Transfer Credit
Current students in the College may take courses at other institutions and transfer these credits back to the University of Chicago . New transfer students should view the new transfer student Web page.
Grades for courses taken elsewhere do not contribute to the official College grade point average and therefore do not affect eligibility for Dean's List, general, or departmental honors. Only institution name, year(s) of attendance, and the number of transfer credits approved appear on the University of Chicago transcript. It is likely that an applicant to graduate school or a scholarship will be asked to produce transcripts from all institutions attended.
Credit is measured by course on a 1:1 basis, not by credit hours or another scheme. The University Registrar offers guidelines for the conversion of credit to/from credit hours.
Students who receive financial aid from the College use up aid eligibility here when they register for classes full time at another institution, even if no financial aid is received for those classes. Summer study, less-than-half-time study, and course work undertaken abroad are exceptions to this rule.
Procedures for Transfer Credit Approval
- Discuss plans to transfer courses with your College adviser before registering for the course(s) in question
- Petition Matthew Champa, Senior Adviser in the College, for tentative approval of transfer credit before the course begins. Petitions must include printed copies of course descriptions; links to online descriptions are not sufficient. General petition forms are also available in the wall rack next to the advising reception desk.
- Submit the completed petition form to the advising reception desk. Petition forms that are incomplete or do not include appropriate documentation will be returned. Expect to wait up to one week for a decision.
- Once the pre-approved course work is complete, request that an official transcript be sent to your College adviser at the University of Chicago, 1116 E. 59th St., Chicago, IL 60637-1513. The telephone number is 773-702-8615. Should course plans change after pre-approval, contact your College adviser immediately.
Divisional Senior Advisers
Direct questions regarding general education course/sequence substitutions to the Senior Adviser in the area of inquiry:
Art/Music/Drama (HCD)
Biological Sciences (BSCD)
Civilization Studies (SSCD)
Humanities (HCD)
Physical Sciences (PSCD)
Social Sciences (SSCD)
Selecting Courses for Transfer Credit
Guidelines for Current Students
Courses are eligible for transfer credit when
- They are completed at an accredited institution
- They confer at least three semester hours or four quarter hours of credit
- They resemble liberal arts courses offered at the University of Chicago
- The final course grade is a C (not C-) or higher
Courses are ineligible for transfer credit when
- They appear anywhere in the student's high school record
- They are completed at a community college
- They duplicate course work for which credit has already been received
- They fail to resemble courses offered at the University of Chicago , or they are professional or technical courses (e.g., accounting, business administration, English composition, engineering, nursing, public speaking, rhetoric)
- They are placement test eligible, including calculus and pre-calculus, and foreign languages
- The final course grade is Pass only or less than a C (meaning C- or below)
Special rules apply to the transfer of science courses
- Final course grades of B (not B-) or greater are required
- General education courses must have a laboratory component
- Only calculus-based physics is acceptable in lieu of Physics 120s, 130s, or 140s
- Chemistry courses must be taken at an American Chemical Society accredited institution
- Chemistry majors cannot receive transfer credit for general or organic chemistry although they can take an accreditation test which confers credit
