Undergraduate Transfer Credit Policy
Last revised 4/19/2019
University of the Pacific accepts units from all regionally accredited colleges and universities in the United States. Please read carefully the rules governing transfer credit acceptance at Pacific
The evaluation and award of university transfer credit for coursework will be based on official college transcripts. To be eligible for evaluation the coursework must appear on an official transcript from the institution that offered the coursework and initially confirmed the credit in question.
The evaluation and award of testing exams will be based on official score reports. To be eligible for evaluation test scores must appear on an official transcript from the testing center that offered the test and initially confirmed the score in question.
Awarding criteria may change from year to year. New students will be granted credit based on the criteria in effect during the catalog year the student enters the university. Current students will be granted credit based on the criteria in effect the term they take the course.
Pacific's ROAR (Roam Online Articulation Reports) has been designed to show how credits from other institutions and approved testing programs will transfer to Pacific. ROAR is available to view on the Office of the Registrar's home page as well as the Office of Admissions' home page. Before current Pacific students register for a course at another institution they should first receive approval via a Transfer Course Approval Request form (TCAR) that can be found under Frequently Used Forms on the Office of the Registrar's website. New students do not need to submit TCAR's; please speak with an Admission Transfer Counselor.
Transferable Units
University of The Pacific allows students to transfer coursework from other colleges and universities, counting toward a Pacific degree.
UNIT LIMITS: Units are granted in chronological order of when courses were taken, oldest courses first.
2 Year Institutions: Once 70 units are accumulated from all schools including Pacific and approved testing programs, additional community college courses will satisfy course content requirements only and will not apply to the minimum units required for graduation.
4 Year Institutions: Once a student has reached 40 units fewer than what is required for his/her degree, only 8 more units will be accepted from a four-year institution. The only exception to this rule is for students studying for one or more terms in an approved education abroad program.
Additional community college or four-year institution courses will satisfy content requirements only and will not apply to the total units required for graduation. Satisfaction of content requirements means that the Pacific requirement will be met upon successful completion of the transfer course even though units will not transfer.
Note: Course content is the satisfaction of a Pacific requirement without the transfer of units. Courses transferred with course content only do not need to be repeated since they may fulfill a requirement.
CONTENT OF COURSES: In interpreting transfer credit, University of the Pacific generally accepts comparable courses which are of the same quality as courses offered on this campus. Generally, courses completed at four-year accredited colleges and universities will transfer.
QUARTER SYSTEM CONVERSION: Courses completed in a quarter hour system will be converted to semester hours, therefore reducing the total hours accepted by one-third (hours, credits, units). The minimum units required fulfilling a Pacific course and/or GE credit transferred from a quarter school is 2.668. The minimum units required fulfilling a Pacific course and/or GE transferred from a semester school is 3.0.
Transferable Grades
Beginning Fall '06 a grade of "C" or above will transfer to Pacific. No units will be awarded and no degree requirements will be fulfilled for courses that do not meet this minimum. These courses will not satisfy any degree requirements.
Only units are transferable; grades are not transferred nor are they calculated into the Pacific cumulative or major GPA. For admissions purposes only, your transfer GPA will be calculated using all grades. Note: courses are accepted in chronological order, oldest courses first.
The Grade Point Average (GPA) that is calculated for graduation purposes consists of all grades earned at Pacific. Neither external credit nor transfer credit will be used in this calculation or appear on the Pacific transcript.
Audits also fall under this category. University transfer credit is not awarded for coursework that was only audited at the originating institution; these courses are not calculated into the admission or graduation GPA.
You may only receive credit once for a course taken. If a course is transferred and then repeated at Pacific only the units for the transfer course will be awarded. The Pacific course will bear no units or GPA value. If a course is taken at Pacific and then repeated at a transfer institution only the units and grade for the Pacific course will count. A GPA thus cannot be improved by taking courses outside of Pacific.
Acceptable Accreditations
Pacific accepts transfer credit only from regionally accredited colleges and universities. The following are the accrediting bodies recognized:
- Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)
- Northwestern Association of Schools and Colleges
- Southern Association of Schools and Colleges
- New England Association of Schools and Colleges
- Middle States Association of College and School Commission on Higher Education
- North Central Association of Schools and Colleges (Dissolved as of Fall 2014)
- Higher Learning Commision (HLC)
We reserve the right to request additional information about coursework including: Course descriptions, syllabi and catalogs.
General Education
For California residents, it is recommended that either the CSU Breadth or UC (IGETC) General Education programs are followed in order for your General Education courses to count for Pacific's General Education requirements, excluding PACS 003: Pacific Seminar 3. However, a General Education program which is specifically designed to simply earn an Associate's degree will not in itself necessarily meet our General Education requirements. The degrees will have courses articulated on a course by course basis. Students admitted to the College of Pacific with sophomore standing (28 units or more) are waived from the foreign language requirement.
Pacific currently has identified general education equivalencies with many colleges and universities. To view a list of schools and current articulations please use our online articulation agreement database (ROAR).
Transfer Credit Limitations
Pacific does not recognize non-collegiate level courses that are clearly intended to be a review of secondary material which schools often designate as remedial or developmental. (i.e. Reading, Intro to Writing, Elementary Algebra) However, you may receive credit for College Writing (WRIT 021) and Intermediate Algebra (MATH 005) courses if you were granted credit at the originating institution. See ROAR
Included in the category above are selected "orientation" and "skill building" courses (e.g. navigation, speed reading, food preparation, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, guidance, personal development, intro to college, etc.)
Pacific does not recognize or grant credit for courses in areas which differ significantly from those offered at Pacific or courses that are technical or vocational in nature (e.g. office skills, electronics, apprenticeship programs, fashion designing, forestry, dental assisting, medical assisting, etc).
Courses such as practicums, internships, independent studies, field work, special topics, and work experience are initially articulated as TRAN PEND (Transfer Pending) with 0 units. These courses must have a course syllabus and any supporting materials for further review and a final decision. If deemed transferable you may be awarded units. These cases are handled on a case by case basis. It is the student's responsibility to submit this information.
Religious studies courses taught from a sociological or historical aspect are generally acceptable. Pacific does not recognize theology courses or those taught from a dogmatic or doctrinal perspective.
Extension credit may be transferred if the course is sponsored by an academic department of a regionally accredited university, is offered for resident credit and applies to that institution regular degree program. Credit for such is limited to a maximum of 20 units, including Pacific extension courses.
Pacific will accept up to 8 units of Activity courses, including THEA (Theatre 005) Front stage and Backstage courses. In these 8 units, 2 units of each activity are allowed. After the 8 unit limit is reached any other activity courses will be treated as excess and no further units will be awarded. Sports Theory courses do not fall under this limitation.
High School College Level Coursework
Students who have completed college level coursework while in high school will be awarded up to 70 units total. They should follow the same admission procedures for students entering directly from high school, plus submit an official community college transcript. These transfer courses will follow the same transfer guidelines outlined in this policy.
Evaluation of Military Coursework
Credit recommended in the lower division baccalaureate/associate degree category will be allowed in appropriate areas providing that the coursework was completed prior to reaching 70 transferable units from other institutions-it will be treated in the same manner as coursework from a community institution.
Credit recommended in the upper division baccalaureate category will be accepted for either course content or course credit depending on unit limit restrictions.
A maximum of two units in courses such as drill and marksmanship taken as part of an ROTC program at an accredited college are accepted as ACTY (activity) courses. Fifteen additional units of ROTC or military science courses will be accepted if taken from an accredited college.
Official documentation of completion of a military course will be required before giving credit for military course work. Documents that can be used are: ACE SMART or AARTS transcripts.
Lower division military coursework will be treated as community college coursework, Upper division military coursework will be treated as 4 year institution coursework. ACE recommendations will be referred to for articulation purposes.
Course Placement
Some schools and programs of study at Pacific may require a placement test regardless of prior coursework. Failure to pass a placement test will result in remediation in that area of study. Pacific will not recognize placement tests from other colleges and universities.
International Coursework Credit Evaluation
Students who attended schools outside of the United States and wish to attend University of the Pacific must go through a four step process:
- Transcript Evaluation - International students who attended schools outside of the United States must submit an evaluation of academic records, and this evaluation must be based on official transcripts by approved agencies.
- Translating Transcripts - Transcripts that are not in English must be accompanied by an official English translation.
- Submitting Official Transcripts - Submit all official transcripts from all the schools you have previously attended (secondary, post-secondary, college, university, etc.) showing the work you have completed to date.
- Submitting Translated Course Descriptions - Students who attended universities outside of the United States must also submit course descriptions of their completed university work.
Click here for details on the International Coursework Credit Evaluation.
Testing Credit Limitations
Students may earn up to 28 semester units through university recognized testing and advanced credit programs. Several contexts exist for the granting of lower division Pacific credit for coursework completed prior to admission to this university, e.g. Advanced Placement, CLEP subject examinations, International Baccalaureate, and the DANTES programs. In each case the knowledge was gained prior to matriculation at Pacific and was tested through a standardized examination. Testing credits are not considered credits in residence and are subject to maximum transfer credit restrictions. In addition, since they are undergraduate transfer credits, they cannot contribute to the 54 graded credits needed for honors at graduation. These credits will only be granted when total transfer credit is below 70. All other studies in these categories are considered to be at the lower division level and therefore fall within the 70 credit community college limitation.
AP - Advance Placement examination results scored 4 and above are normally acceptable and credit and/or content is granted.
CLEP & DANTES - Credit may be granted as a result of passing scores in the College Level Examination Program subject examinations and DANTES.
IB - International Baccalaureate Higher Level examination results scored 5, 6, or 7 are normally acceptable; credit and/or content is granted.
Credit by Exam - Pacific will honor courses that are listed as Credit by Exam on official transcripts from another institution. The course will be treated as any other transfer course and follow the same evaluation process.
