Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to establish consistent practices for accepting transfer credit for undergraduate college-level courses previously completed by students.
Responsibility
Enrollment Services is responsible for implementing this policy and the related procedure.
General Guidelines
The following guidelines will be used when evaluating credit for transfer.
Accreditation: SCTCC will consider for transfer those credit courses taken from colleges and universities that are accredited by an agency recognized by the Council of Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Courses completed without accreditation may be considered under SCTCC Policy S3.12 Credit for Prior Learning (CPL).
Age of Credits: Transfer of technical courses shall be allowed for courses that have been completed within the last five years. Older courses may be considered if an academic award was earned and the student is working in the field. Math and science courses may have a 10-year age limit. Other general studies and general education courses have no age limit.
Course Content: Courses approved for transfer must match at least 75% of the learning outcomes of the course outline for which the student is seeking transfer. The outcomes from several courses can be combined to reach the 75% match. Courses that do not have a direct equivalent may be evaluated to meet MnTC Goal Area requirements. In such cases, the course must meet at least 51% of the Goal Area competencies.
Faculty Leadership: The College recognizes that qualified faculty are in the best position to determine course equivalencies. Faculty will be involved in transfer equivalency decisions.
Grade Point Average: Grades earned at other institutions shall not be used in computing the official GPA on the SCTCC transcript.
Grade Requirements: All college level courses in which a student has received a grade of A, B, C, or P/S will be considered for transfer evaluation. No D or D- grade courses will be considered unless they are MnTC courses from a Minnesota State college/university. Please note that while D grades may transfer, some programs require a grade of C or higher for all courses to fulfill requirements.
Number of Credits: The number of credits granted shall not exceed the number of credits awarded by the sending institution.
Quarter hour to semester hour conversion: The following formula is used to calculate the conversion: 3 quarter hours become 2 semester hours and 4 quarter hours become 2.67 semester hours (4 x .667=2.668).
Student Transfer Appeal: Students have the right to appeal transfer evaluation decisions.
Date of Adoption: 10/3/07
Date of Implementation: 10/3/07
Date Repealed or Replaced: 3/11/25
S3.8.1 Transfer of Credit Procedure
Transfer evaluations shall follow Minnesota State Undergraduate Transfer policy 3.21.1 and Procedure 3.21.1 and associated Minnesota State operating instructions.
General Process
Transfer evaluations will be completed by Enrollment Services only after the student has been accepted into a major. Students must provide an official transcript from all previously attended colleges or universities. Students will be notified and can view courses transferred on their Degree Audit Report once the transfer evaluation is complete. Students may petition the decision of the transfer credit evaluation as outlined in the Minnesota State Undergraduate Transfer Policy beginning with the petition procedure listed below.
When an official transcript is received by SCTCC, Admissions will document receipt and scan into the student’s file. Enrollment Services will review the transcript and evaluate courses for equivalency. Only courses that count toward the student’s major(s) will be evaluated. Transcripts from institutions outside the United States must have a course-by-course analysis performed by a NACES member organization to be evaluated for transfer credit.
Enrollments Services will forward any course that has not previously been reviewed for equivalency at SCTCC to a faculty member who is qualified to teach the target SCTCC course.
In accordance with Minnesota State Procedure 3.21.1, transfer decisions must be made within 30 days of receipt of a transcript when a student is admitted for the fall or spring semester. When students are admitted to the summer semester, SCTCC must make all reasonable efforts to complete an evaluation within 30 days.
To facilitate timely evaluations, faculty will respond to a transfer evaluation request within ten calendar days. After a ten-day period, if a response has not been received, the academic dean will be notified and will work with the faculty member to facilitate a decision. A decision at this level must be made within seven calendar days. After the seven-day period, if a response has not been received, the Vice President of Academic Affairs & Institutional Effectiveness will be notified and will work with the dean and faculty member to facilitate a decision. The equivalency determination will be made by a qualified faculty member. Administrator involvement is only to help facilitate timely evaluation, which may include referring the evaluation request to another qualified faculty member.
Students may also be asked to provide additional documentation of courses taken such as course descriptions, course outlines, syllabi, or other documents necessary to evaluate the equivalency of a course. When additional information is required to evaluate a course, Enrollment Services will communicate that to the student. When the additional information is received, Enrollment Services will forward the information to the faculty member and request a response within seven calendar days.
When students have completed courses for which there is not a direct equivalent, the courses may be evaluated to satisfy MnTC Goal Area requirements by Enrollment Services.
Transfer Decision Appeals
Students may request an appeal of a transfer decision. Students are encouraged to first attempt to resolve their concerns informally by meeting with the Registrar to discuss the evaluation outcome. The Registrar may require the student to produce a copy of course outlines or syllabi and may do additional research on the course in question and will consult with qualified faculty and the appropriate academic dean to facilitate a decision. The Registrar may or may not transfer additional classes after this meeting. If the student is not satisfied with the result of this meeting, they may proceed to the next step. The student may submit a petition to the Vice President of Academic Affairs & Institutional Effectiveness who will consult with faculty and the academic dean and render a decision.
If a student is not satisfied with the College transfer appeal decision, the student may submit a request to the Minnesota State Senior Vice Chancellor of Academic and Student Affairs for a system level appeal of the college transfer appeal decision. Appeals to the Minnesota State System may be filed through eServices: Academic Records > Transfer Review.