Carson-Newman accepts transfer credit from accredited colleges and universities and endorses the guidelines for transfer of credit as outlined in the “Joint Statement of the Transfer and Award of Credit” developed by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), the American Council of Education (ACE) and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Courses recommended by The American Council of Education are evaluated on a course by course basis. Some courses must be authorized for acceptance by a department chair.
Course Credit Evaluation process:
- The transfer credit evaluation process includes reviewing a college level course which may be acceptable for credit by Carson-Newman. Approved transferrable credit will be accepted as:
- A course similar in likeness to a C-N course. The course will be granted a Carson-Newman course
number, or
- A course that meets a Liberal Arts Core requirement will be granted credit as GER or LA, for example
BIOL-GER, or BIOL-LA, or
- A course that is taught in a discipline that is offered by Carson-Newman, but does not equate to a representative course at C-N. The course will be accepted as elective credit, designated as ELEC, for example, BIOL-ELEC. Elective credit may not be used toward meeting Liberal Arts Core requirements. It may be used toward major requirements if approved by the department chair. It may also be used toward the total number of hours toward a degree. Credit accepted as elective credit may be further reviewed by a department chair upon student request to determine if the course would meet a Liberal Arts Core or major course requirement. A course description and syllabus from the course must be provided to the department chair of the discipline in question for review of specific credit.
2. Courses taught at the developmental or remedial level from the transferring institution are not accepted for credit.
3. Courses from vocational or technical schools are not generally accepted for credit. Students may petition for credit for courses that may have an equivalent match at C-N by following the procedures outlined below to appeal for credit from an unaccredited institution.
4. Credit for institutionally specific courses, such as chapel, convocation, lecture series, etc., is typically not accepted unless the syllabus demonstrates content that general in nature and not specific to the transferring institution.
5. Varsity Athletic sport credit will transfer as an “S” graded course and is limited to one credit per academic year.
6. Credit earned for Nursing coursework does not automatically transfer. The Department of Nursing will review all Nursing credit. Nursing credit will be awarded only upon the approval of the Chair of the Nursing Department, who will notify the University Registrar concerning the awarding of nursing credit.
7. Credit for freshman seminar courses may be granted upon review and evaluation of course content. If the courses content is similar in nature to a course or courses at Carson-Newman, the credit will be granted as Interdisciplinary (prefix ID) credit.
8. Credit by exam, i.e., Advanced Placement, College Level Examination Program, International Baccalaureate and State-Wide Dual (TN) credit is accepted based upon established guidelines and required scores determined by individual departments. These guidelines are based on information and recommendations from the College Board, IB, and the State of Tennessee. Credit by Exam is limited to 30 hours and is not considered institutional credit.
Credit by Exam Score Chart
9. Credit from international institutions must be evaluated by a professional foreign credentials evaluation service such as WES, or Joseph Silney and Associates, or recognized equivalent. The official professional evaluation must be submitted to the University Registrar for consideration of transfer credit. Credit will be awarded according to guidelines stated in this transfer credit policy.
Transfer credit and Degree Requirements:
1. No more than 60 hours earned from a 2 year, junior or community college may be used toward the requirement for a degree from Carson-Newman. If the student transfers more than 60 hours of credit from a two year college, the student must earn least 60 hours from C-N and/or another 4 year college. Institutional policy requires at least 60 hours must earned from a senior (4 year) college or university, and at least 30 hours must be earned at Carson-Newman to award the degree.
2. Credit earned at the 100 or 200 level from the original institution transferred as upper division to Carson Newman will count as content credit for the discipline (with some limited exceptions) but the hours earned will not count toward meeting the 36 Junior/Senior (upper division) hour requirement necessary for graduation from Carson-Newman, unless approved by the department chair
3. Courses transfer with the hours earned and level assigned from the original institution. A course may satisfy a content requirement, but may not satisfy other C-N requirements, such as upper level credit as noted above.
4. If a course was taken at another institution, it can be repeated at another institution, for the replacement to be granted. If it was taken at C-N if has to be repeated at C-N in order for the forgiveness policy to be administered. If the student fails the course at C-N, and successfully repeats it at another institution, the student will be granted the credit, but hours and grades attempted will be counted for both courses.
5. All grades for courses which are accepted as transfer credit are recorded and computed into the transferring student’s grade point average. Grades are transferred on a 4.0 grading scale and plus and minus quality points are not computed in the transfer grade point average. These transferred quality points and the quality points earned at C-N will be used to calculate the cumulative GPA. Students must earn a minimum cumulative and C-N institutional GPA of 2.0 to graduate. (Some specific departments have higher GPA requirements for completion of the degree.)
6. Class standing of transfer students is determined by the number of credit hours accepted for transfer at Carson-Newman University.
Time Limit on Transfer Credits to Carson-Newman University
1. Courses meeting the Liberal Arts Core requirement do not have a time limit for traditional undergraduate programs.
2. Courses used for elective credit toward the total number of hours required for the degree do not have a time limit.
3. Courses meeting major requirements for a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Music, or Bachelor of Science major taken more than 15 years prior to enrollment at Carson-Newman University will transfer only with departmental approval. An exception to this policy may be granted with approval of the department chair for the major/program in which the student plans to major.
4. In certain courses, current knowledge is essential, and the department chair may impose a time limit on the applicability of earned credit toward satisfying a degree requirement. In rare cases, a course may be used as elective credit toward the total number of hours required for the degree, but the student will have to take a more current version of the course at Carson-Newman University to satisfy course requirements for the major.
5. Pre-requisite courses for the Nursing major, i.e., General Chemistry, Anatomy and Physiology, nutrition, microbiology, human development, and statistics must have been earned within ten years of the date of enrollment in the program. All nursing coursework completed at another institution must be approved by the Nursing Admission and Progression Committee in order for credit to be awarded toward the major at Carson-Newman.
Credit earned through the Armed Forces:
Veterans of the Armed Forces and members of the military reserve may receive up to 40 hours of credit for military training. Credit is evaluated based on applicability to the declared major or degree of pursuit. If the declared major or degree changes after the veteran enrolls, the University reserves the right to re-evaluate military transfer credit and add or remove credit as it applies to the declared major of pursuit.
Carson-Newman follows the American Council of Education recommendation for course credit earned through the Armed Forces. Carson-Newman will award credit that is similar in likeness to a course offered through Carson-Newman based on this recommendation. Credit earned through the military will be reviewed by the Carson-Newman University Registrar. C-N will award a minimum of 4 hours of military credit (MILS) for basic training based on either the DD-214 or the Joint Services Transcript.
An official Joint Services Military Transcript, Community College of the Air Force or other equivalent military transcript must be submitted to the University Registrar for consideration of additional credit.
Credit from non-regionally accredited institutions:
If the student requests transfer of credit through a non-regionally accredited college the student may petition for credit through each individual department in which credit is sought. The student must complete the form for Requesting Credit from an Unaccredited Institution and provide a course description and a syllabus to the department chair for review and consideration. The department chair will notify the University Registrar by completing and submitting the form to the University Registrar indicating whether the credit is acceptable and how it should be awarded.
Petition to Accept Credit from Unaccredited Institution
Graduate Credit:
Courses accepted for credit toward graduate degrees must be approved by the specific graduate program Chair or Program Director in which the degree is sought. Transfer credit hours are limited to the maximum number as specified by each individual graduate program. Consult the Graduate and Professional Studies Catalog for policies regarding transfer credit for graduate students. Transfer credit toward graduate degrees must be earned within the last 5 years.
The Appeal Process:
Undergraduate students may appeal a transfer credit decision through the University Registrar. Documentation including a course syllabus must be submitted to the University Registrar who will contact the Department Chair of the subject area of the credit being appealed. A decision will be rendered by the Department Chair in consultation with the University Registrar.
Graduate Students appeal through the Graduate Department Chair or Graduate Program Director.
*Policy updated on 6/13/22*
Transfer Articulation Agreement:
Carson-Newman University has articulation agreements with the following institutions:
- Pellissippi State Community College — Knoxville, TN
- New Mexico Military Institute — Roswell, NM
- Georgia Military Institute — Milledgeville, GA (additional branches in Augusta, Fayetteville, Fairburn, Valdosta and Warner Robins)
- Valley Forge Military College — Wayne, PA
- Marion Military Institute — Marion, AL
Tennessee Transfer Pathways and Articulation Agreements
Carson-Newman University has established transfer pathways agreements for students who complete an associate degree from a Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) institution prior to beginning their enrollment at Carson-Newman University. Students who follow the prescribed pathway will streamline their educational journey and satisfy many components of their pursuit of a bachelor’s degree without taking additional unnecessary coursework. Following an articulation agreement or transfer pathway prior to admission will allow a student to graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Carson-Newman University upon completion of REL 101, REL 102 and LA-102, remaining courses required for the major, upper level and senior college credit requirements, and elective hours required to reach the 120 hours required for graduation from Carson-Newman.
Additional information on transfer pathways can be found on the Admissions website at this link: http://www.cn.edu/admissions/undergraduateadmissions/admission-requirements/transfer-admission/tennessee-transfer-pathways and at https://www.tntransferpathway.org/
Participating institutions are listed below:
- Chattanooga State Community College
- Cleveland State Community College
- Columbia State Community College
- Dyersburg State Community College
- Jackson State Community College
- Motlow State Community College
- Nashville State Community College
- Northeast State Community College
- Pellissippi State Community College
- Roane State Community College
- Southwest Tennessee State Community College
- Volunteer State Community College
- Walters State Community College
Tennessee Reverse Transfer
The University participates in the Tennessee Reverse Transfer program. This program allows a student who completes a minimum of 15 hours at a participating Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) community college and who enrolls at Carson-Newman University before completing an associate degree to transfer their credits earned at Carson-Newman back to the community college. A reverse transfer potentially allows these students to be awarded an associate degree by their community college while also meeting bachelor’s degree requirements at Carson-Newman. For more information, see http://www.cn.edu/admissions/undergraduate-admissions/tennessee-reverse-transfer
