Transfer Credits

School of Theology Policy

Students may transfer credits from any graduate theological school accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) or other comparable accrediting agency if transferring from outside of North America. In every instance, course equivalents are determined on an individual basis, by petition, and only when that coursework is demonstrated to be relevant to the course of study being pursued in the School of Theology, as determined by the associate dean of academic affairs, operating on behalf of the faculty. Applicants for transfer must include in their personal statements the reasons they are seeking a transfer, and they must provide a recently issued letter of good standing from their previous institution.

The following guidelines apply to all requests for transfer of credit to the School of Theology:

• Undergraduate credits may not apply toward the fulfillment of any degree program requirement at the School of Theology. However, undergraduate credits can be used to petition for advanced standing in master’s-level introductory courses.
• Courses, when accepted, will carry the credit value equivalent to the number of contact hours the course carried. No courses for which less than a B– was received are acceptable.
• Courses taken wholly online or mostly online will be reviewed for transfer subject to the policies here and the general policy on distance education credits. Distance courses taken to fulfill United Methodist Basic Graduate Theological Studies requirements (BGTS) may not be transferred for STH credit.
• Courses completed more than seven years prior to the intended date of enrollment will not be considered for transfer of credit.
• Transfer credits may not normally fulfill core requirements for the MDiv or MTS degree programs, but they may fulfill distributional electives and free electives:
  • Up to 24 credits for the MDiv degree
  • Up to 18 credits for the MTS degree
  • Up to 12 credits for the MSM degree
  • Up to 6 credits for the STM degree
• For PhD and DMin candidates, no more than one course may normally be transferred from previous work, and then only when the work done in that course is of equivalent academic standing to the degree for which the student is currently a candidate.
• Online courses are not accepted for credit toward the STM or PhD.
• Field/contextual education credits earned previously will be considered for transfer by petition to the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs in consultation with the Codirectors of Contextual Education. Some additional contextual education may be required to fulfill the requirements of the MDiv degree.
• CPE credits may transfer in as free electives if they are from an institution accredited by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE). They may only fulfill Master of Divinity contextual education requirements in the Chaplaincy track except in particular circumstances and by petition to the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and a codirector of contextual education. One unit of CPE transfers in as 6 credits of free elective credits.
• Except under cooperative arrangement, no matriculated student may carry courses concurrently in another institution or degree program.
• Grades from transfer courses taken at external colleges and universities (except coursework undertaken as part of a consortium agreement) will not be included in the student’s grade point average (GPA).
• Applicants for transfer into a degree program are evaluated on the same basis as other applicants. Applicants may also be eligible for consideration for merit awards based on the same criteria as other applicants for admission.