Transfer Courses

Transferring Abroad Courses to your Muhlenberg Transcript:

Courses taken abroad will NOT transfer unless you had them pre-approved on the Transfer Course Authorization for StudyAbroad form BEFORE you arrived at your host institution. (see instructions/policies below)

The Dean of Global Education must sign and approve your form with all its attachments. Dr. Kish-Goodling will review all your transfer course authorization documentation and sign it. Our office will forward all the documentation to the Registrar after your transcript arrives.

Study Abroad Advising Tips:

• You CANNOT take any course abroad to count as a "W" or writing intensive course.

• You CANNOT take any course abroad to count as a cluster course.

• Expect to have only one or two courses abroad count towards your major or minor unless you are going on a program specifically designed for the major, such as the Maastricht program, Dublin program, or theatre programs in London and Arezzo.

• Take 300 or 400 level courses for your major at Muhlenberg before you go abroad. Some departments will not accept courses abroad to count for a 300-level course requirement in your major or minor.

• Any courses you want to count for a major or minor must be pre-approved by your department chair, and NOT your advisor.

• If you are taking a foreign language course abroad, it will most likely count as an elective towards graduation, and not as an "FL."

• If you are a foreign language major or minor, only certain immersion programs will have courses that count for your major or minor. Courses in a foreign language will transfer for a language major or minor if they are literature or culture courses. Otherwise, they will transfer as electives towards graduation.

• Programs in a country where English is not the native language will require you to take a foreign language course and a culture course. Culture courses can sometimes count as an "AR" (art) or "HU" (humanities) or "SL (social science) division course requirement. You may want to wait to take these requirements abroad rather than here. Otherwise, they will transfer in as electives towards graduation.

• Generally, you cannot take an RG (reasoning) requirement abroad.

• Generally, you cannot take an SC (science) requirement abroad unless you are in Australia, Denmark, or Florence, Italy.

• Some courses will qualify for the DE (human difference or global engagement) requirement if they are approved by the Curriculum Committee. Students need to request approval through the Office of Global Education.

• Internships: Approved programs with internships for credit include:

• CAPA - London and Shanghai

• Lutheran College Washington Semester

• Muhlenberg at Dublin City University, Ireland

• SAI: Muhlenberg at Florence University of the Arts, Italy

• SIT - Some programs

• Other internships will be non-credit.

NOTE: More than 50% of Muhlenberg students study in a country where English is NOT the native language. Strive for that too. 52% of the class of 2017 studied abroad. YOU should too! With good prior planning, you can study abroad no matter what your MAJOR or MINOR is!!!

Transfer Course Authorization Instructions:

• What to do first:  Consult the online or hard copy course catalog for the program/institution you are attending.  Print or Xerox the course description from the online or hard copy catalog source.

• List the course(s) you will be taking at the host institution: In the box labeled Notes/Restrictions, indicate how many host institution credits or units.
  

• Courses for your majors and minors must be approved by Department Chairs:  If you want a course to count towards your major or minor, the department chair will need to see the information you printed.

• Elective and GAR courses: The Dean of Global Education approves all other courses, either electives towards graduation, or courses for a general academic requirement.

Transfer Course Authorization Policies:

Only courses for which a student has earned a "C-" or better will be considered for transfer to Muhlenberg. Courses in which a traditional letter grade (A-F) was not earned will be considered for transfer only if additional documentation - detailing successful completion - is provided.

• Grades earned in transferred courses WILL NOT be included in a student’s general Muhlenberg grade point average or for graduation honors.

• Remember to find out from someone in the administrative staff at your host institution how to request and pay for an official transcript of your study abroad semester.

• It is much easier to find out and pay for it while you are at the host institution. Before you come home, we recommend you purchase several copies to have in your possession for your future.

• You will need to provide them to any graduate school you apply to and for some of your future employment opportunities.

• They are very difficult to obtain on a timely basis once you are home.

Information about transferring courses to Muhlenberg:

• Students transfer their study abroad courses according to the policies stated in the Muhlenberg College Catalog.

• Courses abroad cannot be taken as Pass/Fail.

• Courses taken abroad will NOT transfer unless you had them pre-approved on the Transfer Course Authorization for Study Abroad form BEFORE you arrived at your host institution.

• Institutions abroad use different grading scales. All your grades will be converted to A through F for purposes of determin­ing if the course WILL COUNT AS CREDIT toward graduation units earned.

• All other courses taken elsewhere must be transferred to Muhlenberg.

• Once courses have been transferred, they become part of the permanent record and cannot be removed.

• Many institutions may not use a course unit system similar to Muhlenberg's. For the purpose of all transfer transactions, the Muhlenberg course unit should be considered equivalent to 4 semester credit hours.

• No more than 16 transferred course units may contribute to the 34 course units required to earn a bachelor's degree at Muhlenberg.

• The College will accept no more than 5 course units for transfer during a traditional academic term (fall or spring), while 4 course units is the limit for any type of summer term.

• The College will accept no more than 10 course units for transfer during an entire traditional academic YEAR.

• In all cases, Muhlenberg College can accept transfer courses only with an official academic transcript from a regionally accredited higher education institution where courses have been successfully completed.

• Additional information may be obtained in the Office of the Registrar.

• Your grades from abroad MATTER!!! Graduate schools, some employers, and Phi Beta Kappa will calculate your GPA including courses taken abroad.

• Transfer Course Authorization Form