Transfer Policy

Transfer credit will normally be awarded for courses that are:

• Taken at accredited institutions.
• Academic and similar in nature to courses offered at Calvin.
• Completed with a minimum grade of C.
• Represented on an official transcript and authorized by the credit-granting institution.

Transfer Limits - Students may transfer a maximum of 70 semester hours from two-year institutions; there is no limit for transfer credit from four-year institutions. Students may transfer coursework at any time during their academic career.

A minimum of 4 upper-level courses in the major and 30 of the last 60 semester hours must be completed at Calvin. The following core must be taken at Calvin (transfer credit not accepted): one Foundations of Christianity course, Community and Commitments, Contemporary Challenges and Enduring Questions, and all Engaged Citizenship Commitments (tagged coursework).

Military credits - Veterans will receive credit, as recommended by the American Council on Education, for liberal arts courses taken through the USAFI and for a maximum of 9 semester hours taken by correspondence courses from accredited universities in the program.

Transfer evaluation for prospective students - Individuals that apply to Calvin as transfer students will receive an official transfer evaluation with their acceptance letter.

Transfer process for current students - Current students must receive pre-approval for transfer work. A list of pre-approved courses is maintained by the registrar and is available online. Departmental chairs and advisors may approve coursework for majors and minors if the courses are comparable to the Calvin course requirement. The registrar may approve transfer credit for core or for elective credit (hours taken for graduation semester hour minimums).

International Transfer Credits - Courses will be considered for credit that are completed at international institutions that are formally recognized as a tertiary-level educational institution by their respective country’s national government - generally through their Ministry of Education. If official documentation from the international institution is not in English, any request for transfer of credit must be accompanied by an official English language translation of the transcript as well as a translation of the official course descriptions from that institution’s catalog. If course descriptions are not available, English translations of each course syllabus will be required. Credits from an international institution without these evaluations cannot be formally assessed.

Graduate-Program Transfer Credits - A maximum of 9 credits may be transferred from other regionally accredited institutions (or a recognized foreign institution) to satisfy graduate degree requirements at Calvin University. In consultation with the associate provost, program directors may set a lower maximum number of credits for their specific graduate programs.