Tompkins Cortland Community College
Advising

Transfer Credits

Downloadable PDF printable Version of the information below:
Transfer Evaluation Process.

Transfer Evaluations

Students turn official transcripts into the Admission’s Office. The Admission’s Office enters the information, images them and forwards them to the Registrar. The Registrar evaluates the transfer credits and it is posted on the students transcripts. Course work is evaluated for exact equivalencies to TC3 courses.

If for some reason the faculty member finds a course should have been accepted differently, there are request for re-evaluation forms that contain a comment area and signature line for faculty to sign-off on the equivalency recommendation. Students may also fill the form out and hand it in without a faculty recommendation if they want a course reviewed again.

General Guidelines for Evaluations

  • Acceptable Grades - Course work with grades of 2.0, C or higher are accepted. Grades of P or S may be accepted if the college’s catalog states they are equivalent to 2.0, C or higher. C- Grades are not acceptable.
  • Accreditation - “Transfer Credit Practices” by AACRO lists accreditation for most colleges. Course work is accepted from regionally accredited colleges. The following are the regional accreditation agencies: Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, and Southern Association of Schools and Colleges. New York State regulations require us to accept any course work from colleges that are accredited by the New York State Board of Regents. Course work from institutions and colleges, which are not regionally accredited, should be accepted on a course-by-course or case-by-case basis.
  • Credit Hour Equivalents - TC3’s credit hours are based on semester hours. We do not accept fractions of credit hours, i.e. .5, 1.5. Also, the credits must be equivalent. We don’t accept less or more than the number of credits than the TC3 course. For example, if the college has a two-credit course equivalent to ENGL 102, it’s not acceptable for transfer credit. However, if the college has a four-credit course equivalent to ENGL 102, it should be transferred in as a three-credit course. Exceptions to this rule are:
    Course Number of Acceptable Credits
    ENGL 1013
    ACCT Four-Credit Courses3
    MATH Four-Credit Courses3

    The transcript also needs to be checked for the type of credit hours that the college awards. Most transcripts list the semester hour equivalent if they are not in semester hours. The following are some of the other types of credit hours that colleges use:
  • Quarter Credits - One-quarter hour is equivalent to two-thirds of a semester hour. Multiply the quarter hours by .66 to determine the number of semester hour equivalents. Round the number of credits to the nearest credit, i.e. four semester credits are 2.64 semester credits, round to 3 credits.
  • Units - The number of semester hours per unit varies from college to college. An example is Wells College in which one unit is equivalent to 3.33 semester hours. The credits should be rounded to the nearest number of credits, i.e. 3.33 semester credits to three semester credits.
  • Clock Hours - Some colleges just list the number of clock hours that a course meets. Fifteen hours of lecture is equivalent to one semester hour. A laboratory class must meet at least thirty hours for one semester hour with substantial work outside of the class or forty-five hours for one semester hour without work outside the class. When the course description doesn’t state the amount of work done outside the class, use the higher number of hours. Nine hours are equivalent to one semester hour for independent studies and work experience classes.

The student needs to request for the college to send official documentation regarding hours of class and laboratory clock hours for any nonstandard hours that are not documented either on the transcript or in the course catalog.

Documentation

Only official transcripts are acceptable for granting transfer credit. An official transcript must bear an official seal, signature, and date. Any transcript should be checked carefully for what may look like changes or forgeries. Copies of official transcripts are unacceptable except for foreign transcripts. Foreign colleges usually issue the student only one transcript. Additional copies of foreign transcripts are very difficult for students to get. We are allowed to verify that a foreign transcript is official and then make a copy of the transcript. Copies of foreign transcripts should not be accepted from the student.

Students are responsible for submitting all necessary documentation, including catalog course descriptions or course syllabuses.

We do not accept transfer credits, proficiency examinations, AP credit, waivers, etc. listed on the college transcripts. Separate official documentation needs to be submitted from each source for the student to receive credit.

Evaluation of Equivalencies

Exact course equivalents are assigned whenever possible, i.e. PSYC 103 rather than a social science elective or PSYC elective). This will mean less re-evaluation and help prevent the student from taking the same course twice.

We do not give credit for a course that is also taken at TC3 or transferred in from another college. Students may only receive credit for a particular course once.

Transfer credits are only accepted for courses, which could apply towards a student’s program and graduation at TC3.

Course work is evaluated starting with the more specific requirements first. In order, where appropriate, we assign:

  • Specific course requirements, i.e. ENGL 101, ENGL 201
  • Discipline specific course requirements, i.e. MATH electives, Science electives, Social Science electives
  • Liberal Arts electives
  • Unrestricted electives
  • Fitness electives

Either the department coordinator or program chair is contacted to review course work if we are unsure that the courses are equivalent. There are requests for re-evaluation forms that contain a comment area and signature line for faculty to sign-off on the equivalency recommendation.

In evaluating the student’s transcript we look for exact course equivalencies. In some cases a student may have a number of courses that together cover the content of a TC3 course or upper level courses that presume knowledge of the introductory course. These courses should not be combined or transferred in for the TC3 course. Students who question the evaluation based on these reasons should be told to speak to their advisor and submit a waiver. An example of this is many colleges have life-span psychology courses. TC3 has three developmental psychology courses. These courses are not equivalent. However, the student may do a waiver to substitute the life-span psychology course for one or more of our developmental psychology courses depending on the credit hours.

ENGL 101

Transfer credit for ENGL 101 is only accepted if the composition course contains a research paper component.

SUNY Cortland’s CPN 100 is not equivalent to ENGL 101. Credit may be given for an English or unrestricted elective. SUNY Cortland’s CPN 101 course is equivalent to ENGL 101, but only 3 credits. The student will need to take ENGL 101B if they have credit only for CPN 101. If they have credit for both CPN 100 and 101, they may get credit for a four credit ENGL 101.

Cornell University’s courses that may be transferred in as equivalents to ENGL 101 have “FWS” an abbreviation for Freshman Writing Seminar in front of the course description. If the student does not need ENGL 101 the course may be used to fulfill another requirement.

Many transcripts have “WI” an abbreviation for writing intensive by the course title or notes in the course description showing it is writing intensive. These courses could make up the fourth credit needed for a three credit ENGL 101. Also, if a student has a course that used to be considered writing intensive at TC3, a credit from this course may be used as long as it isn’t needed to meet another course requirement.

Science Elective

If the course is not equivalent to one of TC3’s science courses, they are noted on the transcript as a science elective (SCI ELEC) or a science elective with a lab component (SCI/L ELEC).

Nursing Courses

Nursing (NURS) courses are not accepted without approval from the Nursing Department Coordinator. If the transcript has with nursing courses and the student is applying for the Nursing program, an email is sent the department coordinator asking them to evaluate the nursing courses. Nursing courses from other institutions may be accepted as unrestricted electives if the student isn’t in the nursing program.

Credits for Life-Experience

Training Programs

Training programs may be awarded credit based on ACE or PONSI recommendations. A few exceptions are:

The real estate courses listed are not equivalent to our real estate courses. TC3’s courses are more in depth.

The EMT courses listed are not equivalent to our EMT courses. TC3’s courses are more in depth.

Many of our local banks send their employees to take courses at TC3 and also give the employee AIB credit. The TC3 course work is checked before credit is awarded for AIB courses.

Standardized Tests

The course equivalencies and the minimum scores in the credit for life handbook are used to determine if credit should be awarded. We only accept tests that have met these minimum scores.

Military Credit

Two fitness electives and HLTH 126 are awarded for basic training. Students must submit a DD 214 to receive credit. Additional credit may be awarded based on the ACE recommendations for military training.