Caveat Academic Services

After the course ends

Should we add the credit?

When an online ASU course ends, the family decides whether to pay ASU $400 to put it on an official ASU transcript. It's only possible with a C or better, and it's never required. Here is how to think it through.

Five questions

Answer what you can. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

1.What was the final grade?
2.How do the student's target colleges count this course?

Look it up on the Credit Map.

3.Is the student a high school senior?
4.Is this a grade the student wants on a permanent college record?

Added grades stay on the ASU transcript, and colleges can ask for every college transcript.

5.How does $400 fit the budget right now?

There's no wrong answer. ESA families: check with your ESA program about which costs it covers.

What adding the credit does and doesn't do

It does

  • Put the course and its grade on an official ASU transcript.
  • Give colleges a college record they can review for credit. UA, for example, looks for college credit on the college's own transcript, not on a high school transcript.
  • Stay there for good. The grade is permanent once added.

It doesn't

  • Guarantee credit anywhere. Each college decides what it accepts and how.
  • Count toward high school credit on its own. That's the high school's decision.
  • Send itself. You order the official transcript ($15, through Parchment, from My ASU) and send it where it's needed.

When to add it

  1. After the final grade
    Check the grade and the Credit Map.Adding is only possible with a C or better. See how UA and NAU count the course.
  2. Before transcripts go out
    Add it before you need to send anything.ASU says adding credit can take up to 14 business days, so leave room before any application or enrollment deadline.
  3. Then
    Order the official transcript.$15 through Parchment, from My ASU. Send it to each college that asks for it.

If you're not deciding right away, check ASU's current page for how long the option to add credit stays open.

If you skip it

Nothing goes on an ASU transcript, and there's nothing to report as college credit. The learning still happened: the student worked through a real college course, and that experience is theirs to talk about in essays and interviews. How college courses fit into admissions.

Seniors: college enrollment after high school graduation can affect first-year scholarships at ASU and UA. Read the scholarship guide.

Want a second set of eyes?

On a free call we'll look at the grade, the colleges on your list and the timing, and lay out the options. The decision stays with your family.

Book a free 20-minute call or ask a question by email

More free tools: all guides and tools

Fees and timelines from ASU's online course pages, October 2026. ASU sets its own fees, dates and policies and can change them; check ASU's current page before deciding. Caveat Academic Services offers independent college preparation services and is not affiliated with Arizona State University. Students do all of their own coursework. Each college decides which credits it accepts; Caveat does not promise that credit will transfer.