Frequently Asked Questions - Transfer Credit

Non-remedial course work completed with a C- or better will be accepted for transfer credit if it is completed at domestic institutions holding regional accreditation or a certificate of authorization from the State of Ohio or at international institutions recognized by their country’s ministry of education. In some cases, course work completed with a grade of D may be accepted. Please download the Ohio State Transfer Credit Policy for information. Course work completed at institutions holding non-regional accreditation may be eligible for transfer credit through the credit by validation process. Please see the credit by validation page for more information. Course work from unaccredited institutions or those not holding a certificate of authorization from the State of Ohio, will not transfer.

The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), recognizes the following agencies as regionally accredited. Institutions accredited by one of these agencies are considered regionally accredited. 

• Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges Western Association of Schools and Colleges 

• Higher Learning Commission 

• Middle States Commission on Higher Education 

• New England Commission of Higher Education 

• Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities 

• Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges 

• WASC Senior College and University Commission 

Ohio State does not restrict the number of credit hours that are accepted. However, some majors do restrict the amount of transfer credit that can be applied toward a degree. Please visit your College's website for additional information on degree requirements. 

Courses meeting the transfer criteria described above will be awarded credit in most cases. If you are a current student planning to take a course at another college, please visit the section titled tentative evaluations for current students.

Please be sure you have requested a final official transcript from your previous institution be sent to Ohio State directly. Once Ohio State has received the transcript, and you are admitted and eligible for a transfer credit evaluation, your transfer credit will be processed within 3-5 business days through most of the year, though it may be 7-10 business days depending on the time of year. You will be emailed once your transfer credit report is ready. 

Below are some common reasons transcripts are deemed unofficial: 

• The transcript was issued to the student. 
  Transcripts issued to the student are not accepted for transfer credit evaluation and must be issued to The Ohio State University. 

• The transcript was mailed to a regional campus or an academic department. 
  Transcripts must be sent directly to the respective admissions office, either Undergraduate Admissions for undergraduate students or Graduate/Professional Admissions for graduate and professional students. Transcripts forwarded from other areas on campus are considered unofficial. 

• The transcript was emailed to an academic advisor, registrar@osu.edu or askabuckeye@osu.edu. 
  Transcripts must be emailed directly to esue-studugt@osu.edu (for undergraduate students) and gpadocs@osu.edu (for graduate and professional students). Transcripts forwarded from other email accounts are considered unofficial. 

• The transcript was sent electronically but unsecure. 
  Transcripts must be sent electronically through a secure method which includes password protection, a link with a password, or an online verification process to download the document from an online secured source. PDFs attached to an email are not secure. 

• The transcript was a photocopy of the original document. 
  Transcripts must be issued and released directly from the former school. 

The Transfer Credit Center does not evaluate graduate level courses unless the course is designated as both undergraduate and graduate level at the source institution. If you are a graduate student, the following conditions must be satisfied in order to transfer graduate credit: the graduate credit was earned as a graduate student at an accredited university; the student earned at least a grade of “B” or satisfactory in each course for which credit is to be transferred; the Graduate Studies Committee approves the transfer.  For additional information see the Graduate School Handbook.

College Credit Plus courses will not be evaluated from a high school transcript. Please contact the university at which the courses were taken, to have an official transcript sent to Ohio State.

No, grades and GPA from previous institutions do not transfer to Ohio State. However we do keep track of the grades received, designated as “K” grades on the transfer credit report.

As Ohio State is on the semester system, transfer credit must be awarded in semester units. For domestic schools, quarter hours are multiplied by 2/3 to convert to semesters. If you attended a school with a non-traditional credit hour system, the maximum number of hours you should expect to receive per year is 32 semester hours.

The semester credit hours earned at your institution are the number of credits you will receive at Ohio State, however, we do not over-award an Ohio State equivalent course. If you transfer in a 4 hour course and the Ohio State course is 3 hours, you will receive 3 hours of the Ohio State equivalent and then 1 hour of special credit within the same department. We can under-award an Ohio State equivalent course by 1.34 hours, so you must have at least 1.66 hours to receive a 3 hour Ohio State course.

Courses completed 20 years or older from the current term will be assigned Special credit. Student can have this credit further evaluated by the appropriate academic department to determine if a direct course equivalency is available.

Determining equivalents often requires departmental expertise, and the Transfer Credit Center is limited in which equivalents we can initially award. In these cases, general credit is often awarded. Students should have their general credit further evaluated by the appropriate academic department to determine if a direct course equivalency is available. Contact information for departments can be found on the Transfer Credit Coordinator List.  

Multiple courses from a source institution which must be combined to award an equivalent course at Ohio State will have their grade point averages combined. The resulting grade point average will have a transfer grade assigned, which does not impact your cumulative GPA at Ohio State. In the instance that a combined GPA falls between two values, the lower grade will be assigned. Please note ‘+’ and ‘- ’ symbols do not appear on the Transfer Credit Report.

The Transfer Credit Center determines what credits are transferable into Ohio State. Your college will determine how credits may apply to your degree program (applicability). Please see your advisor in order to determine how these transfer credits may be applied to your Ohio State program of study. You may also run a degree audit report to check your progress toward an undergraduate degree.  For instructions on how to run a degree audit, please visit Degree Audit for Students.

Please contact SAE-TransferCredit@osu.edu if you find errors on your transfer credit report. Clerical errors and misinterpretations of coursework can be corrected by our offices, but issues regarding course content and equivalencies must often be directed to the appropriate department or an academic advisor.

Most students will meet with an advisor for the first time at orientation. If you need to speak with one before then, please visit advising.osu.edu.

Test scores (from AP, CLEP, DSST, or INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE exams) are processed by the Testing Center, and will appear on a separate section of your student record. Please contact the Testing Center for further information.

Please visit the Prior Learning Assessment site for additional information about earning credit for what you already know.

Ohio State is an active partner in this initiative, which provides a pathway to an associate degree for eligible students who have some college experience, but have not yet earned a degree. For more information about Credit When It’s Due opportunities at Ohio State, please read our CWID FAQ page or email Rick McClish 

Please contact the Transfer Credit Center at SAE-TransferCredit@osu.edu.