Energy and Sustainability Policy
Program Office

Transferring Credits from Other Institutions / Majors

Transferring Credits from Other Institutions / Majors

Transferring credits from other universities or other majors within Penn State is just one way to earn credit for prior experience.  We expect and encourage you to transfer in your relevant credits.

Once you are admitted into the ESP program, Admissions will conduct a preliminary review to evaluate how the courses you've successfully transferred into Penn State may count toward ESP degree requirements.Then, an ESP advisor will do a more thorough evaluation of your transferred credits to again evaluate the credits you have already earned towards the ESP program.

How do I know if my credits will transfer?

Penn State offers an online Credit Transfer ToolCourse work successfully completed at other colleges and universities that are recognized by the six regional accrediting associations will be considered for transfer credit. Using the Credit Transfer Tool, you can select the institution and class for which you would like to transfer credit and find out how it transfers to Penn State.  Two important considerations for understanding your results from this tool:

  1. Successful transfer of credits to Penn State does not necessarily mean that they fulfill a specific degree requirement of the ESP Program.  Refer to the Recommended Academic Plan for the degree you are interested in, or contact info@esp.psu.edu for more information.  After you've been accepted into the program, your adviser will work with you to determine how your transferred courses will fit into ESP degree requirements.
     
  2. Don't see your institution or specific class in the tool?  It's possible that the course for which you would like to transfer credit does not appear in the Credit Transfer Tool.  If this is the case, contact info@esp.psu.edu for more information. You may be able to submit a syllabus from the course to have it evaluated for credit. 

Some things to consider about transfer credits:

Credits are awarded based on semester-hours.  If you are transferring credits from a college or university with a different system (quarter hours, units, etc.) then these credits will be converted to semester hours.  Sometimes fractional credits are awarded during the conversion process.  These will typically show up as GMISC (general miscellaneous credits) on your transcript.

  • You may only transfer courses in which a grade of C (2.00) or higher was earned. 
  • Credits transfer, grades do not.  Grades for transferred courses will not influence your Penn State GPA at all. 
  • 36 of the last 60 credits toward ESP must be earned at Penn State.

    For more information about transferring credits from other colleges or universities, visit http://admissions.psu.edu/academics/credit/transfer/