Transfer Credit Review

The purpose of this policy is to establish minimum standards for the review and acceptance of undergraduate transfer coursework at another university. As stipulated by the Higher Learning Commission1, it is the responsibility of each university to “determine its own policies and procedures for accepting transfer credits, including credits from accredited and non-accredited institutions, from foreign institutions, and from institutions which grant credit for experiential learning and for non-traditional adult learner programs in conformity with any expectations in the Commission’s Assumed Practices.”

Scope of Policy 

It is the policy of UM-Dearborn that normally any transfer courses accepted for credit must have been taken at a regionally accredited institution in the United States. Transfer courses may also be earned and accepted from institutions outside the United States if the institution is a recognized part of the system of higher education of another country and offers programs of study equivalent to degree programs at UM-Dearborn. Any accepted transfer course must have a final grade posted of a C or better, however, all transferable courses will be utilized in the calculation of the admission GPA, regardless of grade. Students can only transfer to UM-Dearborn the maximum number of credits as outlined in the Maximum Transferable Credits policy2, unless an articulation agreement stipulates otherwise. 

All transfer courses seeking credit at UM-Dearborn must initially be reviewed and approved by the appropriate discipline faculty or delegate. In order to be accepted for credit, transfer courses must have substantially similar content and rigor as courses offered at UM-Dearborn. Transfer coursework will only be accepted if it is equivalent to a specific UM-Dearborn course or is not directly equivalent to a specific course but is consistent with a program’s content and rigor. Coursework will come in as equivalent, lower-level, or general credit. While some general education credits may be transferred in, course reviewers are not to be distracted by whether a course meets any requirements for general education (Dearborn Discovery Core) categories. Rather, the course review is solely about matching content.

Finally, in order to ensure and maintain the quality of the UM-Dearborn degree programs there shall be a five-year time limit maximum on all courses accepted for course credit at the university. Within the five-year period, the transfer course must be reviewed and accepted again by the discipline faculty or delegate in order to count for UM-Dearborn course credit. 

Credit for Education in the Armed Forces

Effective Fall 2015 for new admits, veterans who have served in the armed forces may receive two to six general credits toward degree for their recruitment training if an honorable or general discharge was granted. The hours granted vary according to the ACE recommendations for credit based on the military branch of service. Additional Specialist Training credit may be petitioned for credit via a written petition during the first semester on campus. Veterans should meet with their academic unit to discuss possible options, write a petition, and arrange to meet with a discipline representative or department chair to review the military coursework and experience. Based on the discussion and ACE recommendations, specific credit would be granted in the first semester after admission by the discipline representative or department chair through the academic unit advising office.

UM-Dearborn has a cap of 62 transfer hours from an accredited community college. The same cap is applied for all ACE credits. This includes the general credit granted for recruitment training for veterans. If a veteran attended the Community College of the Air Force the cap of 62 hours toward degree includes the general credits, attendance at the Community College of the Air Force and all petitioned credit to degree.

Credit for Military Officer Education
College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters

Up to six credit hours of Military Science / Aerospace Studies / ROTC coursework may count as elective credit toward degree.

College of Business

Up to six credit hours will be granted to a student for successful completion of advanced military science courses towards the BBA degree requirements.

College of Engineering and Computer Science

Students who satisfactorily complete the requirements as established by the Military Officer Education Program Chairman for a commission and satisfactorily complete the engineering program of studies may count a maximum of four credit hours of advanced military science courses (300 and 400 level) as meeting program elective hours for an engineering degree at the discretion of the academic department.

College of Education, Health, and Human Services

Up to six credit hours of advanced military science courses can count as elective credit towards a CEHHS degree requirement. 

Michigan Transfer Agreement and the Dearborn Discovery Core

If a course is in the Michigan Transfer Agreement, then the university will grant the same transfer credit to all students and the course will count toward the relevant Dearborn Discovery Core category, if given exact equivalency or lower level credit. 

Courses not in the Transfer Equivalency System

The Unit advising office will send to the discipline faculty (or delegate) for evaluation.

  • If the faculty (or delegate) evaluate it as exact equivalency for one of our courses already in DDC, the course will qualify for the DDC category(s) credit.

  • If the faculty (or delegate) evaluate it as exact equivalency for one of our courses not in DDC, the course cannot quality for DDC credit. (The student can petition, but the DDC committee will reject the petition.)

  • If the faculty (or delegate) evaluate it as Lower Level credit in the discipline, then it will automatically qualify for DDC credit in the category associated with the discipline (just as MTA does). 

  • If the faculty (or delegate) evaluate it as General credit, then it will not qualify for DDC credit. (A student could then petition for it to count as DDC, but such petitions should not be encouraged as they will most likely be rejected by the DDC committee.)

Winter 2023 Credit/No Credit Michigan State University Transfer Policy

Any student who transfers to the University of Michigan-Dearborn with credit/no credit course grading from Michigan State University for the Winter 2023 semester will not have those courses count towards the four course Pass/Fail Course Limit for Degree policy.

1

https://www.hlcommission.org/Policies/publication-of-transfer-policies.html

2

http://catalog.umd.umich.edu/undergraduate/admissions/transfer-student-admission/