Policies

CLEP score of 59 in French; 60 in German; or 63 in Spanish

AP score of 3 or above

IB score of 5 or above

Credit Hours Completed* Minimum Cumulative GPA 1.00 - 23.99 1.6 24.00 - 53.99 1.8 54.00 and above 2.0 *Credit Hours Completed includes transfer credit hours transferred in to student’s program of study.

Credit Hours Graded * Minimum Cumulative GPA 1.00 - 23.99 1.6 24.00 - 53.99 1.8 54.00 and above 2.0 *Credit Hours Graded includes transfer credit hours transferred in to student’s program of study.

Applicants who have enrolled in a post-secondary institution after high school graduation will be considered transfer students. Transfer admission to Shenandoah University will be considered based upon the following: Application for admission must be made on the Undergraduate Application for Admission which can be found at www.su.edu/apply . The application must be signed by the applicant. Shenandoah University grants transfer credit based on the policy headed Transfer Credit in the Academic Policies section of this catalog. Transfer students holding an Associate of Arts, Associate of Sciences, Associate of Arts and Sciences, or Associate of Arts and Teaching degree from a regionally accredited institution will be considered to have fulfilled the Shenandoah University general education requirement.

Advanced Standing Shenandoah University accepts several alternative options that provide for credit toward a degree. Such credits are also treated as transfer work. No grades are awarded for advanced standing credit. Advanced Placement (AP) Shenandoah University participates in the Advanced Placement Program of the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB). Students must submit official copies of the test results to the Office of Advising in order to earn the credits and course equivalencies listed below.

This coursework may be qualified to count as prior learning credits.

See “ Transfer Credit ” in the Academic Policies section of the catalog.

Credit by Examination Students may also earn credit through a variety of examinations. A student will not be awarded credit by examination for a course in which they previously received college level credit or for a basic course in an area in which college-level credit has been earned for a more advanced course. College Level Examination Program (CLEP) Challenge Examinations Challenge Examinations, which allow a student to earn credit for a course by passing a comprehensive examination on the content of the course, are available for some courses, subject to the approval of the faculty member responsible for the course, the dean/director of the academic unit in which the course is taught, and the provost. Challenge exams are not given if a comparable CLEP or other approved standardized test is available for the course. Challenge Examinations must be completed before the end of the drop/add period for fall or spring semester. The student must be registered for the course in which the Challenge Examination is being taken, and the course is counted in the student’s workload for purposes of assessing tuition and fees. Grades are awarded in courses completed by Challenge Examination. Students interested in

Credit for Prior Learning Shenandoah University may award credit for prior learning and experience. Individual schools will make decisions regarding requirements for awarded credit. Examples of awarded credit may include: Established certificate programs, (e.g., pilot’s license/FAA, police academy, or similar) JST/military Computer exams Professional Industry Experience in Music, Theatre or Dance Documentation must be provided to the Executive Director of Academic Advising and will be forwarded to the Dean’s office at the appropriate college or school for review.

See “ Transfer Credit ” in the Academic Policies Section of this catalog. Upon high school graduation, if a student enrolls at another college or university before enrolling at Shenandoah University, they will be considered a transfer student, not a first-year undergraduate or first-time student.

Students entering Shenandoah with 15 – 29 transfer credits may replace 3 required Honors general education credits with three Honors credits within their minor or second major. Students entering Shenandoah University with 30 or more transfer credits may replace 6 required Honors general education credits with 6 Honors credits within their minor or second major.

Based on Shenandoah University’s transfer credit policy, once transcripts are obtained, noted and appropriate credit granted, the student and the VA will be notified. Under the Veteran Benefits and Transition Act of 2018 (section 3679 of title 38, United States Code), any covered individual will be permitted to attend classes without penalty for Department of Veteran Affairs non-payment, as long as the covered individual has submitted a Certificate of Eligibility and Enrollment Certification Request form to a School Certifying Official.

Repeats, Pass/Fail, and Transfer Credits Students who have earned a passing grade in a course can only take it one additional time for Title IV aid, where a “D” is considered a passing grade. Once they have earned two grades of “D” or higher, any subsequent enrollment in the course is not eligible for Title IV aid. Withdrawals and drops while in attendance at Shenandoah University will not count towards GPA SAP requirement, however, these may count for pace calculations. Courses that are graded as pass/fail are included in the calculations for pace and GPA if they have a credit-load attached to them. At Shenandoah University there are some courses that share the same name/number, but are not the same course and are required multiple times in the same degree for degree completion. These courses are evaluated based on the number of instances per required completion of the student’s degree, not on the total number of attempts overall. Transfer credits will count towards both courses attempted and completed for pace, but will not be considered for GPA calculations.

Supporting electives come from certified FAA flight training coursework that is qualified to count as prior learning credits.

The transcript is an official record of the student’s academic history, including degree programs, courses taken at Shenandoah, courses accepted for transfer credit, grades, earned credits, GPA, terms of attendance and academic standing.

Transfer Credit Shenandoah University may award transfer credit for successfully completing coursework with a grade of “C-” or better. This includes: Credits from an institution of higher education that has been fully accredited by one of the six regional accrediting agencies, such as the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, or at an institution that is a “Recognized Candidate for Accreditation.” Students who transfer from an institution that is on the quarter system should note that one quarter hour is equal to two-thirds of a semester hour. For example, a student transferring 36 quarter hours of work to Shenandoah would receive 2/3 x 36 or 24 semester hours of credit. Credits for courses taken at foreign tertiary-level institutions, which are chartered and authorized by their respective national governments and that are recognized by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. The amount of credit granted will correspond to that given for comparable Shenandoah University courses. Official documentation of course evaluation of international transcripts must be submitted through a current member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES). See www.naces.org/members.htm Credit for non-collegiate sponsored instruction, such as the armed services, business and industry, health care, or government agencies, recognized by the American Council on Education (ACE) or the National Program on Non-Collegiate Sponsored Instruction. Those submitting armed services instruction are encouraged to review ACE’s “A Guide to the Evaluation of Educational Experiences in the Armed Forces.” Official documentation for such credit must be submitted to the Registrar’s Office, which will make a determination, in consultation with the appropriate dean or director, on the credit to be awarded. Credits for secondary school advanced standing and credit by examination. Such options include Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), and College Level Examination Program (CLEP). Please see below for test score requirements and Shenandoah equivalencies. Official documentation for such credit must be submitted to the Office of Advising. Upon appeal to the Office of the Provost, credits earned at non-accredited institutions or by any means not described above will be considered on the basis of the content of the course and the credentials of the instructor for the course. The appeal must include a copy of the course description, course syllabus and documentation related to the instructor’s academic credentials for each course to be evaluated. In considering such courses for transfer, the official designated by the chief academic officer will consult with the appropriate dean or director. Transfer credit evaluation is completed by the Office of Advising upon receipt of official documentation as specified above. The following procedures guide transfer credit consideration: Shenandoah University requires that a student complete at least 30 credits in residence and at least 30 credits at the 300-level or above. Accordingly, no more than 90 credits total will be accepted for transfer. Courses for which there is a direct Shenandoah University equivalency and/or which apply to general education, the student’s major and/or minor program or general electives will be considered for transfer. Credits from institutions on the quarter-hour system will be converted to semester hours using the formula of one quarter hour equals two-thirds of a semester hour. Courses completed more than ten years ago are subject to case-by-case review which may limit their applicability toward a degree program. Shenandoah University awards credit for the courses transferred, but grades do not transfer nor have any effect on the student’s cumulative grade point average (GPA) at this institution. Those students who wish to transfer credits to Shenandoah University after matriculation are encouraged to complete the “Permission to Study Elsewhere” form to ensure that the completed course will transfer. The above guidelines for initial evaluation apply. Acadeum Shenandoah University is a member of Acadeum, a consortium of accredited colleges and universities participating in an online course sharing platform to enable students to continue to make academic progress toward a degree in a number of ways. Acadeum provides an opportunity for students to regain good academic standing and identify degree completion pathways. Students must seek permission to take Acadeum coursework by working with the Office of Academic Advising by contacting advising@su.edu . Courses taken through Acadeum are regarded as transfer credits and abide by the transfer credit policies as listed in the above section with the exception of the following: Due to the consortial nature of Acadeum, credits earned are transcribed as Shenandoah University coursework and therefore impact a student’s GPA and academic standing. Courses taken through Acadeum will be transcribed as the Shenandoah University course equivalent. Grades will transfer accordingly. It should be noted that as transfer credits,

Transfer Credit Shenandoah University admits transfer students who have been successful in regionally accredited institutions of higher education. Applicants must provide official transcripts from regionally accredited institutions in a timely manner in order for applications to be complete and to be considered for full admission. Transfer credit for nursing courses is evaluated by the nursing faculty. It is the student’s responsibility to request consideration of all transfer credits and to arrange that official transcripts be sent to the Office of Admissions at Shenandoah University in a timely manner. Once students are admitted into the Shenandoah University undergraduate nursing program, all nursing courses with an N prefix must be taken within the School of Nursing. Courses completed prior to admission to Shenandoah University will be evaluated on an individual basis. Science Policy for School of Nursing: a student enrolled in the university or under consideration for admission to the undergraduate nursing program may attempt no more than two science courses a maximum of two times each to be considered for matriculation into the School of Nursing. An attempt is any enrollment in a course that results in completion, withdrawal or an incomplete. Students currently enrolled in the university may repeat one science course originally taken at SU at an outside institution. Quality points for the repeat course will be used to calculate SON required science GPA. Pluses and minuses recorded on the student transcript are not included when calculating the science GPA. Science courses taken more than 10 years prior to matriculation are not considered.

They take course(s) on a part-time basis, many times to transfer credit to a different institution.