Transfer Degrees and Transfer Credit

1. Students transferring from other institutions are governed by this transfer credit policy, unless the credit is transferred from an institution with an approved Norwich articulation agreement.
2. The posting of transfer credit for approved courses will be completed by the Registrar’s Office upon the receipt of an official transcript. An official transcript is one that corresponds with the credit granting institution’s definition of “official” and is received directly from that institution by the Norwich Admissions or Registrar’s office.
3. International transfer students are required to submit original grade reports/transcripts for all post-secondary institutions attended. Official records must be submitted in their native language and must be accompanied by an official English translation recognized by an approved academic credential evaluation service such as WES, SpanTran and AACRAO. This does not apply to records in Chinese, French, German, or Spanish. Official records should be sent directly from the institution. Transfer credit evaluation may require submission of course syllabi from the international institution.
4. Credit is normally accepted for college-level course work completed at institutions accredited by a regional or national accredited organization recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and recognized by the Department of Education. (Foreign institutions must be recognized by the Ministry of Education in that country.)
   1. Military training, in accordance with the Guide to the Evaluation of Educational Experiences in the Armed Forces, published by the American Council on Education (ACE), will be accepted if it applies to courses required for a student’s major or minor.   
   2. Norwich University complies with Veterans Administration regulations and guidelines as they pertain to transfer credits.
5. Grade points are not transferred. Grades earned at another institution(s) are not calculated into a Norwich cumulative grade point average.  Grades received for transfer work will not replace a grade for a course taken at Norwich.
6. Courses with a grade of less than C, or equivalent to less than a C, are not transferable.
7. Norwich General Education and elective requirements are considered satisfied for students who have earned a bachelor’s degree, or an associate of arts (AA), associate of science (AS), or associate of arts and science (AA&S) degree from a regionally, or nationally accredited institution recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and recognized by the Department of Education.  Specific degree requirements may not be satisfied with a bachelor or an associate degree, for example:
   1. Courses might not substitute for required courses specified in the catalog.
   2. Courses that are prerequisites for particular program or major and are required of continuing students (e.g., micro and macroeconomics for management majors).
   3. Requirements mandated by external professional accrediting associations or program approving agencies (e.g., Department of Public Instruction, Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs).
8. Other extra-institutional (prior) learning, such as Advanced Placement (AP), College Level Exam Program (CLEP), Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education (DANTES), International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IB), Norwich challenge exams, etc., as reviewed and approved will be accepted, for undergraduate students, if  the appropriate score was earned and if it applies toward a student’s requirements.
9.  Courses that are remedial (usually numbered below 100); technical, vocational, or doctrinal in nature are not transferable (but may be used to meet Norwich pre-requisites).  Transfer courses that are not equivalent to Norwich courses are assigned the appropriate number (1XX, 2XX, 3XX, 4XX, 5XX) that represents the academic level of the transfer course. 
10. A course that carries more credit than the corresponding Norwich course is transferred to meet the credit hours of the Norwich course; the additional hours are counted as free elective credit.
11. Students should receive pre-approval for Education (Study) Abroad courses to determine if these credits will apply to their chosen degree. Education Abroad courses will be equated according to a pre-approved Transfer Credit Request form. After grades are posted at the Education Abroad institution, an official transcript must be sent to the Norwich Registrar’s Office, from the international institution, before courses and credits will be posted to a student’s degree program.
12. Students wishing to attend another regional or national accredited organization recognized by CHEA for the purpose of obtaining semester credits acceptable to Norwich University should obtain prior approval of both the institution to be attended and the specific course or courses to be taken by filing a completed Transfer Credit Request Form. No transfer of semester credit hours can be assured for courses for which prior approval was not been obtained.
13. An admitted Graduate student (except for on-campus Graduate Architecture) may transfer up to one-third of the credits required for his/her Norwich graduate program. Credits must be a grade of B or higher to transfer.
    1. No credit will be accepted for graduate work completed more than 10 years before the expected degree date.
    2. If a request for transfer is not granted, the student may appeal the Program Director’s decision to the chair of the division whose decision is final.
14. Graduate credits (500 and higher) may not count toward a baccalaureate degree.
    1. Graduate students requesting transfer of credit after admission to the program must petition the Program Director.
    2. Credit for non-college sponsored learning may be awarded if it is demonstrated as meeting graduate level work; such credit will be limited to no more than six graduate credit hours.
15. Transfer credit received from an institution that offers quarter credits will be converted from quarter credits/units to semester credits. A quarter credit is equated to 2/3 of a semester credit. Semester credits equating to a ½ credit or more will be rounded to the next whole credit. Thus, four quarter credits would equate to three semester credits.
16. Students, who subsequently enroll in a Norwich course, where they have already earned transfer credit, will have the transfer course removed from their record (since duplicate credit for a course is not allowed).

Articulation Agreements

Articulation agreements will be unified agreements for on campus and online programs.  Articulation agreements might state that AA, AS, and A&AS degree students will have 60 credits completed toward their 4 year degree at Norwich University, facilitating a 2 + 2 academic partnership between institutions.  General education and elective requirements may be met through the articulation between Norwich and the partner institution.

Language will make clear that some majors require foundation courses to progress in a particular major, especially if the associate level major is not related to the Norwich major.  Language will state that every effort will be made to maximize credits earned at the two year degree granting institution.

Residence Requirement

  (Limits the amount of undergraduate degree credit which may be transferred to Norwich University.)

1. At least 30 degree credits must be earned at Norwich, including not less than 20 of the last 30 degree credits earned.
2. Transfer credit from Norwich approved programs of international, or other off-campus study, are considered as Norwich credit for purposes of determining the 20 of the last 30 credits applied to an undergraduate program.
3. Limits to transfer credits for undergraduate majors, minors, and concentrations.
   1. Major: No more than 40% of credits required in courses specified in the discipline of the major.
   2. Minor and Concentration: No more than three of the six required courses specified in the discipline of the minor or concentration.  (subject to Articulation agreements)

Statute of Catalog Limitations

Undergraduate students must satisfy the degree requirements of a catalog year that is within ten years of their graduation year.