TRANSFER COURSES TO A UD GRADUATE DEGREE FROM AN EXTERNAL SCHOOL

U.S. institutions must be accredited and issue graduate-level college degrees

• U.S. institutions must be regionally accredited.  You can confirm regional accreditation through the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Look for accreditation by one of these 6 bodies.

• U.S. degree-granting colleges/universities with other accreditation may be eligible. Contact the Registrar’s Office to confirm (transfercredit@udel.edu). 

International institutions

• Credits from institutions outside the U.S. are generally not transferable to a UD graduate degree.

• Upon special request, international courses may be considered. Students may be asked to provide an international credential evaluation at their own expense. Contact the Registrar’s Office to confirm (transfercredit@udel.edu). 

• For any graduate transfer credit from a school outside the U.S., the international institution must be approved by the country’s Ministry of Education to issue graduate-level degrees. 

Official transcript:

• Courses must be recorded on an official transcript issued by the unit at the school (registrar or grading office) that confirms and issues the school’s graduate degrees.

Courses must be:

• Graduate-level at that school.

• Not taken while in “continuing education” or “non-degree” status at the other school. Must be taken as part of a graduate degree program.

• Taken for a standard letter grade and earn a “B” or better.

• Not receive a grade of “P,” “CR,” or similar Pass/Fail grade, even if the equivalent UD course is taught Pass/Fail.  

• Taken within the past 5 years. 

• No more than a total of 9 cr. may be transferred from external schools and applied to a UD graduate degree.

• Not count toward a prior or other college-level degree.

External transfer credits/grades

• Grades and quality points for courses transferred from other schools are not included in the UD GPA.

Note: UD uses its own transfer and conversion policies

• Courses taken under a different credit system (i.e. Quarter or Trimester hours) may be converted to UD semester hours.

• Even if another school recommends different conversions, UD’s policies prevail.

For more information

• Graduate transfer credit policies are outlined in the current catalog: Academic Regulations for Graduate Students >> Courses and Credits >> Transfer of Credits

Quick overview (full steps are outlined in detail below)

• If your official transcript has not already been sent directly to UD Graduate Admissions, request it.

• Meet with your graduate program coordinator to discuss your transfer credit request.

• Provide proof of the letter grade you earned in the course. 

• Follow the process in your department to have the external syllabus reviewed and approved as a UD equivalent course.

• If your course was taken at a school where you have completed a college-level degree, request confirmation that the course was not used to complete that degree.

• Complete/submit an External Graduate Transfer Credit (EGTC) form and send it to your graduate program coordinator. 

Request an official transcript sent directly to UD Graduate Admissions

• Electronic transcripts (send via third party transcript vendors such as Parchment or the National Student Clearinghouse): must be password protected & requested directly through the school, sent to gradadmissions@udel.edu.

• Paper transcripts: send directly from the school to UD Graduate Admissions, 234 Hullihen Hall, Newark, DE 19716 U.S.A.

• If you already had an official transcript sent to UD as part of your graduate application, and it includes the courses/credits/grades requested to transfer, it can also be used for transfer credit. No additional transcript needed.

Important notes about official transcripts

• If the school sends a paper transcript directly to you, do NOT open it. Send the transcript in the original, sealed envelope to the Graduate Admissions Office address above. 

• Do not email a PDF transcript or opened paper transcript issued by the school. This would be considered unofficial, and you would need to order a new one.

Transcript processing time

• After arriving at UD, transcripts take roughly 5-7 business days to route to the Graduate College, and additional time to route to the transfer credit team.

• Due to high volume, the Graduate College and Registrar’s Office cannot confirm when your transcript has arrived, as it may be in the queue for processing. 

Meet with your graduate program coordinator

• Every graduate program and department has their own internal requirements for courses that may be considered transferable. 

• Discuss this with your graduate program coordinator before doing the steps below.

Confirm the UD course equivalency

• You may need to send an official syllabus for the course to a faculty member for review, with an email response required when submitting a transfer credit form.

• Follow the steps outlined by your department. 

Proof of grade earned

• Provide proof of the letter grade you earned in the course. 

• Login to your official student record at the other school, take a screenshot of your unofficial transcript and attach it to your transfer credit form. 

• Your graduate program coordinator must be able to confirm that you earned a B or better before approving a transfer request.

If you have completed a prior college degree at any school other than UD 

• If the course appears on any college transcript for a school where you completed another college degree, contact the Registrar’s Office at the degree-granting school to request an email confirming that the course was not used to fulfill a degree requirement. 

• Copy/paste this template into an email and complete your information.

• For all courses you would like to transfer, include the course title, course #, credits, and year taken. 

• Ask the sender to include their name/title/contact information in their response, and send it to your graduate program coordinator, copying you.

• If the course you would like to transfer was used to complete another college degree, it is not eligible to transfer to your UD graduate degree. 

Submit an External Graduate Transfer Credit (EGTC) form 

• Complete and save the fillable PDF EGTC form. 

• Email it to your graduate program coordinator.

• Attach a PDF of any supplemental information.

• Supplemental documentation could include: approval of a specific UD course from a UD faculty, screenshot of your student record showing the course & grade at the other school, and/or an email from another school’s Registrar’s office.

• In the subject line when sending the form/materials, include your full name, UDID, and “Request to Transfer External Graduate Credit”.

Next steps - In your department

• Your graduate program coordinator will review your EGTC form and all documentation.

• If they have questions or need additional information, they may return your materials for editing. Please reattach and resend when responding.

• If they approve of your request, they will send your materials to the department Chair for final review.

• The Chair will review, reply with questions if needed, or forward to the Graduate College with their approval.

Next steps - Graduate College

• The Graduate College will review your materials, ask questions if needed, and then add them to a queue for processing by the Registrar’s Office.

• Your transfer credit should appear on your UD record approximately 2-3 weeks after your approved form/materials have arrived at the Graduate College.

• Due to high volume, the Registrar’s Office cannot confirm when your credits have posted. Please check UDSIS and/or Stellic regularly.

• If credits have not posted within 4 weeks of your form’s approval, email gradstudentforms@udel.edu.