Academic Credit

Advanced Placement Credit

Wilson College may accept advanced placement credit for students who earn a score of 4 or 5 on the placement examinations. The registrar’s office will complete an official transfer evaluation on receipt of the advanced placement credit report.

Advanced placement courses are calculated as part of the total number of transfer credits (not to exceed 72 semester hours for a bachelor’s degree or 30 semester hours for an associate degree).

College Level Examination Program

Acceptable-level CLEP scores for the five general exams may be transferred. CLEP scores of an acceptable level for the subject matter examinations may be offered toward the minimum degree requirements by degree candidates.

Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support

Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES) subject standardized test scores of an acceptable level as recommended by the American Council on Education may be counted as equivalent to course credits and minimum degree requirements by degree candidates.

Credit by Examination

Credit will be granted for a grade of C or better. A grade of either credit or no credit (CR or NC) will appear on the student’s transcripts. A student may not apply to earn credit by examination for any courses in which she/he has been enrolled at Wilson College.

No more than 12 semester hours may be earned by credit by examination, with no more than six semester hours earned in any one discipline.

Following are the steps required for students to apply for credit by examination.

• A student seeking credit by examination must consult with the appropriate faculty member to discuss her/his prior learning. At the meeting, the faculty member will determine if a student is eligible to apply for credit by examination.
• The student and the faculty member will complete an application for credit by examination.
• The application, with the nonrefundable fee, must be submitted to the registrar at least two weeks prior to the date of the examination. Following review by the dean, the registrar’s office will notify the faculty member and the student.
• The faculty member is responsible for assessing the work and assigning the grade – not for providing either instruction or instructional materials.
• The faculty member must report the grade to the registrar’s office no later than two weeks from the date of the examination.

Credit for Life Work Experience/General Criteria for Non-Collegiate Learning

Matriculated students who can demonstrate prior learning may apply for exemptions from college requirements and earn academic credit. Their learning may be job-related, due to personal enrichment or derived from study in other educational programs (e.g., those offered by private industry, nonprofit organizations, the U.S. Armed Services, government or non-regionally accredited institutions).

Decided on a case-by-case basis, applications for non-collegiate learning may earn students:

• Exemptions from prerequisites.
• Exemptions from course requirements for the major or the degree.
• Academic credit.

Credit by Portfolio

The procedure for seeking credit by portfolio is as follows:

• A student seeking credit by portfolio will be referred to a faculty member.
• The student will meet with the appropriate faculty member to discuss her/his prior learning. At the meeting, the faculty member will determine if a student is eligible to apply for credit by portfolio.
• The student and the faculty member will complete a credit by portfolio application, which will list specific criteria that the student may meet to earn course credit.
• The application, including the nonrefundable fee, will be forwarded to the registrar’s office. If approved by the dean of the faculty, the student may begin compiling a portfolio that addresses the application criteria.
• The portfolio will document the type of learning done by the student, including evidence of theoretical knowledge, when and where the learning occurred and under whose supervision. Such documentation may include samples of work, annotative bibliographies, certificates earned and the results of interviews with a student’s supervisors. The portfolio will also include a comparison of the prior learning and the course(s) for which credit is to be earned. Course descriptions may be found in the Wilson College catalog and in the college catalogs of other regionally accredited institutions.
• The student will submit the completed portfolio to the faculty member for a narrative evaluation. The faculty member will report the evaluation results to the registrar no later than two weeks from the due date of the portfolio.
• Credit will be granted for a grade of C or better. A grade of either credit or no credit will appear on the student’s transcript.
• The portfolio and its narrative evaluation will be placed in the student’s permanent file in the registrar’s office.

Credit/No Credit

All students may take physical education activity courses on a credit/no credit or letter grade basis.

A student who has completed the sophomore year may take one course (3-4 semester hrs.) on a credit/no credit (CR/NC) basis each semester or January Term. No more than four such courses – in addition to required physical education activity courses taken CR/NC – may be included in the number of courses required for graduation. Courses taken CR/NC must be outside the major area and general education requirements except for internships and physical education activity courses. Independent study courses cannot be taken on a CR/NC basis.

A change from a CR/NC to a graded basis or from a graded to a CR/NC basis will be allowed up to the published date for withdrawal from classes. The change must be approved by the student’s adviser and submitted to the Office of the Registrar.

Except for internships, an instructor will report a letter grade for a student taking a course on a credit/no credit basis. The registrar will record NC (no credit) on the student’s permanent record if the letter grade is an F; otherwise, CR (credit) will be recorded. These course credits will not be included in the calculation of the grade-point average.

International Baccalaureate

Wilson College recognizes the quality of the International Baccalaureate (IB) in the admissions process. In addition, the College awards one credit in each subject area for standard-level examination scores of five or better, except for lab courses, which must be evaluated on an individual basis. The College awards two credits in each subject area for higher-level examination scores of five or better. Credit for a higher-level score of four will be at the discretion of the department. Credit is awarded only on receipt of the official IB transcript. Students may be awarded up to nine credits toward an undergraduate degree at Wilson College.

Limitation on the Number of Courses Transferred Into the Major

In order to ensure that Wilson graduates have taken sufficient work within their major here, the College requires transfer students to complete at least 12 semester hours required within the major at Wilson. The specific courses that are completed must be approved by the department chair.

Limitation on the Number of Courses Allowed to Transfer Toward a Minor

No more than one-half of the course credits that apply to a minor may be transfer credits. These courses will be determined in consultation with the minor area director.