TRANSFER COURSE ELIGIBILITY POLICIES
Read all policies prior to submitting transfer course evaluation to XCAT!
An official transfer credit evaluation is available to students as per below:
- Student is officially accepted into the BAAS program and their record is activated,
- Student has officially accepted their offer of admission,
- Student has submitted their transfer course information to the External Course Evaluation Tool (XCAT),
- LPS is in receipt of all official transcripts (and official WES evaluations for international institutions), from all institutions attended, with all grades posted, sent directly from the institution to lpsonline@sas.upenn.edu
As per published policies, courses considered for transfer credit must meet (at minimum) the following criteria:
- Coursework was completed at a regionally accredited institution (at such a time the institution maintained active status)
- Course is listed to official transcript as completed for a normal letter grade of C or higher
The below list reflects some courses that are NOT eligible for transfer; students should NOT submit them to XCAT:
- Courses with grades of F, W, Incomplete, Pass, or Satisfactory
- College credits completed in lieu of high school, enrolled in during high school, and/or completed prior to the high school diploma date
- Dual-credit courses
- College credit received while enrolled in another completed degree program (with the exception of the associate degree)
- College credit completed outside of Penn after matriculation to a Penn LPS degree program
- Life experience, independent study, portfolio assessment, exam, CLEP, AP, DANTES, ACE, Joint Service, and DSST credit
- College Experience / Navigation courses
- Math courses below the Pre-Calculus level
- 1st semester English Composition
- Physical Fitness courses
- Graduate and Professional courses
- Current or former Penn students, admitted to BAAS in or after Summer 2024, may not transfer in excess of the limit of 4 course units of Penn course work completed in non-degree status programs. Non-degree programs at Penn include—but are not limited to—Penn LPS Online Gateway Program, Certificates, Coursetakers, Penn Summer Program, Penn Alumni, and Non-degree Undergraduate Program
Utilization of transfer courses toward the Penn BAAS requirements has the following limits:
- Up to 4 approved, appropriate courses may be used toward the 8 Foundation Requirements
- 0-3 approved, appropriate courses may be used toward the Concentration Requirements (policies vary among Concentrations)
- Up to 8 approved, appropriate courses may be used toward Free Electives
- A limited number of “Non- Arts & Sciences” courses can be used toward the BAAS Free Electives. These courses include, but are not limited to, Business, Marketing, Accounting, Finance, Nursing, Engineering, Computer Programming, etc.
The total number of courses required toward the BAAS is 30 course units. BAAS students may apply approved, appropriate transfer courses to satisfy up to 50% of the BAAS degree requirements. The maximum number of transfer courses a student may apply toward their degree varies—12 to 15 courses maximum—ultimately depends on the selected concentration.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMITTING TRANSFER CREDIT EVALUATION TO XCAT
- Access transcripts from previous institutions to reference the required information
- Log into XCAT with your PennKey and password
- Select “+REQUEST TRANSFER CREDIT FOR LPS BAAS”
- Choose an external institution or program: Begin typing the name of the institution into the type-ahead field and select it once a match appears. Be careful to select the correct institution; many share similar names.
- Term Taken: Select Fall, Spring, or Summer term, and the year. If the term structure at your previous institution does not align—for example, Winter, or Summer II—select the term in which your previous course ended.
- Sample Course: STAT 101 Intro to Statistics (Please be sure to enter data exactly as it appears on your transcript as per the sample cells below)
-
- Course ID = 101
- Course Title = Intro to Statistics
- Course Subject = STAT
- Choose between +ADD ANOTHER COURSE or >SUBMIT
- If you submit a request with incorrect information, transfer will be denied, the submission will be withdrawn, and a new form must be submitted
- Please submit ALL your potential transfer credit requests on the same day, then email lpsonline@sas.upenn.edu to trigger the review process. Type “BAAS Transfer Credit” in the subject line. If your approved submissions exceed the maximum allowable transfer credit, an advisor will assist in identifying and posting those most strategic for satisfying degree requirements and expediting progress to degree.
- Make sure LPS has official transcripts from all previous institutions; if you submitted official transcripts from your most recent institution while courses were in progress, submit a final official transcript once all grades are listed
- Select VIEW MY SUBMITTED REQUESTS to review your submissions or to check their review status. You can open each individual submission to read any notes.
- Click on ?BAAS HELP for XCAT instructions, or click on the blue ? icon
- If you have questions, email lpsonline@sas.upenn.edu and type “BAAS Transfer Credit” in the subject line. Be sure to provide your FIRST NAME, LAST NAME, and Penn ID number. If you have a chosen concentration area, please include it in your email.
The Penn LPS Online BAAS Team
