Students who have been fully admitted into a graduate degree program at the University may petition to transfer graduate credit from another accredited graduate school once they have satisfactorily completed eight hours of graduate work at BGSU. The petition takes the form of inclusion in the Tentative Degree Program (TDP). An official transcript must be received by the Graduate College before credit can be approved for transfer. Credit may be transferred only for courses in which the student received the grades of A or B. Credit for an S grade may be transferred only if the grade is regarded by the grading school as B or better.

1. The course is sponsored or given by a regionally accredited graduate college or university. This of itself, however, does not assure acceptance of the course.
   
   
2. A formal, written petition by the student is required for the transfer of credit. The petition is submitted to the major department for its consideration and recommendation. The recommendation of the department is forwarded to the dean designate of the Graduate College for a decision.
   
   
3. Documentation is required on courses that are “external” or “nonresident” offerings of another university if acceptance of them for degree credit is requested from BGSU. Minimally, the graduate school offering college or university credit must be fully accredited. The course must be listed and described in the catalog offerings or other official publications of the institution. The content of the course must satisfy a requirement in a graduate degree program at the offering institution and be able to satisfy a degree requirement at BGSU. An official transcript is required at BGSU.
   
   
4. Petitions for acceptance of “summer tour” or “travel” type courses must be fully documented so that their academic integrity can be judged. Promotional literature from a tour or travel agency or institutional sponsor is not considered documentation of the academic character of the course. Minimal documentation submitted by the student should include the following:
   

   A) A photocopy of the course description from the graduate catalog or other official literature of the sponsoring institution;
   
   B) A statement in the institution’s graduate catalog or signed by the dean designate of the graduate school that specifies the graduate degree programs in which the course satisfies degree requirements in the institution offering the course. A viable alternative is a copy of an evaluative statement concerning the course from the department(s) in which it is used to satisfy degree credit;
   
   C) An official transcript from the sponsoring institution following completion of the course.
   
   The minimal documentation on “tour courses” is necessary to evaluate the quality of the course and to determine its applicability to a student’s degree program. Many accredited graduate schools offer courses for personal and professional development that carry graduate credit but are not applicable to their degree programs. Official assurance is required.

5. Bowling Green State University, as a fully accredited university, has a long standing custom of approving the transfer of credit from other fully accredited institutions. It is necessary for a student to petition, in writing, through the academic department for such transfer after the course has been completed. Prior guarantees of any type that a course will be transferable cannot be given. Any prior assurances given by faculty members or staff of Bowling Green State University must be regarded as estimates or opinions. They do not commit the University to a course of action.

Transfer of credit is not appropriate for graduate non-degree students; by definition, they have no graduate degree program toward which credit is to be transferred. The transfer of credit for any graduate student for purposes of consolidating transcripts is not allowed. If a graduate non-degree student later becomes admitted to a graduate degree program, transfer of credit can be requested in consultation with the graduate coordinator of the program. Conditionally admitted students must achieve regular status before petitioning for transfer of credit. Final approval for transferred credit is granted only by the graduate dean designate.

The time limits for completion of a master’s degree and a specialist degree (six years) and for a doctoral degree (eight years) apply also to transferred credit. That is, all credits within a master’s and specialist program must fall within the six-year period dating from the end of the earliest course used to fulfill degree requirements on the Tentative Degree Program; similarly, all credits within a doctoral program must fall within the eight-year period.

Once the request for transfer of credit has been approved by the academic program and the Graduate College, and official transcripts are received, the credit hours—not grades—for the courses are transferred into the student’s degree program. Because the grades are not officially recognized, they cannot be counted into a student’s cumulative grade point average. Transfer credit is processed at the time of graduation to ensure the course work falls within the time to degree limits.

Courses equivalent to those at the University cannot be transferred for credit and also taken for credit here (course duplication is not allowed). Only graduate level courses qualify for transfer to graduate degree programs. Courses that have already been applied in whole or in part in any way toward any other degree or certificate may not be transferred.

A maximum of 9 semester hours of post-baccalaureate credit may be transferred into a master's program subject to approval of the program and the Graduate College.

A maximum of 9 semester hours of post-master's credit may be transferred into a doctoral program subject to approval of the program and the Graduate College. This is in addition to the 30 hours that transfer from a master's program.

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