Transfer Credit Policies

Credit Earned within the Vermont State Colleges

All credits earned within the VSC after Summer of 2002 are not considered transfer credit and are accepted by JSC, without question, along with their corresponding grade/GPA, as institutional credit.

The VSC maintains a common (shared) course database. As an example, taking PSY-1010 at one VSC school equals taking PSY-1010 at any other Vermont State College.

Related VSC Policy 106:

In the event of transfer from one VSC to another, General Education credit completed at the transfer-out school will be accepted at the transfer-in school, credit for credit, in appropriate categories.

Graduation Standards: Completion of a VSC graduation standard at one VSC = completion of that standard at all VSCs in the event of transfer.

Transferring in a Previously Earned Degree

Students transferring in a bachelor's degree from any regionally accredited institution will be waived from all GECC/Gen Ed requirements as well as from the VSC Graduation Standards.

Campus-based students transferring in an associate's degree from any regionally accredited institution will be waived from all lower-level GECC requirements (parts 1 and 2), not including WI or WPE requirements, and from the associate-level VSC graduation standards. EDP students will be waived from associate-level graduation standards.

A waiver of the associate-level graduation standards at JSC translates to completion of the following bachelor-level graduation standards components:

    • Completes the Info Lit standard
    • Completes one of the required two Oral Communication evaluations
    • Completes part 1 of the Quantitative Reasoning standard

 

College/University Credit

  • Only official transcripts will be evaluated for transfer credit.
  • Credit from regionally accredited institutions will be accepted if grades are C- or better.
  • In a sequence of inter-related courses, if the first course is passed with a grade below C-, but the second grade is C- or higher, both courses will be accepted.
  • Credits applied to a previously earned degree will be accepted as transfer credit.
  • While credits may be accepted in transfer toward overall credit requirements, the extent to which transfer credits fulfill specific major or program requirements will depend on the specific courses taken and their applicability to JSC’s requirements.
  • Courses may be transferred in to a Johnson State program in 5 ways (or combination of ways):

1) As an equate of one of JSC's courses (Intro to Psych = Intro to Psych)

2) As a general education requirement equivalent (not necessarily a course to course equivalent)

3) As a major requirement equivalent or substitution (not necessarily a course to course equivalent)

4) As an upper-level elective

5) As a lower-level elective

How Transfer Credits May Meet Requirements

The standard for a true course-to-course "equate" is high — keeping in mind that if a transfer course is equated to a JSC course, it meets all requirements that the JSC course meets.  There may be cases where a course taken in transfer equals a JSC course in its applicability toward a general education requirement, but the content of the transfer course does not go far enough, or is not specific enough, to meet the requirements or prerequisites demanded of a specific major.

General Education

For campus-based programs, the Registrar's Office (for transfer credit evaluation, we consider the Admissions Office an extension of the Registrar's Office) will determine which courses will be accepted toward General Education Core Curriculum requirements upon official evaluation of the transcript.  In determining the transferability of credit toward campus program GECC requirements, we will look to whether the transfer course meets JSC's GECC requirement definitions (fundamental skills, disciplinary exploration, and interdisciplinary) and not necessarily whether it is the equivalent course to a JSC offered course. If, after official evaluation by the College, a student feels that credits were not, but should be, accepted toward the GECC requirements, s/he may petition in the following manner:

  • Writing Dept. Chair for Fundamental Skills Expository Writing requirements
  • Math Dept. Chair for Fundamental Skills Math requirements
  • Dept. Chair of the discipline in question for Part II Disciplinary Exploration requirements
  • Gen Ed. Committee Chair for Part III Interdisciplinary requirements 
  • Dept. Chair of the major, for major-specific requirements

 

When appealing, students should be prepared to furnish both a course description and syllabus for the course. If the course is approved toward the GECC requirement a Substitution/Waiver Form should be completed, signed by the required parties, and submitted to the Registrar's Office.

GECC Requirement Definitions

Fundamental Skills

Freshman-level college writing courses, or finite math courses, from any accredited institution should count toward the GECC at JSC.  

Note: Unless specifically identified on a transcript, courses will not be transferred in as "Writing Intensive," without a review of a course syllabus.

                                                           

Disciplinary Exploration

Disciplinary courses must emphasize the primary concepts, methods of inquiry and major achievements of the field.

GECC applicable fields like world history, photography, sociology, biology, etc are identified in course titles and not in course number prefixes such as HIS, ART, SOC, BIO. Each college will have its own course numbering system.

Fields in addition to those listed in the GECC may be accepted toward the appropriate GECC area so long as they otherwise meet the above definition and fall within the pre-defined GECC areas of literature and philosophy, history and foreign languages, fine and performing arts, life science, physical science, anthropology/sociology/psychology, and political science/economics. 

In general, Disciplinary Exploration courses are lower level, without prerequisites, and should be broad enough in scope to be introductory — “broad and shallow."

                                                           

Interdisciplinary

Interdisciplinary courses use materials and resources from at least two and preferably three or more disciplines (not genres), devotes not more than one-half of the course time to one discipline, and integrates these disciplines so that insights gained from one reflect on the other(s).

Students wishing to have a transfer course considered for interdisciplinary credit should submit a course syllabus with their transcript. 

If a course is accepted as an equivalent of a JSC-offered interdisciplinary course, it will count toward the GECC requirement.

                                                           

First-year Seminar

Students with less than 15 previously earned credits who have completed a First-Year Seminar at a previous school will be waived from the FYS requirement at JSC. An FYS should be a full semester, 3-credit course, and not a credit bearing “Freshman Orientation."  Students transferring in 15* or more credits will be waived from the requirement. (*approved by faculty assembly May of 2009).

Major Requirements

In cases where the college does not equate a transfer course to a JSC course and the student feels the course should be equated, or where a student feels a transfer course(s) meets a requirement of a JSC major, the student may appeal to the department chair of the department sponsoring the major for a waiver/substitution. In these cases the student should be prepared with a course description and syllabus for the course they are wishing to use in substitution. If the request is granted a substitution/waiver form should be completed and submitted to the Registrar's Office for coding of the degree audit.

AP Credit

JSC will grant both advanced placement and course credit to students who have completed examinations through the College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) Program.  A grade of 3 or higher must be achieved, and final recommendation for credits will be determined in consultation with the student’s advisor and the department chairperson in the examination discipline.

CLEP

JSC considers, for credit, the scores received on the College Level Examination Program (CLEP). 6 credits may be given for each area of the General Examination on which a student scores satisfactorily. 3 credits may be given for subject examinations on which a satisfactory score is achieved.

Military Credit

Johnson State College recognizes transcripts issued by the American Council on Education (ACE) as official documentation of military experiences.

Information on transferring military credit and ACE may be found here

And here: Military Transfer Guide

Assessment of Prior Learning

Learning acquired through work or other non-college experiences may be assessed for college credit. The Assessment of Prior Learning (APL) course (see course listing below), taught through the Community College of Vermont, is designed for this purpose. Students are guided through the process of describing and documenting their experiential learning in a portfolio. This document is then reviewed for credit by an Advance Standing Committee composed of appropriate faculty and professionals. The credit awarded through the Office of External Programs may be transferred to JSC and the other Vermont State Colleges. The registrar, in consultation with faculty and staff of the appropriate departments, will evaluate these credits to determine their applicability toward graduation requirements.

 

EDU-1240

Assessment of Prior Learning

3 credits

(Offered through Community College of Vermont)

An opportunity for students to earn college credit for prior learning acquired either on the job or in other settings. Students explore past learning experiences and identify future educational goals. Students develop an individual portfolio describing and documenting prior learning. Upon successful completion of the course, students may submit their portfolio to the Office of External Programs for review of credit requests. Recommended prior learning: ENG-1051 College Writing or equivalent. (Before enrolling, students should consult the Academic Support Services Office at Johnson State College at 802-635-1259.)

Foreign Academic Credentials

For JSC to consider accepting transfer credits from foreign institutions, students must have their post-secondary academic transcripts evaluated by an official foreign credential evaluation service.  Students are responsible for paying for the credential evaluation and translation fees.  A list of credential evaluation services can be found at www.edupass.org.

International Baccalaureate

Johnson State College recognizes the IB and is willing to award placement and credit for IB courses on an individual basis to students who pass with grades of  4 or above on higher level exams (JSC does not award credit for standard level IB exams). It is not necessary to have completed the entire IB curriculum [the diploma] to qualify for transfer credit. Please submit an official IB transcript along with your application for admission.