Undergraduate Transfer Credit
All bona fide college level courses, appropriate to the program to be pursued, may be applied toward National Louis University’s undergraduate degree programs if the coursework meets the following criteria:
- The courses are normally applicable to a baccalaureate program
- The courses were taken at an accredited institution (note: Education Programs accept only credit from schools accredited by one of the following agencies; Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC), Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), Higher Learning Commission (HLC), New England Commission of Higher Education
(NECHE), Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC), Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), with a minimum grade of "C" or better)
- The student received a grade of “C” (GPA of 2.0/4.0) or better (Note: students who graduated with an overall GPA of 2.0 or better from A.A. or A.S. degree at an IAI approved institution may be exempt from this requirement, subject to each NLU program rules. This exception may also apply to other associate’s degrees that are part of specific Articulation Agreements).
- Note: The way in which credit may be applied toward the degree is at the discretion of the University. The transfer of NLU credit is subject to the policies and discretion of the receiving institution.
Evaluation of transfer coursework toward specific degree program requirements is completed by the Office of the Registrar in consultation with the academic departments at the time of admission. Admitted students should work with their academic advisors in completing their degree plans. All credit considered of appropriate level, content and applicability to the degree program being pursued may be accepted for transfer according to established admissions standards.
The following restrictions apply:
- Only up to three quarter hours of physical education credit may be accepted
- Up to 60 quarter hours of credit for prior learning may be accepted by select undergraduate programs, subject to specific program requirements
- Up to 60 quarter hours of technical credit may be accepted by the Applied Behavioral Science, Health Care Leadership, and Management programs only
- Students planning to take a mathematics course at another institution must receive written approval from their academic advisors before enrolling to ensure the course will be accepted for transfer credit
- Credit below college level cannot be accepted
- In addition to the above requirements Kendall College of Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management has its own transfer credit restrictions
- There may be additional limits to the acceptance of different kinds of credit according to the specific degree program
Students whose academic work was not in the United States must follow requirements outlined in Foreign Credit section.
Credit may also be granted for credit recommendations made by the American Council on Education. This includes the Council’s military evaluations program and the National College Credit Recommendation Service.
Community college students who plan to complete their bachelor’s degrees at NLU can use the Transfer Articulation Guide (TAG) to learn how their credit will transfer to NLU programs. Transfer students, including students matriculating from colleges that are not available on the drop-down menu in TAG are encouraged to use Transfer Equivalency Self-Service tool to view how their credit is transferred toward specific NLU program. For additional questions, students should contact their Enrollment Specialist at enrollment@nl.edu.
Per the University Undergraduate Residency Policy Requirement, a minimum of 60 QH must be taken at NLU, including the last 45 QH taken for the degree.