Policies Governing Credits

Some students enter Penn having already taken college-level courses during high school, either in competition with college students or as part of a special program taught at their high school. Penn treats these two cases differently, and students must be careful to observe the criteria below.

In order to seek credit for college work completed prior to matriculation at Penn, a student must log in to XCAT and submit a course syllabus to the appropriate Penn department. Students should be sure to check "pre-college course" when they make the request in XCAT.

• Any college courses used to fulfill high school graduation requirements are not eligible for credit at Penn.
• The college or university must be a fully accredited four-year institution.
• The course must correspond to a course offered by Penn, or be deemed equivalent in depth and intensity.
• A grade of C or better must have been received.
• The course must be part of the normal curriculum published in the college’s catalogue.
• The course must be taught on the college campus by a member of the regular faculty.
• The course must be open to enrollment by, and graded in direct competition with, regularly matriculated undergraduates at that college.
• The student must request that the external college or University send an official transcript directly to Ms. Eddrena Owens in the Undergraduate Admissions office (215.898.7507) along with a letter stating that the course was part of the normal curriculum published in the college’s catalogue, taught by the regular faculty on the college campus and was open to enrollment by, and graded in direct competition with, regularly matriculated undergraduates at that college.

Please note: Acceptance of pre-college credit is at the discretion of the individual Penn department or program. Instead of awarding pre-college credit, some departments may provide an assessment exam that may result in Penn credit. Please contact the undergraduate chair for confirmation.

When students receive College credit for courses or other types of academic work done elsewhere, it is referred to as equivalent credit. Some of these credits will be the result of coursework taken before matriculation at Penn, but it is also possible to do a limited number of courses “away” after matriculation.

Credit earned at two-year institutions either while the student is in high school (including the summer after) or after the student has matriculated at Penn (Credit Away) will not be posted to the Penn transcript. For students who transfer to Penn from a two-year institution, however, departments may at their discretion grant credit for course work done at the two-year institution.

Students wishing to apply for College credit away must obtain approval from the appropriate department at Penn before enrolling in the course, if possible. To request credit away through a Penn department, log in to XCAT (External Course Approval Tool) and submit a course syllabus and other supporting materials from the external institution.

After the course has been completed, the student must request that an official transcript be sent from the institution at which the away credit was taken to the College Office. The College cannot post away credit until this transcript is received.

A minimum grade of C is required for a course to be eligible for credit away. The grade itself, however, will not appear on the Penn transcript.

No credit will be granted for:

• Courses taken at two-year institutions (e.g. junior or community college)
• Courses taken in time frames significantly different from the regular University schedules (academic year and summer sessions)
• Courses other than field courses taken on sites without the appropriate facilities of a college or university (e.g., libraries and laboratories) unless supervised by School of Arts and Sciences faculty
• Distance learning or online courses taken with institutions other than Penn.

After matriculation at Penn, students may not transfer more than 5 c.u. of credit away. Only 4 c.u. may be transferred for work done during one summer. Students must complete the final two semesters of full-time study in the College.

The College will periodically adjust student records to eliminate any instance of duplicate credit. This is done to help students make a more accurate count of how many credits they have earned toward graduation.

Students may end up with duplicate credit in any of three ways:

• By enrolling in and completing a course for which they have equivalent credit (via transfer, away, departmental, or advanced placement credit).

• By enrolling in and completing a course that they have previously completed for credit (i.e. any grade from A+ through D, including P). See Retaking a course.

• By enrolling in and completing both courses of a pair designated as equivalent by the department (e.g. MATH114 and MATH115).

Duplicate credits are resolved in the following ways:

• For the first type in the above list, the equivalent credit will be deleted.

• For the second and third types of duplicate credit, the second instance of the course (i.e., the one taken in the later semester) will be “zeroed out” – the credit value converted to 0.00 CU. The first grade is the one that counts toward the student's g.p.a.

These resolutions only apply for courses completed and passed - if a student fails or withdraws from a course, it is not considered an equivalent credit.

Ultimately, students are responsible for knowing the College's policies and being aware when they are registering for courses that could potentially represent duplicate credits.

A representative of the appropriate Penn department will need to review external courses before transfer credits will be awarded. To request transfer credit for a College course through a Penn department, login to XCAT (External Course Approval Tool) and submit all course syllabi and other supporting materials from the previous institution.

• The student must produce an academic paper in connection with the study. A copy of the paper with a recommended evaluation by the sponsor must be submitted to the Committee on Individualized Study. The committee will assign the final grade.
• Only one c.u. of College 99 will be allowed per semester.
• Only two c.u. total of College 99 may be counted towards the Bachelor of Arts degree. If a second unit of credit is requested for the same project, a formal letter requesting the second credit unit must be submitted by the deadline. Some written work completed during the first semester of the independent study project, normally the term paper, must be made available to the Committee on Individualized Study before a second credit unit will be considered.

See listing by major below.

The number of credits (c.u.) required for graduation is normally determined by adding 20 to the total c.u. required by the major. The total graduation credit requirement will always be between 32 and 36 c.u., so that students in majors larger than 16 c.u. will be required to take correspondingly fewer than 20 additional courses to graduate.

Some concentrations in this major will require more than this number of c.u. to complete; in these cases fewer courses outside the major will be required, but the total graduation requirement will remain 36 c.u.

The numbers above represent minimum credits required; depending on their individual situations, some students may need more than this in order to finish their degree program. Students with any questions about their graduation requirement should meet with a College advisor.

Up to 4 c.u. of the courses outside the major may come from other schools at the University. This number is reduced as one's major requirement exceeds 16 c.u. See further information.

Students who are completing more than one major must use their largest major to calculate the required graduation credits. For example, a student majoring in English (12 c.u.) and Fine Arts (16 c.u.) needs at least 36 c.u. to graduate.

Students who are completing a dual degree with the College and another undergraduate school at Penn must meet with advisors in both schools to determine their graduation requirement.

* Some concentrations in this major will require more than this number of c.u. to complete; in these cases fewer courses outside the major wil be required. The total graduation requirement will remain 36 c.u.