Credit Transfer Policy

The University will recognize unusual secondary school work by means of advanced placement and dual credit courses and will grant credit to those who have taken especially enriched or online undergraduate courses before entering college or who have appropriate vocational or professional experience. Applicants qualify for such credit by satisfactory achievement on college-approved placement examinations, including the College Board Advanced Placement Tests, CLEP (College Level Examination Program), DSST(formerly DANTES Subject Standardized Tests) or faculty-authored challenge examinations. College credit total a maximum of 30 semester credits may be earned by satisfactorily completing such examinations.

Retroactive credit is available in foreign languages, wherein credit may be given for pre-college foreign language study if the student takes the next highest level of the foreign language at this University and achieves a C or better. The student must request credit for the lower-level course(s) that were by passed.

Military Credits are granted based on the evaluation of an Official Joint Service (JST) transcript or Community College of the Air Force (CCAF) transcript. Concordia accepts up to 63 credits applied towards; electives, lower/upper level core, and/or major requirements.

Prior Learning Assessment of experiential learning allows accepted students to seek credit by documenting real-world performance, college-level knowledge and outcome-based competence acquired outside a classroom setting. Current Concordia University students can submit the necessary Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) petition documents in the portal.

College course model

The PLA model in use at Concordia is the College Course Model, which involves the student petitioning for an appropriate number of credits using college-level course learning objectives that match the learning the student has accomplished and seeks to demonstrate.

The PLA review fee

• A review fee of $150 per credit is charged to the student’s account.
• The fee charged is for review of the petitions and materials submitted for prior learning, not a fee for the credit itself. When materials are submitted, the review fee will be charged to the student’s account.
• There is no refund of the review fee if materials submitted are not sufficient to demonstrate the extent and amount of learning appropriate for the course learning outcomes and credits sought. There are no refunds of fees if the credit is not needed when a student changes majors, returns after an absence, or there is a reduction in program requirements for some other reason.
• Normally, this fee is not explicitly covered by Financial Aid.

Materials to submit to demonstrate prior learning

For each petition for credit, the student must provide all of the following:

• A Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) Petition form
• A list of course learning outcomes that describe their college-level learning as it relates to the course description
• A copy of the course description to which they are comparing learning, which shows the institution and the catalog year
• A narrative description of the learning and the context in which includes the catalog year it occurred
• Two evidentiary documents that support the learning; one must be a letter from an individual who was in a position to evaluate their work

Examples include:

• Certificate(s)
• Official job description(s) and evaluation(s)
• Letter(s) from employers, supervisors, teachers and community leaders
• Program documentation (performances/events/exhibits/presentations)
• Additional examples of work include; patents, computer programs, curriculum plans, publications (books, articles, artwork, photographs), and musical/audio/visual arrangements

When to submit PLA petitions

• Students may not submit petitions until all other transfer credit documentation has been submitted and an official evaluation of degree and program requirements created.
• Students must submit the Prior Learning Assessment materials no later than 6 months prior to their anticipated graduation date
• Students who plan to transfer to another school or change majors may want to wait until these decisions are made to consider PLA.

What happens during and after review of your submissions?

• Petitions and their supporting documentation are evaluated by a Subject Matter Expert (Department Chair, Department Designee, Program Director or Dean).
• If petitions are denied by the Subject Matter Expert, sometimes they can be revised and resubmitted under the initial fee.
• If the denial is due to misaligned course learning outcomes, insufficient supporting documents and documentation, or incomplete alignment of all the elements of the petition, revisions are allowed to be submitted under the initial fee.
• Petitions denied due to overlap with credits transferred in may not be revised under the initial fee. A petition to fulfill a major course not yet taken would not be denied for overlap with courses already completed at Concordia, but any other petitions denied due to overlap with the students’ program may not be revised under the initial fee.
• If necessary, denials can be appealed with the AVP of Teaching and Learning, AVP of Academic Operations, and the Registrar by providing a copy of the submission, the denial and resubmission explanation, and a well-written annulment supported with additional information from the documentation options.
• Credits earned through Prior Learning Assessment appear on the student’s transcript with the name of the required course fulfilled when applied to a specific requirement, or in a block of credits awarded for "Prior Learning Assessment” when elective credits are awarded. Elective credits do not fulfill any major requirements.
• A maximum of 21 prior learning credits can be awarded and these credits may not be included within the thirty-six residency credits which must be completed at Concordia University in order to be awarded a bachelor’s degree. Any other residency requirements, such as within majors and minors, may not be met through PLA.

A and AS levels for credit will be reviewed based on course content per a review of the syllabus. A grade of C or better is required for credit. These credits may be awarded toward general education requirements, degree requirements, or elective credit. In order to grant the credit, an official copy of the Exam Certificate or the Statement of Provisional Results from the examination board will be required. Course transfer equivalencies will be determined by the registrar upon admission to the university.

IB focuses on personal, professional and academic development and is globally recognized by universities for the holistic and rigorous education it provides.

American Council on Education (ACE) and National Program on Non-Collegiate Sponsored Instruction (PONSI):ACE and PONSI are organizations which validate for-credit coursework completed through non-collegiate education and training programs. The student must have official copies of the educational transcripts sent to Concordia.

Life Office Management Association (LOMA) and American Institute of Banking (AIB): LOMA and AIB provide means to receive college credit for company training professional development programs through an employer. The student must have official copies of the educational transcripts sent to Concordia.