Mid-America Christian University awards transfer credits based on your academic transcript, which you can request from your previous college. Your number of transfer credits helps determine where you’ll land on a path to a degree.
A transfer credit represents a course successfully completed at one institution that learners can apply to another school. Transfer credits allow students to switch schools, maintain their academic status, and complete their degrees without redoing previous courses.
This process helps shorten the time and reduce the money it takes to complete a degree. But not everyone knows how it works. Mid-America Christian University offers several programs to help students achieve their educational goals.
To help you understand this process, here are a few common factors that determine which credits are transferable:
Accreditation
College-level courses completed at regionally accredited institutions are usually transferable (accreditation means a school meets minimum quality standards).
Course Content
A course must be similar in content and depth to be considered for transfer credit at a receiving institution.
Final Grade
Typically, you need a “C” or passing grade for a course transfer. A “D” grade may be accepted case-by-case but doesn’t count automatically.
How do you transfer college credits?
Request an official transcript from your previous institution. Your academic record will help us determine how many credits count toward your degree.
Do transfer credits expire?
In general, college credits don’t expire. Most credits stay valid for years or even decades. But there are two notable exceptions:
- Credits in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) often have a 5-year shelf life due to rapid changes in the field.
- Graduate courses tend to have a 7-year shelf life to prevent older course curricula from being outdated by new methodologies.
General education or core credits, on the other hand, are less likely to become outdated. But remember that each institution has varied course instructional content and may not meet MACU’s course instructional content. In this case, the course may only be transferred in as an elective.
How many credits do you need to complete a college degree?
Students may be awarded various academic credentials in recognition of their successful completion of specified programs of study. These credentials range from certificates to masters. The minimum program lengths for credentials awarded at Mid-America Christian University are:
- Certificate—12 semester credit hours
- Associate’s Degree—60 semester credit hours
- Bachelor’s Degree—120 semester credit hours
- Master’s Degree—30 semester credit hours
Note: These are only minimum program lengths. Students will need to review their degree residency and minimum requirements to meet the requirements for their degree to be awarded.
Will transfer credits impact my GPA?
The transfer admissions GPA is calculated by dividing the grade points earned in all coursework by the cumulative graded (A-F) credit hours.
If a student repeats a course at the same institution, MACU will honor the course repeat policy at the institution issuing the transcript. If a student repeats a course at one institution with an approved equivalent course from another, the highest grade earned will be used to calculate the transfer admissions GPA. Credit will be awarded only once for successfully completing a course, and only the instance of the best grade for a transferable repeated course will count toward degree requirements.
Grades of satisfactory/unsatisfactory, pass/fail, credit/no credit, and similar will not count in computing the admissions grade point average.
More information can be found in our University Catalog link below.