It can be difficult for someone who’s returning to school to figure out how to maximize transfer credits. You might remember where you went to school, or the tests that you took, but how do you make sure they’re applied correctly when enrolling for a new degree?

At City University of Seattle, our advisors work carefully with prospective students to make sure that all credit transfer opportunities are carefully evaluated. CityU’s Assistant Director of Enrollment, Keri Magana, has some great advice for students looking to maximize the numbers of credits they can transfer when applying to CityU:

• Send in ALL of your transcripts from previous stints at any institution that involved coursework.

You never know what’s going to transfer. Depending on your degree program, it’s possible to transfer in up to 135 credits of previous college experience (that’s three years of a four year degree!). You won’t know what will be accepted until you try!

• Students are always eligible to get credit through certified exams.

CLEP and DANTES (US Armed Forces Institute), are just two of the more popular options to fulfill lower division course requirements with test credit. Students take exams independently (which requires self-study), but if they feel comfortable with the material, and can pass the exam, they can transfer in up to 9 credits per exam toward lower division elective AND general education requirements.

• Students can get credit for real life experience through a few avenues:

• Corporate training—CityU has partnerships with several companies to accept their corporate or professional training toward lower division elective requirements.
• Military training—SMART transcripts evaluate a service member’s training record for transferable credit based on ACE recommendations. Some credit is even applicable to general education requirements and/or upper division coursework!
• PLA (Prior Learning Assessment)—students can build a portfolio of their experience (professional and personal) to earn up to 45 credits. The PLA program does require prior approval and an introduction course (PLA 200), but these steps ensure that a student has the right qualifications and is trained to build the portfolio in the correct way.

Not understanding how and when credits can be transferred is a common hurdle for re-enrolling students to overcome. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with advisors at CityU today!