Transfer Credit

This information is for students who currently attend Lewis & Clark College. While an attempt is made to provide comprehensive information on this subject, individual circumstances may not be adequately covered here. All decisions on curriculum matters are governed by faculty policies. It is the student’s responsibility to obtain clarification of those policies, as they might have impact upon circumstances not covered here. Obtain approval of transfer credit before you enroll in courses at another college or university.

Transfer credit is approved by the Registrar’s Office. Contact Cherilyn Ronningen in the Registrar’s Office, in the lower level of Templeton Center. Phone 503-768-7332; email cer@lclark.edu.

Provide a detailed description of the course(s) you wish to transfer, including level and credit amount. Include your name, ID number, email, institution name, semester in which you wish to enroll in the course(s), and purpose for the course(s). In the case of a study abroad, fill out a Non-L&C Study Abroad Transfer Credit Application. Provide a detailed description of the program, describing who has oversight of the academic component and is responsible for course evaluation, and credentials of the instructors.

Allow at least 2 weeks for your evaluation to be complete.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Transfer credit is generally awarded for coursework completed at other colleges or universities regionally accredited in the United States, provided the coursework is:

• college level;
• judged to be consistent with the Lewis & Clark curriculum;
• awarded a letter grade of C or better (P or CR grades must be verified as C or better);
• taken on the college or university campus (not online or distance learning);
• and not repeated for credit already granted for a course.

Grades obtained for transfer credit are not used to calculate your Lewis & Clark grade point average.

Transfer credit is summarized on the student’s transcript, listing only the name of the institution where the credit was completed and the total amount of transfer credit awarded. Individual course titles and credit amounts are not listed on the L&C transcript. That information is accessible (read only) in the student’s file in the Registrar’s Office. A transcript of that coursework can only be obtained from the institution where the work was completed.

Credit earned on a quarter system calendar is converted to semester credits as follows: 1 quarter credit = .67 semester credit. Credit converted to semester credits, which results in a fraction, is rounded down to the nearest whole number.

Credit earned on an academic system that is not a standard quarter or semester system will be evaluated according to equivalents stated by that institution and accepted industry practice and/or AACRAO recommendations.

The amount of transfer credit awarded for a course completed at another college or university will be determined by the amount of credit granted by the institution where the work was completed.

A maximum of 68 non-L&C credits may be applied to the L&C bachelor’s degree.

L&C cannot give prior approval of transfer credit for independent studies, internships, or practica coursework being completed at another school. In order to evaluate such coursework for transfer, the Registrar must receive a detailed description of the project, list of required readings and assignments, along with a written narrative from the instructor or on-sight supervisor about the method of evaluation, the academic component of the project, and performance in the course, after the project has been completed. In some instances, a student’s final project must be evaluated at L&C.

Students planning to study abroad through another U.S. college or university program must provide a detailed description of the program and the coursework to be completed. Transfer credit is not granted for “stand alone” travel/study programs (e.g. programs where credit is not granted by an accredited U.S. college or university). Students wishing to enroll in programs where a foreign university is the credit-granting institution must provide further information about that institution. In some instances, credit can be transferred directly from well-established, nationally recognized tertiary institutions recognized by the country’s government as degree-granting universities. Credit is not transferred from language schools or institutes in other countries.

In keeping with the standard applied to L&C overseas study programs, we recommend taking no more than 16 semester credits on a study abroad program, and the maximum transferable for a single semester is 19 credits.

Please remember to stay within the college’s academic residency requirement, defined as 60 semester credits taken at Lewis & Clark, including at least 28 of the final 32 semester credits.

GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS

Transfer credit can, with approval, be used to fulfill L&C General Education Requirements.

• The course content must be judged to satisfy the spirit of the requirement at L&C. That judgment is made by the Registrar, in consultation, if necessary, with appropriate faculty.

• Courses other than Physical Education/Athletics courses must be taken for a letter grade.

• Transfer credit for Gen Ed must total a minimum of 75% of the amount of credit specified in the requirement at L&C. In some instances this means that two or more courses must be completed at another school to meet a requirement that might have been satisfied by one course at L&C.

EX: 3 or 4 quarter credits = 2 semester credits.

  Two such courses are required to satisfy a 4-semester-credit L&C requirement.

MAJOR/MINOR REQUIREMENTS

Transfer credit may be used to meet major or minor requirements at the discretion of the chair or program director of the major or minor. Students should first verify with the Registrar’s Office that the proposed course is transferable in general, then consult the department chair or program director with regard to major or minor requirements. An Application to Use Transfer Credit in the Major/Minor form is available in the Registrar’s Office.

LAST NAME BEGINNING WITH A - L
Robin Jarecki, Degree Audit and Transfer Credit Coordinator
5 03-768-7329
rjarecki@lclark.edu 

LAST NAME BEGINNING WITH M - Z
Cherilyn Ronningen, Degree Audit and Transfer Credit Coordinator
503-768-7332
cer@lclark.edu