Newly admitted BAAS students must submit their official transfer course evaluation requests through the online, self-serve External Course Approval Tool (XCAT). XCAT can be accessed with a PennKey and password. Students should submit their transfer course evaluation requests as soon as possible, but are required to complete the process prior to the end of their first session of enrollment.
In XCAT, students submit a short form for each course, providing the name of the institution, term/year the course was completed, course code and title. All information can be found on previous transcripts.
Penn LPS makes determinations regarding the transfer eligibility and credit equivalencies for each course submitted. Courses completed prior to the awarding of a high school diploma, or, courses applied toward any degree (with the exception of the Associate’s Degree) are NOT eligible for transfer credit. Courses completed at regionally accredited institutions for a grade of C or better are considered.
In order to verify approved courses and have them posted to the Penn transcript, LPS Admissions and Records must be in possession of official transcripts (with all grades posted) from each institution attended. (Students often submit official transcripts for admissions while they are enrolled at another school, with courses in progress. Be sure to submit another official copy once final grades are posted).
Once a student has finished submitting ALL transfer course requests to XCAT, they must alert LPS via email lpsonline@sas.upenn.edu in order to trigger the official evaluation; put “BAAS Transfer Credit” in the subject line. Students will be able to track the status of their transfer credit course requests in XCAT.
BAAS students may use approved transfer credit courses to satisfy up to 50% of their curriculum requirements if the courses apply appropriately. Students may apply up to 8 approved transfer course units toward Free Electives, and 4 toward Foundation requirements. The total number of transfer course units that can be applied toward Concentration requirements (1-3) depends upon the policies of the chosen Concentration, which vary.
If a student has more approved transfer courses than can be applied toward the degree, an advisor will help determine which will best satisfy requirements; selected credit will be posted to the Penn transcript, and excess courses can be withdrawn.
Questions about BAAS transfer credit should be directed to lpsonline@sas.upenn.edu; put “BAAS Transfer Credit” in the subject line.
