Transferring Credits

Jump to Section

New incoming students can transfer up to 60 college-level credits to Earlham, which includes transfer credit and advanced credits earned through dual enrollment programs or awarded on the basis of scores earned on the Advanced Placement (AP) test, International Baccalaureate (IB), and Cambridge International Advanced Levels (A-level) examinations. Every student must complete a minimum of 60 credits at Earlham in order to satisfy the graduation residency requirement at Earlham College.

Note: Grades are not transferable and will not appear on your record or affect your Earlham GPA.

Earlham College will accept transfer credits on a course-by-course basis using the following guidelines:

The coursework falls within the scope of a liberal arts curriculum.
You have received a grade of C or better.
Courses have traditional letter grades (e.g. A, B, C) or have grades (e.g. P, CR) that are certified on the transcript as representing a grade of C or above.
Courses are at the 100-level or above (unless the transcript indicates that the course is not at remedial level).
An official transcript is received by the Office of the Registrar directly from a regionally accredited college or university after the coursework is completed.
Earlham College's unit of credit is the semester unit. Transferred work from a quarter system institution will be converted to semester system units (1 semester unit = 1.5 quarter units).
A course description and syllabus are provided to the Registrar upon request.

The following exceptions should be noted:

Only one semester of pre-calculus mathematics and one semester of introductory English (Composition, Writing, etc.) will be accepted for transfer as elective credits.
First-year seminars, tutorials, independent study coursework, internship credit or prior learning experiences (work experience, trainings, certifications, etc.) do not transfer.

No more than 60 course credits in total may be applied to an Earlham degree from outside sources. This includes dual enrollment credits, transfer credits by enrolled students or any credit by examination other than Earlham-administered exams.

Transfer credits to be applied toward the fulfillment of a program major or minor, or the language requirement must be approved by the appropriate program convener or committee.

Once transfer credits have been posted on the Earlham College transcript, they become a part of the permanent academic record and cannot be removed.

Official transfer credit evaluations will only be completed for students who have been admitted at Earlham College, but the Registrar may complete an unofficial transfer credit evaluation for a prospective student upon request.

Advanced transfer credits (Pre-matriculation)

Students may transfer up to 60 eligible credits completed prior to matriculation at Earlham College. This includes credits earned through dual enrollment programs and credits awarded on the basis of scores earned on the Advanced Placement (AP) test, International Baccalaureate (IB) and Cambridge Advanced Levels (A-level) examinations.

Notes:

If a student subsequently takes a course at Earlham for which transfer credit has previously been awarded, the transfer credit will be removed from the student’s transcript. Students should consult with their academic adviser and/or the Registrar’s Office to decide whether or not to accept transfer credits for AP and IB scores.
AP, IB, and A-level credits may not be used to satisfy any general education requirements and will be transferred as elective credits.
Dual enrollment credits may be applied towards the College general education requirements with the following limitations:
- A student can not fully satisfy any of the four divisional distribution requirements with advanced credits
- Every new first-year student must complete an Earlham Seminar I and II in their first year.
The Language component of the diversity requirement may be waived by the Department of Languages and Cultures upon completion of a language placement test.
Students may seek departmental approval for placement into non-introductory courses.
Earlham College does not accept or award credits for the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) general or subject examinations.

Note for students who matriculated prior to Fall 2023:
Dual credits and credits awarded for AP, IB, and A-level exams may be applied toward the 120-credit degree requirement, but may not be used to satisfy General Education Requirements. A maximum of 30 combined AP/IB/Dual Credits will be awarded

Advanced Placement Program (AP)

Advanced placement is available to students with a score 4 or 5 on the AP exam. In order to receive credit for your AP exam score, you must request the College Board to send your official score report to Earlham. The CEEB code for Earlham is 1195.

A maximum of 60 combined AP/IB/A-Level/Dual Credits may be awarded.
AP credits may not be used to satisfy any general education requirements and will be transferred as elective credits.
All incoming students with foreign language experience must take the Earlham Language Assessment to be correctly placed in or out of language classes, irrespective of AP credits.
Students may seek departmental approval for placement into non-introductory courses.

AP exam	Required score	Credits earned	Earlham course equivalent
2-D Art and Design	4, 5	3	Elective
3-D Art and Design	4, 5	3	Elective
Art History	4 5	3 6	Elective
Biology	4 5	3 6	Elective
Calculus AB *	4, 5	3	Elective
Calculus BC *	4, 5	6	MATH 180
Calculus BC: AB Subscore *	4, 5	3	Elective
Chemistry	4 5	3 6	CHEM 111
Chinese Language and Culture	4 5	3 6	Elective
Comparative Government and Politics	4, 5	3	Elective
Computer Science A	4 5	3 6	Consult Department Convener
Computer Science Principle	4, 5	3	Elective
Drawing	4, 5	3	Elective
English Language and Composition	4 5	3 6	Elective
English Literature and Composition	4 5	3 6	Elective
Environmental Science	4, 5	3	Consult Department Convener
European History	4 5	3 6	Elective
French Language and Culture	4 5	3 6	Elective
German Language and Culture	4 5	3 6	Elective
Human Geography	4, 5	3	Elective
Italian Language and Culture	4 5	3 6	Elective
Japanese Language and Culture	4 5	3 6	Elective
Latin	4 5	3 6	Elective
Macroeconomics	4, 5	3	Elective
Microeconomics	4, 5	3	Elective
Music Theory	4 5	3 6	Consult Department Convener
Physics 1: Algebra-Based Physics 2: Algebra-Based	4, 5 4, 5	3 3	Elective
Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism	4, 5	3	Consult Department Convener
Physics C: Mechanics	4, 5	3	Consult Department Convener
Precalculus	4, 5	3	Elective
Psychology	4, 5	3	PSYC 115 or 116
Spanish Language and Culture	4 5	3 6	Elective
Spanish Literature and Culture	4 5	3 6	Elective
Statistics	4, 5	3	Elective
United States Government and Politics	4, 5	3	Elective
United States History	4 5	3 6	Elective
World History: Modern	4 5	3 6	Elective

* If a student earns credits for the BC exam, the AB sub-score credits are not awarded. A maximum of six credits will be awarded for all AP Calculus scores.

International Baccalaureate (IB)

Students who receive scores of 5, 6 or 7 on higher-level subject examinations of the International Baccalaureate (HL IB) may receive a range of credits as indicated below.

IB score	Credits
5	3
6	4
7	5

An official copy of the test results must be sent to Earlham’s registrar for evaluation of credits.

No credit is awarded for subsidiary-level courses.
It is not required that students be granted the IB diploma to receive transfer credit for an individual higher-level subject.
IB credits do not fulfill Earlham general education requirements and will be transferred as elective credits.
A maximum of 60 combined AP/IB/A-Level/Dual Credits may be awarded.

Cambridge International Advanced Level Examinations (A-Level)

Students who receive marks of A, B or C on Cambridge International A-Level examinations may receive a range of credits as indicated below. An official A Level exam certificate must be submitted to the Registrar’s Office to receive academic credits.

Credit is awarded for successful scores on A-Level examinations only, not on AS-level (Advanced Subsidiary) examinations.
A mark of A or B earns the student 6 credits.
A mark of C earns the student 3 credits.
A-Level credits do not fulfill Earlham general education requirements and will be transferred as elective credits.
A maximum of 60 combined AP/IB/A-Level/Dual Credits may be awarded.

Transferring Credits - Current Earlham Students

Earlham students who take part of their coursework, whether traditional or online classes, at another accredited college or university with the intent of transferring credit to Earlham should obtain approval in advance from the registrar and from the department(s) concerned. A maximum of 16 credits may be transferred by matriculated students.

Courses submitted for transfer without prior approval are not accepted toward the Earlham degree.

Transferring general education credits

It is the intent of the Earlham Faculty that General Education courses be completed within the Earlham curriculum and that a student cannot meet an entire requirement area with transfer credits.

The importation of General Education credits by transfer students presents special difficulties, thus considerations of this shall be left to the registrar. However, the importation of outside credits by enrolled students should be avoided whenever possible. This may occur only with the prior consent of the Curricular Policy Committee on grounds of strong academic need and may in no case exceed eight semester hours of work. Outside credits also may not count for any of the first-year requirements.