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Undergraduate Program

Academic Advising: Information for Transfer Students

If you are transferring to the College from another institution, your assigned advisor will help you evaluate how to fit the work you've already completed into the College's requirements for graduation. If you are currently enrolled and considering study at another institution, you should check with your advisor to make sure the credits will qualify for transfer and count toward your degree. In both cases, the information below applies to how transfer credits are evaluated by the College.

Credit from U.S. Institutions

All domestic transfer credit is evaluated in the Office of the University Registrar. Any student of the College who proposes to attend a summer session elsewhere must have written permission in advance from the Office of the Registrar in order to ensure that credit will be transferred. No retroactive transfer of such credit will be permitted. Information and forms are available on the website of the Office of the University Registrar.

Credit from Foreign Institutions

All international students with courses from accredited 13-year secondary education programs or universities outside the United States will be asked to have a preliminary evaluation done by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO). Once AACRAO has determined the amount and subjects of transferable credit, the Academic Advising Office will contact departmental chairs with the translated syllabi provided by international students to determine exactly what credit will be granted. Transfer credit is granted for any course taken in an accredited 13-year secondary program or university in which the student prior to coming to the College has earned a grade equivalent to C- or better (or, in the case of a course taken on a Pass/Fail basis, a grade of P), provided that the course is comparable to a course offered for academic credit at the College.

Uses and Limits of Transfer Credit

Courses given equivalent status may be used to satisfy proficiency, minor, major, or, GER requirements (3-4 credits for GER1 through GER5 and 1-2 credits for GER6). Courses granted elective transfer credit will count toward the total number of academic credits required for the baccalaureate degree, but they may not be used to meet GER, proficiency, minor, or major requirements unless approval has been granted by the College's Committee on Degrees.

Transfer credit will not be granted for courses that fall into the following categories:

• correspondence, computer, or distance learning courses
• courses in professional, vocational, or sectarian religious study
• courses below the level of introductory courses at the College
• modern language courses that repeat the level of courses previously taken at the university level or that repeat more than 1 level of courses taken at the secondary level
• freshman English courses of more than one semester that are devoted mostly to composition
• college orientation courses
• in-service or training programs in the armed forces (except DOD language institute courses)
• work done while the student is not in good academic standing

Transfer grades do not affect degree requirements, grade point average, or class rank. While there is no limit to the number of courses that may be transferred, William and Mary requires that at least 60 semester credits, including a minimum of 15 credits in the major(s), be earned in residence at the College.

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