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Credit
Fit Check

Check whether a dual enrollment course is likely to count at up to three colleges and two majors, read from each college’s own page, with an email to the registrar.

Start the checkHow to read a transfer page

1. The course

The course the student is thinking about, as the college offering it lists it.

2. Likely majors

One or two majors the student is considering. A course can transfer and still not count toward a particular degree.

3. Up to three likely colleges

For each, find the college’s own transfer equivalency page, database or articulation agreement (see how to read one), then record what it says and how the course fits each major.

4. The likely fit

5. An email to the registrar

Written from what you entered above. Send it to the transfer credit or admissions office of the college the student may attend, and keep the reply.

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How to read a transfer page

Colleges publish how they count courses from other colleges in a few common forms. Each answers a slightly different question.

Transfer equivalency tables and databases

  • Search by the college where the course is taken and its course number. The result names what the course becomes at the receiving college.
  • A specific course number means a direct equivalent. A number with letters such as 1XX, ELEC or XX usually means elective credit with no specific match.
  • Look for a minimum grade (often C or better), a date range the evaluation applies to, and a note that the list is not a guarantee.
  • Not listed does not mean no. It means the course has not been evaluated yet; ask for an evaluation, often with the syllabus.

Articulation agreements

  • An agreement between colleges, or across a state system, about how courses or whole programs transfer.
  • Read who it covers: a specific major, a specific pair of colleges, or a general education block that transfers as a whole.
  • Check the conditions: completing the full block or an associate degree, a minimum GPA, or a deadline to apply.
  • Note the catalog year. Requirements in effect when the student enters the receiving college are usually the ones that count.

Credit is not the same as counting

A course can transfer for credit and still not help the degree. The common case is a math or science course that a particular major does not use: college algebra may come in as credit, but a major that requires precalculus or calculus may count it only as an elective.

That is why the check asks about majors. Look up each major’s degree plan or program map, and see whether the course, or its equivalent, appears in it.

Questions to ask the college

  • How will this course be evaluated, and what is the equivalent course?
  • Does it meet a general education requirement, a requirement of my major, or only elective credit?
  • What grade do I need, and does the grade come with it or only the credit?
  • Is there a limit on how many credits earned in high school you accept?
  • Does credit earned in high school change first-year admission, scholarships or housing for me?
  • If the answer is not in your database, how do I ask for an evaluation, and what do you need from me?
  • Will a college course taken in high school also count for my high school diploma? (Ask the high school this one.)

Before you enroll: a checklist

Saved in this browser as you tick.

From Caveat College

Free tools for the next step, and the chapter that compares the routes.

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The Credit Fit Check reads back what you found on each college’s own pages. It does not know any college’s policies, and it never promises that credit will transfer: the receiving college decides. AP® and CLEP® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with and does not endorse this tool.

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