Credit from Other Universities
Rules on Credit from outside Yale
A student may not employ course credits earned at another university to reduce the expected number of terms of enrollment in Yale College. Under the conditions described below, a student may apply as many as two course credits earned at another college or university toward the 36-course-credit requirement for graduation from Yale College. Forms on which to request the award of credit for study that has been completed elsewhere are available at the offices of the residential college deans. Before undertaking such outside study, the student should consult the residential college dean about both the institution to be attended and the course to be taken there. Courses in the Yale Summer Session are not considered outside courses, and there is no limit on the number of such courses that a student may offer toward the requirements of the bachelor's degree; see "Courses in the Yale Summer Session" under the heading "Special Arrangements" in this chapter. Similarly, courses taken in the Yale Program at the Paul Mellon Centre in London, or in the Peking University–Yale University Joint Undergraduate Program in Beijing, are Yale courses and do not count as outside credit.
1. Approval of credit. In order for credit to be given for courses taken elsewhere, all of the following conditions must be met:
(a) The director of undergraduate studies in the subject of a course taken elsewhere must approve the award of credit at Yale for the course.
(b) A student who has studied at an American university, or abroad on a program sponsored by an American university, must provide the office of the residential college dean with an official transcript of the work completed. A student who has enrolled at a foreign university should supply an official transcript if the university issues transcripts; if it does not, then the student must furnish an official certificate of enrollment, showing if possible the course or courses completed.
(c) Students seeking outside credit should be prepared to furnish a copy of the course syllabus, as well as essays and examinations written in the course. In some cases, a letter from the instructor of the course may be required, or the student may be asked to pass an examination on the material of the course. Such information may be particularly necessary in the case of study at a foreign university.
(d) Study undertaken in the United States must be at a four-year accredited institution that grants a bachelor's degree in the arts and sciences. Foreign study must be completed at a university or other approved institution. Credit may be awarded only for work done while a student was officially enrolled at such an institution, and cannot be given for any work completed independently of such formal enrollment.
(e) A grade of A or B is expected; a grade of C is acceptable. Credit cannot be given for a course in which a grade of D was earned. Credit also cannot be given for a mark of Credit on a Credit/D/Fail option, nor for a grade of Pass on a Pass/Fail option, if the student had the choice of taking the course for a letter grade.
(f) In order for credit to be given for a course completed at another university, the course must carry a value of at least three semester credit hours; if the course is taken at an institution on the quarter system, it must carry a value of at least four-and-one-half quarter units.
(g) In order for credit to be given for a course completed at another university, the number of contact hours for the course must equal or exceed the number of contact hours for an equivalent course offered in Yale College during the fall or spring term, and the length of term (from the first to the last day of classes) must be at least four consecutive weeks.
2. Work done while in secondary school. Course credit or distributional credit cannot be given for any university course taken while the student was still enrolled in secondary school. Work done after graduation from secondary school but before matriculation at Yale may be accepted on recommendation from the appropriate director of undergraduate studies.
As a regular exception to this rule, students who earned credits while still enrolled in secondary school as members of the Nondegree Students program in Yale College or as students in the Yale Summer Session may apply such credits toward the requirements of the bachelor's degree.
3. Limit of two course credits. Credit cannot be given for more than two course credits earned at another institution. An exception of one additional course credit may be made only by action of the Committee on Honors and Academic Standing upon the student's petition, normally after the final term of enrollment.
4. Distributional requirements. For the Class of 2008. With the permission of the residential college dean, course credit earned at another university may be applied toward the distributional requirements for the bachelor's degree and the distributional requirement for the first two years whether or not it is counted toward the 36-course-credit requirement for graduation. Credit from outside Yale may not be applied toward the distributional requirements for the freshman year. Note particularly that Yale does not award course credit or distributional credit for courses completed at another college or university before the student graduated from secondary school.
For the Class of 2009 and subsequent classes. With permission, course credit earned at another university may be applied toward the distributional requirements for the bachelor's degree and to those for the sophomore and junior years whether or not it is counted toward the 36-course-credit requirement for graduation; students should consult with the residential college dean to be directed to the appropriate authority for such approval. Credit from outside Yale may not be applied toward the distributional requirements for the freshman year. Note particularly that Yale does not award course credit or distributional credit for courses completed at another college or university before the student graduated from secondary school.
5. The foreign language requirement and courses taken elsewhere. Students who have taken a course in a foreign language at another institution and who wish to offer that course toward fulfillment of the foreign language distributional requirement must pass a foreign language examination administered at Yale by the appropriate director of undergraduate studies or the director of the Center for Language Study.
6. Major requirements. At the discretion of the director of undergraduate studies in a student's major, university work done elsewhere may be counted as fulfilling a requirement of the student's major program. This may be done whether or not a course is credited toward the 36-course-credit requirement.
7. Year or Term Abroad. Students receiving credit for foreign study on a Year or Term Abroad are not eligible to apply additional credit from outside Yale toward the 36-course-credit requirement, but may apply such credit toward the distributional requirements for the bachelor's degree or toward a requirement of the student's major program (see points 4 and 6 above).
8. Transfer students. Students admitted by transfer from another college or university may receive course credit from outside Yale only for work done before matriculation at Yale; transfer students may not receive course credit for any outside courses taken after they have enrolled in Yale College. An exception may under certain circumstances be made in the case of course credits earned by transfer students on a Year or Term Abroad. See "Transfer Students" in this chapter. Transfer students must enroll in Yale College proper for at least four terms, and earn therein at least eighteen course credits.
9. Correspondence courses, internships, and the like. Course credit cannot be given for a course taken by correspondence even if it is sponsored by another university, including accredited four-year institutions granting a bachelor's degree. It also cannot be given for such programs as internships, field studies, workshops, or "distance learning" arrangements, unless such programs include as a component a full, regular, academic course of instruction, and are certified by a transcript from an accredited four-year institution granting a bachelor's degree.
10. Yale transcript. Outside courses may be entered on a student's Yale transcript only if they are applied to the 36-course-credit requirement, the distributional requirements, or the requirements of a major program. Such courses must be entered on the Yale transcript if they are to be applied toward any of these requirements. Except for transcripts of transfer students (on which see "Transfer Students" in this chapter), courses that are applied toward the 36-course-credit requirement are listed by title with indication of the credit units earned, but without grades. Courses that are applied toward the distributional requirements only are listed without grades and with the designation "for distributional credit only." Courses that are applied toward the requirements of a major program only are also listed without grades and with the designation "for credit toward the major only." Once a course has been entered on a student's Yale transcript at the student's request, the entry may not subsequently be removed at the student's request.
11. Acceleration. See "Acceleration Policies" in this chapter.
