Transferring Credit

Transfer credit is generally awarded for baccalaureate-oriented courses completed at institutions of higher education that have received accreditation by the Regional Associations of Schools and Colleges or the Ministry of Education. College courses numbered below 100, technical and vocational courses, developmental education or remedial courses, English as a Second Language, sectarian religion courses, credit for life experience/travel, study skills courses, CLEP examination credit, and DANTES credit by examination do not transfer, regardless of an institution’s accreditation.

  • Transfer Course Equivalency Guide to understand how courses taken at Washington state colleges and universities will transfer to Western
  • Students who confirm their intent to enroll at Western will receive a transfer credit evaluation prior to course registration.

Transfer credit limits

A maximum of 135 quarter (90 semester) credits are allowed to transfer from any combination of recognized accredited institutions. Of these, no more than 105 quarter (70 semester) credits may be at the lower division (100 and 200) level. Appropriate coursework which exceeds this limit may be used to meet specific major requirements, but will not apply to the total number of credits accepted in transfer and will not display on students' degree evaluations.

Community College Partnerships

Western Washington University has partnered with several Washington State community colleges to provide a clear path for international students who wish to earn a Bachelor’s degree from our highly ranked and respected university.

Known as our Global Partnership, this program guarantees admission to Western Washington University to any international student who completes an approved transferable associate degree (including Associate in Arts DTA, Associate in Arts and Sciences DTA, Associate in Science – Transfer or MRP transfer degrees) from one of the community colleges below, has a 3.0 or higher cumulative transfer GPA, and demonstrates English proficiency.

English proficiency is demonstrated via one of the following options:

  • "B" or better grades in English 101 and English 102
  • Recommended TOEFL score of 80 (iBT) or 550 (paper-based)
  • Recommended IELTS score of 6.5
  • Recommended Duolingo English Test score of 105

To maintain admission eligibility, students must meet all other requirements for admission (signed declaration of financial responsibility and official bank statement, transcripts, official academic credentials, etc.) by the priority application date.

Students attending a community college that is not named below may be eligible to receive an offer of conditional admission upon request. Please contact international.admissions@wwu.edu to request international student admission advising.

Transfer students who earn an Associate in Arts or Associate in Arts and Sciences degree from a Washington state community college that meets the Intercollege Relations Commission guidelines for the Direct Transfer Agreement (DTA) are granted junior standing and will have fulfilled Western's General University Requirements (GUR) provided they complete English Composition with a grade of C- or better, or earn an Advanced Placement (AP) score of 4 or higher on either English Language & Composition or English Literature & Composition exams.

Transfer students who earn the Associate in Science (AS-T) degree from a Washington state community college are also given junior standing. While DTA degrees automatically fulfill Western’s General University Requirements (GUR), AS-T degrees are designed to ensure students have appropriate math and science prerequisites for their intended major. While your AS-T degree includes many GUR, you will have additional GUR to complete to meet graduation requirements at Western.

To satisfy your GUR in full, you may elect to pursue one of the following options:

1) An AS-T student may satisfy their remaining GUR requirements by completing three WWU GUR courses, approved by the Registrar's Office. Students will receive an individual evaluation and approval of remaining GUR courses after a final transcript with AS-T notation is received by the Registrar's Office. These GUR typically include: 

  • Any Comparative, Gender or Multicultural course (ACGM or BCGM)
  • An additional B-Communication (BCOM) or C-Communication (CCOM) course
  • An additional Humanities (HUM) or Social Science (SSC) course

2) All AS-T students have the right to meet their GUR requirements by completing, at Western, the courses needed to meet the general education requirements of the institution which awarded your AS-T. Students who wish to fulfill their general education requirements through this alternate route, must complete the following steps:

  • Request an official degree evaluation from the college that awarded the AS-T. This evaluation must specify the remaining courses needed to earn the Direct Transfer Agreement (DTA) degree.
  • Bring this evaluation to Bernadette Davidson, Office of the Registrar, Old Main 230. Bernadette will create a new plan of study which requires only those courses.
  • In calculating the transfer admission GPA, the Office of Admissions uses all transferable academic courses, including repeats, from all regionally accredited colleges the student has attended.
  • Specific letter grades do not transfer and transfer work does not affect the official Western Washington University institutional grade point average.
  • Semester credits are converted to quarter credits. (One semester credit equals 1.5 quarter credits.)
  • Courses transfer to Western Washington University at the same level (lower or upper division) as taken at the original institution.
  • The number of credits earned for an accepted transfer course will be used even if the number of credits for the equivalent Western course differs.
     

Course Equivalency Guide

General University Requirements

IB, CI, and AP credits

Students with International Baccalaureate (IB), Cambridge International (CI), Advanced Placement (AP) credits can be awarded a maximum of 45 credits. Students must send official documentation in the form of a transcript or score report before credit will be awarded.

IB, CI, AP credit guidelines