Alternative Credit

AP Credit

High school students who take advanced placement (AP) courses are encouraged to take the CEEB (College Entrance Examination Board) advanced placement examinations and have their scores sent to the University of Saint Francis. The university grants college credit for CEEB examination scores of 3, 4 or 5 in accordance with the American Council on Education recommendation.

Students seeking AP credits are responsible for requesting the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to send their AP exam scores to the Registrar’s office. No grade is assigned for courses in which the student is awarded advanced placement credit, and these courses are not included in the student’s grade point average. The student has the option of declining all or part of the advanced placement credit awards. In some cases, credit is awarded for a particular course offered at the university. In others, credit is awarded for general education credits in a specific area of study.

Please note that some courses may be counted toward a student’s major and some courses may not.

Prior Learning Assessment

Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) is a process used to earn college credit for learning that has been acquired outside of the traditional classroom. A maximum of 30 credit hours can be earned toward a Bachelor degree and 15 credit hours can be earned toward an Associate degree. While credit is awarded for prior learning, no grades are assigned. Certain programs cannot award credit for prior learning because of rules created by Indiana licensing and regulatory agencies. No duplication of credit is allowed.

Proficiency Examinations

A description and listing of proficiency tests offered by outside agencies is available from the Registrar’s Office. In addition, some academic departments at the University of Saint Francis offer challenge examinations that allow a student to demonstrate college-level competency by means of internally constructed examinations. These are not available in all departments; please contact the specific department if you would like more information.

Military Training

The American Council on Education (ACE) has worked cooperatively with the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Armed Services to establish standards for recognizing learning acquired in military service. This learning may be worth college credit. The student must submit a military transcript (e.g., AARTS, College of the Air Force, etc.), DD214, and/or DD295 to the Registrar’s office for evaluation.

Portfolio

The student-prepared prior learning portfolio is the most commonly accepted method used to evaluate prior learning. It is a collection of narratives and written documentation that articulates a student’s academically relevant, non-college classroom learning on a per course basis.

Veteran’s Credit

Veterans who qualify under the GI Bill® of Rights may enroll at the University of Saint Francis. Two semester hours of credit in physical education will be granted to veterans honorably discharged after six months of service. Veterans can also submit official copies of military transcripts (e.g. AARTS or College of the Air Force) for evaluation.

GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official U.S. government Web site at benefits.va.gov/gibill.

Fort Wayne Higher Education Consortium

The Fort Wayne Higher Education Consortium is a group of seven area institutions: Huntington University, Indiana Institute of Technology, Purdue Fort Wayne, Ivy Tech Community College, Manchester University, Trine University, and the University of Saint Francis. The Consortium allows University of Saint Francis students to enroll in a regularly offered course during a fall or spring semester at any other Consortium school under the following conditions:

1. Students must be enrolled as degree-seeking at the University of Saint Francis.
2. Students must be enrolled in at least three semester hours at the University of Saint Francis and remain enrolled in that course during the entire semester. Students who withdraw from all University of Saint Francis courses will also be withdrawn from the Consortium course.
3. Students may register for a Consortium course only if the equivalent University of Saint Francis course is not available to them at the end of the registration period because it is closed. A student may register for a Consortium course that is equivalent to a University of Saint Francis offering only if the student’s plan of study necessitates taking the course during a given semester.
4. Students may take only one Consortium course per semester and a maximum of four Consortium courses during their academic career. Consortium registrations are not available during the summer.
5. Students register for courses taken under the Consortium agreement at the University of Saint Francis. Consortium courses are treated as resident credit for purposes of satisfying graduation requirements, athletic eligibility and financial aid.
6. The final grade earned at the Consortium school will be posted on the student’s University of Saint Francis transcript.
7. Students are charged the tuition they would pay if the course were offered at the University of Saint Francis. The host (Consortium) school will bill students only for course-specific fees, such as lab, technology and material fees. Students are responsible for paying any course-specific fees directly to the host school.
8. Students must have permission of the Registrar to enroll in a Consortium course.
9. Enrollment is subject to space availability in the course. The host school determines when to permit Consortium students to register.
10. Academic regulations of the host school apply to Consortium courses. Students are responsible for informing themselves about starting and ending dates for the class, vacation dates, academic regulations (i.e. last date to withdraw, grading policies, attendance policies), and other regulations which may differ from those of the University of Saint Francis.

To register for a Consortium course, students must:

1. Pick up a Consortium registration form in the Registrar’s office.
2. Complete the form and return it to the Registrar’s office for approval.
3. Register and pay for the course at the University of Saint Francis. University of Saint Francis tuition rates apply.

Transfer Students

Transfer students may have coursework earned at other acceptably (regionally) accredited institutions evaluated and posted to their University of Saint Francis transcript. Courses accepted for transfer will be recorded on the student’s University of Saint Francis transcript provided a minimum grade of “C” or better is earned (unless the age of the course excludes it from acceptance; C- or below is not transferrable). Accepted credit hours are not included in the computation of the student’s University of Saint Francis GPA. Students should refer to the Degree Requirements section of this catalog regarding limits on the amount of transfer credit and the relationship of transfer credit to eligibility for earning a degree from the University of Saint Francis.

Transfer students may have coursework earned at institutions which are nationally (but not regionally) accredited evaluated and posted to their University of Saint Francis transcript. Credit hours thus transferred will be elective credits unless approved by their academic program to meet additional degree requirements. Courses accepted for transfer will be recorded on the student’s University of Saint Francis transcript provided a minimum grade of “C” or better is earned (unless the age of the course excludes it from acceptance; C- or below is not transferrable). Accepted credit hours are not included in the computation of the student’s University of Saint Francis GPA. Students should refer to the Degree Requirements section of this catalog regarding limits on the amount of transfer credit and the relationship of transfer credit to eligibility for earning a degree from the University of Saint Francis.

Virtual Campus Students

Students may request transfer of credit for work completed at another accredited institution. The maximum number of credit hours that may be accepted are determined by the specific program requirements.

No credit will be given for undergraduate courses in which the grade was below a “C”. Typically, credit may not be given for courses that are more than five (5) years old.

The student may be requested to present catalog descriptions of the courses for which transfer credit is requested.

Transfer grades will not be included in the cumulative Grade Point Average.

Approval of all transfer credit is the prerogative of the program director and the Registrar. Some programs may have additional criteria required for the transfer of credit.

Ordinarily, workshop courses and courses taught regularly at the University of Saint Francis may not be taken elsewhere after the student is enrolled in a degree program at the university. Once admitted to the University of Saint Francis, the student must obtain approval from the Registrar prior to registering for coursework at another institution. All other transfer policies will apply to the transfer of newly earned credit at another institution.

Current Students

Ordinarily, courses which are offered regularly at the University of Saint Francis may not be taken elsewhere after the student becomes enrolled at the university. Once enrolled, students are permitted to take a maximum of 7 transfer hours during their undergraduate studies at USF. Rarely, exceptions to this limit may be made for academic progression.

For any transfer credit under this policy, the Registrar must approve the Outside Course Verification form before students register for the courses at other acceptably accredited institutions. The form can be found in Form Central on My Cougar Connection. Students must be in good academic standing (minimum cumulative GPA of 2.00 and no account holds) with the university to be approved to transfer credit.

Upon completion of such courses, the student is responsible for requesting an official transcript of his/her grades be sent to the Registrar’s Office. Transferred courses will be recorded on the student’s University of Saint Francis transcript provided a grade of “C” or better is earned (unless the age of the course excludes it from acceptance). Accepted credit hours are not included in the computation of the student’s University of Saint Francis GPA. Please note that some courses may not be counted toward a student’s major but will be transferred as elective credit.

Students should refer to the Degree Requirements section of this catalog regarding limits on the amount of transfer credit and the relationship of transfer credit to eligibility for earning a degree from the University of Saint Francis.