by Program Type

Without exception, a majority of the total credits for the completion of a graduate degree or graduate certificate must be earned through Northern Arizona University.  Thesis/Dissertation research credit hours cannot be transferred.  For programs selecting to accept transfer credit, the maximum units of credit that may be transferred either fulfilling for-credit or not-for-credit criteria are based on graduate program type as follows:

Note that this section still upholds the 25% criteria, we simply provided clear ranges of units for each program type to increase the policy’s ease of use by stakeholders.

Graduate Certificates

• 3 units of transfer credit toward a certificate of 18 units or less.
• 6 units of transfer credit toward a certificate of 19 units or more.

Master’s Degrees and Graduate Certificates requiring 30 or more units, and International Dual Degree Programs

• 9 units of transfer credit toward a degree of 30 to 36 units.
• 12 units of transfer credit toward a degree of 37 to 48 units.
• 15 units of transfer credit toward a degree of 49 or more units.

Doctoral Degrees

• Up to 50% of the required units for the program.

Doctoral programs may apply previous master's program work to the doctoral program.

Concurrent or Joint Degrees

• Credit may be transferred to fulfill equivalencies for only one credential.

Changing Graduate Programs

In the case of a student who changes programs at Northern Arizona University, the Advisor and Graduate Program Coordinator/Director or Academic Unit Chair/Director of the new program may or may not accept any previously transferred coursework accepted by the former program.

D. Timing of Evaluation, Posting Excess Credits, and Requesting Exceptions

Timing of Evaluation

Since an early evaluation of transfer coursework enables the student to plan their degree program more efficiently, it is preferable that transfer coursework is reviewed and applied to the student’s Program of Study as part of admission to the program, or within the student’s first semester of NAU coursework in the graduate program.

Following admission to a degree program, students must obtain written permission from the graduate program director before registering for a course or prior learning experience at another institution with the intention of transferring the credit for that course or experience toward a graduate program at Northern Arizona University.

Posting Excess Credits

If the student chooses, credits not accepted as contributions to the Program of Study by the Advisor and Graduate Program Coordinator/Director or Academic Unit Chair/Director may be posted as excess credits on the student’s transcript.

Requesting Exceptions to the Allowed Time Frame

If courses or experiences occurred outside of the allowed timeframe, written justification must be provided by the Advisor and Graduate Program Coordinator/Director or Academic Unit Chair/Director with approval by the Graduate College Associate Dean for courses or experiences to be transferred.

E. Procedures for Evaluating For-Credit Coursework for Transfer Credit

Graduate students interested in receiving transfer credit must first consult with their faculty advisor and graduate program director or academic unit chair/director to ascertain academic unit acceptance and degree applicability.

In all cases, the decision to accept and designate transfer work is rendered by the student’s advisor and graduate program director or academic unit chair/director. Once it is determined that the course meets the required criteria, the student must submit a Petition for Transfer Credit form containing the required signatures and an official transcript to the Graduate College.

Transfer of Domestic Credit

A student seeking to transfer courses from a domestic university is responsible for submitting transcripts, as well as course descriptions and syllabi to the graduate advisor or committee, for review. The advisor and graduate program director or academic unit chair/director will determine those courses appropriate for transfer based on an assessment of course content. Transcripts and syllabi are required. 

Transfer of International Credit

A student seeking to transfer courses from universities outside the U.S. is responsible for submitting transcripts, course descriptions, and syllabi in English for review by the relevant academic unit for the course under consideration.  The advisor and graduate program director or academic unit chair/director will determine those courses appropriate for transfer based on an assessment of course content. Transcripts and syllabi are required. 

F. Procedures for Evaluating Prior Learning Experiences for Transfer Credit

Graduate students interested in receiving credit for prior learning must first consult with their faculty Advisor and Graduate Program Coordinator/Director or Academic Unit Chair/Director to ascertain academic unit acceptance and degree applicability.

In all cases, the decision to accept and designate transfer work for prior learning is rendered by the student’s Advisor and Graduate Program Coordinator/Director or Academic Unit Chair/Director. Once it is determined that the experience meets the required criteria as defined below, the student must submit a Petition for Transfer Credit form containing the required signatures to the Graduate College.

All evaluations for prior learning will be administered and graded, and/or reviewed, by no fewer than two faculty members, typically the student’s Advisor and Graduate Program Coordinator/Director or Academic Unit Chair/Director. If the unit offering a given course for which prior learning credit is sought is different than the unit offering the overall program, then faculty from both units need to be engaged in the assessment of such courses.  The approval of the course toward the Program of Study will be approved by the student’s Advisor and Graduate Program Coordinator/Director or Academic Unit Chair/Director.

Verifiable Non-Credit Learning Opportunities

Two pathways exist for this learning opportunity:

1. Academic units may proactively identify not-for-credit learning opportunities and credentials that will be accepted by the program for requirement or elective coursework within the Program of Study.  Academic units would submit these as learning opportunity equivalents of course requirements and electives to Admissions and the Graduate College for posting on the student’s transcript.
2. A student seeking to transfer non-credit learning opportunities is responsible for submitting course descriptions and syllabi or syllabi-equivalents for Advisor and Graduate Program Coordinator/Director or Academic Unit Chair/Director review. The Advisor and Graduate Program Coordinator/Director or Academic Unit Chair/Director review will determine appropriate courses for transfer based on assessment of course content and will submit these as learning opportunity equivalents of course requirements and electives to Admissions and the Graduate College for posting on the student’s transcript.  

Knowledge-Based Examinations Designed or Accepted by the Academic Unit

Two pathways exist for this learning opportunity:

1. Faculty may proactively develop examinations for courses within their program that they will use to evaluate student performance.
2. Students may request an examination to test out of a course within their program if the academic unit has determined it will allow this test-out option for students in their program.  If a graduate program does not have a standardized challenge exam, the Advisor and Graduate Program Coordinator/Director or Academic Unit Chair/Director may appoint a committee to conduct an individualized assessment of the student’s abilities acquired through non-credit courses, structured non-credit professional development program, and professional work experiences. Such an assessment is to be based upon department and college criteria for demonstration of mastery and application of graduate-level knowledge and skills. This type of assessment may include a portfolio review, oral or written examination, performance-based assessment, and demonstration.  Academic units would submit these as learning opportunity equivalents of course requirements and electives to Admissions and the Graduate College for posting on the student’s transcript.

Portfolio Review

The procedure for this is under research and we are still in the process of developing it.

Academic unit acceptance of transfer credit for Prior Learning that has previously been evaluated and accepted by a CHEA-recognized institution.

A student seeking to obtain transfer credit through this approach would submit transcripts from the CHEA-recognized institution for Advisor and Graduate Program Coordinator/Director or Academic Unit Chair/Director review. They will determine appropriate courses for transfer based on assessment of university transcripts and will submit these as learning opportunity equivalents of course requirements and electives to Admissions and the Graduate College for posting on the student’s transcript.

Military Credit

A student seeking to transfer courses from military educational programs is responsible for submitting transcripts, course descriptions, and syllabi to the advisor and graduate program director or academic unit chair/director. The Advisor and Graduate Program Coordinator/Director or Academic Unit Chair/Director will determine appropriate courses for transfer based on assessment of course content and will work with Admissions and the Graduate College to develop course or elective equivalencies for the military credit.  Evaluations by the American Council of Education (ACE) for course equivalents at the graduate level may be used by programs in making decisions concerning the transfer of military courses. Academic units would submit these as learning opportunity equivalents of course requirements and electives to Admissions and the Graduate College for posting on the student’s transcript.

Coursework Completed by a Non-Regionally Accredited U.S. Institution or a Non-Recognized Foreign Institution.

A student seeking to transfer non-credit learning opportunities is responsible for submitting transcripts, course descriptions, and syllabi for Advisor and Graduate Program Coordinator/Director or Academic Unit Chair/Director review. The committee will determine appropriate courses for transfer based on assessment of course content and will work with Admissions and the Graduate College to develop course or elective equivalencies for the verifiable non-credit learning opportunities. Academic units would submit these as learning opportunity equivalents of course requirements and electives to Admissions and the Graduate College for posting on the student’s transcript.

All PLAs shall be graded “Credit” or “No Credit.” “Credit” will be posted on the transcript as “Credit earned by PLA” without letter grade or honor points. Students who do not achieve a sufficient score to receive “Credit” will have no entry made on their transcripts.

Graduate students may petition for an exception to any academic, non-grade-related, graduate regulation for which no specific appeal or petition process exists. Petitions should be submitted, in writing, to the Associate Dean of the Graduate College. When applicable, the student’s advisor and department chair may endorse the petition letter. In some specific instances, utilizing the Academic Appeal Policy and UGCHP is more appropriate.

Students should contact the Associate Dean of the Graduate College for clarification on which process to initiate.