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Transferring Course Credit to WVU

The transfer credit database allows you to see how credit from other institutions will transfer, and how that credit will apply to your degree at WVU. Whether you are thinking about applying, or have already been accepted, the system is designed to make the transfer process easier and more transparent. Current WVU students who are seeking to take courses during summer sessions elsewhere should consult their academic adviser.

In all cases, the application of transfer credit toward completion of a bachelor’s degree is determined by the school or college upon enrollment. The student's academic department will determine which credits will be used to meet degree requirements.

Courses accepted by WVU

WVU accepts all “college-level courses” from “accepted regionally accredited institutions.” Grades and credits are transferable for college-level courses from regionally accredited U.S. institutions. 

Credit hours do not change when transferred to WVU. For example, if you earned 3 credit hours in a Computer Science course at your institution and the WVU equivalent course is 4 credit hours, you will only receive 3 transfer credit hours. However, course credits taken at institutions that are on the quarter system will be adjusted to fit the semester system at WVU.

How courses transfer

There are two ways that courses transfer to WVU. When a course at your previous institution matches a WVU course, we assign that course a WVU equivalent course number. For example, if Sociology 100, Introduction to Sociology, at your previous institution is equivalent to Sociology 101, Introduction to Sociology, at WVU, the course will be added to your WVU transcript as Sociology 101.

Depending on how a course has been evaluated, the subject code for the course (e.g., BIOL for Biology) may be changed to better align with WVU course offerings. For example, a course on plant structures and anatomy that was considered a biology course at your previous institution may be translated to a PLSC (Plant Science) on your WVU transcript.

Courses that do not have a direct equivalent, but are accepted by WVU, will be marked as accepted transfer courses. For instance, a 100 level History course on Russian politics that does not have an equivalent at WVU, may be translated to HIST 1TC, where the ‘1’ indicates the level at which it was taught, and ‘TC’ represents “transfer credit.”

Using transfer credits toward your degree

Your adviser and academic college or school will determine how transfer courses that do not have a direct WVU equivalent can be applied to your degree requirements. In some cases, transfer courses will count only as general WVU credit rather than towards a specific degree requirements.

Taking courses elsewhere

If you are a current WVU student who wants to take credits at another regionally-accredited institution, the first step is to see your academic adviser to get permission to begin the process. Once you know what courses you want to take, you and your adviser can access the transfer credit database to determine the available transient credit courses. Any courses not found in this database, may be requested to be added via the Transfer Equivalency Review Request (TERR). For more details, see the Transient Credit Approval Process.

Courses will not be accepted without an approved transient credit form. Courses taken at other institutions without proper approval may not transfer or fulfill a degree requirement.

Using the Transfer Equivalency System

The WVU  Transfer Equivalency Self Service (TESS) system is designed to help potential WVU students identify course equivalency information for courses from other institutions. TESS also allows students to see how their translated coursework is applied in their desired degree program. 

Steps for using TESS

  1. Select “Continue without signing in,” “Have an account? Log in” or “Create an account.” Only students who create an account will be able to save their work for future use. Continuing without signing in is recommended only for one-time use of the system.
  2. You will be prompted to answer several questions regarding your intended major. These responses are used to prepare the system to properly sort your courses and determine your progress towards degree completion.
    1. The second question asks you for your intended program. The answers for the subsequent questions will then automatically populate based on your chosen program.
    2. If you have any questions regarding your potential major, you can consult the WVU Catalog, or contact your admission counselor for assistance.
  3. Once you have determined your desired degree program, you will begin to enter classes or exam credit you will be transferring to WVU.
    1. To translate coursework, click on the ‘Class’ button. 
      1. Select the institution at which the course was taken by utilizing the ‘search’ tool, or via the alphabetically listed institutions.
      2. Select a course to translate by utilizing the ‘search’ tool, or via the alphabetically listed courses.
      3. Fill out the identifying information for that course.
      4. If you are transferring multiple courses from the same institution, check the box “Add another class from this school” located above the green “Proceed” button.
      5. Click the large “Proceed” button.
    2. The course will then appear in the column on the right side of the screen under the “My Transfer Work” heading.
    3. To translate exams (AP, IB, or CLEP) into WVU credit, click on the ‘Exam’ button and input the requested information regarding your exam(s) via the drop-down menus.
    4. After all desired coursework and/or exam information is added, either click the “Results” tab, or the “I’m all done!” button. TESS will then process your coursework information and translate the evaluated credit into a DegreeWorks audit for your desired major.
      1. At the bottom of the audit, there will be a detailed translation of your course credit. If any of your courses are translated to NOEQ 100, it may be due to one of several reasons:
        1. There may be a discrepancy between the number of credits hours entered for the course, and the number of credit hours listed within the WVU database.
          1. Simply return to the info page for the particular course and confirm that the correct number of credit hours was entered.
        2. The year in which the course was taken may precede the year in which the equivalency begins within the WVU database.
          1. Depending on the type of institution, WVU retains an equivalency for only a set amount of time in order to guarantee that equivalencies are up to date.
          2. If this is the case, you will simply need to request that the course be re-evaluated via TERR.
        3. If you believe you are receiving this translation for another reason, or in error, please notify transfercredit@mail.wvu.edu.
  4. If an institution or course is not yet in the system, it may need to be evaluated and added to the WVU database. You can use the TERR system to request evaluation of your course or institution.
    1. If there are more than five courses that require evaluation, students should submit an unofficial transcript to transfercredit@mail.wvu.edu. An initial review will be made, and you will be notified of the results.
View instructions with screenshots.

Once you are admitted, your academic adviser will determine how your courses, including those that lack direct equivalents, will be applied towards completing your degree. 

Questions

Call us at 304-293-2121 or email us at  transfer@mail.wvu.edu.

Glossary of Terms

College-Level Courses – Courses that are NOT developmental, remedial or technical in nature. For example, Developmental Math, Remedial English and Word Processing are not college-level courses. Grades and credits are transferable for college-level courses from accredited U.S. institutions.

Accepted Accredited Institutions –  WVU recognizes regionally accredited institutions. If you have a question about whether we accept credit from an institution, call us at 304-293-2121 or email transfer@mail.wvu.edu.

West Virginia Board of Trustees Institutions – All public institutions of higher education in West Virginia.

Exact Equivalents – Courses from other institutions that have an exact match at WVU.

Open Credit – Courses from other institutions that don’t have an exact match at WVU. These courses will commonly be translated at WVU with course numbers ending in TC for ‘transfer credit’ (e.g., HIST 1TC). 

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