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Credit When It’s Due FAQs for Students

Ohio is participating in a national grant initiative, Credit When It’s Due, designed to implement “reverse transfer,” which is a process to award associate degrees to students who earned credits that satisfied residency requirements at a community college, did not earn their associate degree, and transferred to a four-year institution where they are currently enrolled. Thirteen public universities, 5 regional campuses, and all 23 community colleges in Ohio are participating in this initiative.

The Ohio Department of Higher Education's Credit When It’s Due process identifies students who:

  • Enrolled in one of Ohio’s public universities to pursue a bachelor’s degree in the last semester reported to the state.
  • Have earned at least 45 college-level semester credit hours at Ohio public universities or colleges.
  • Have earned at least 20 college-level semester credit hours from a participating two-year institution.
  • Have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 at their current university.
  • Have not received an associate or a bachelor’s degree from Ohio public institutions.

The identified students will be contacted by their current university to begin the process of being considered for an associate degree from their previous college. If the student grants permission for their academic records to be shared between the institutions, the student’s records will be reviewed to see if they are eligible for a degree. The college that is considering the associate degree award will contact the student to let them know the results of the associate degree review process. A student who qualifies for the degree will be awarded the credential. A student who does not yet qualify for an associate degree will be given information on what outstanding items may be resolved to receive an associate degree.