Policies

TRANSFER CREDITS Students who have successfully undertaken graduate studies at a school accredited by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) prior to their admission to Union Theological Seminary may request a transfer of credit(s) to be applied toward the credit requirements for the Union Master of Divinity Master of Arts in Religion, or Master of Arts in Social Justice degrees. Transfer of previously earned credit is not accepted for the Master of Professional Studies, Master of Sacred Theology, Doctor of Ministry, or Doctor of Philosophy degrees, nor for advanced certificate programs. Normally, requests for transfer of credit are determined after admission to the Seminary, before registration for the first semester. The Dean or Associate Dean has sole discretion to authorize and allocate previously earned graduate theological school credits in accordance with the following requirements and limitations: 1) Transferred credits must be relevant to the student’s degree program at Union. 2) Transfer credit is generally applied to required courses only if course syllabi or other course materials demonstrate that the course at the previous school was similar in level, scope, and approach to Union’s required courses. 3) A maximum of 45% of credits required for the Union Master of Divinity (35 credits), Master of Arts in Religion (23 credits), or Master of Arts in Social Justice (16 credits) degrees may be considered for transfer. 5) Courses taken more than seven years prior to the student’s admission to Union are ineligible for transfer of credit. 6) Credits that were applied to a completed degree are not eligible for transfer. The Dean or Associate Dean determines credit equivalencies between Union courses and courses earned in another school and determines how many, if any, credits earned in a particular course at another theological school may be transferred and applied to the Union degree.

During a transfer credit review the Dean or Associate Dean will request supporting documentation demonstrating that the courses for which credit transfer is requested meet the requirements listed above. Therefore, field distribution requirements may not be fulfilled by transfer credits alone.

Transfer credits accepted from other institutions are included in pace calculations and counted as both attempted and completed.

Students may not substitute courses taken at other schools for courses requisite to fulfillment of the field distribution requirements of the student’s Union degree. D. Union students who wish to apply toward their Union degree requirements credits for courses previously taken at another school should refer to the transfer credit review policy. C. Academic credit for authorized courses at partner schools will be recognized by Union without a formal credit transfer request and will be applied toward Union degree requirements upon receipt of an official transcript from the partner school, provided the student earns a minimum grade of B (or equivalent). D. Upon the completion of an authorized course taken concurrently in a non-partner school, Union students who have earned a minimum grade of “B” may apply for a transfer of credit(s) to be applied toward their Union degree. The transfer credit application must be submitted no later than 90 days after the student has received the grade, and 30