Transferring Credit From Non-Regionally Accredited Schools

Statement of Policy

Excelsior College students may file an appeal to use degree-level work completed at non-regionally accredited institutions prior to their enrollment toward their degree programs at Excelsior College. Such a request will prompt a faculty review of the course work. Prospective students will be charged a nonrefundable fee for the service. Courses completed at non-regionally accredited institutions after a student has enrolled in Excelsior College will not be applied to degree requirements; thus, course approval will not be considered.

In order for credit from non-regionally accredited institutions to be considered, the following criteria must be met:

  1. The credits earned must be from a degree-granting institution.
  2. The institution or its program(s) offering the courses for which the student is seeking credit must have been accredited at the time of the student's attendance by an accrediting body listed in the section titled "Recognized Accrediting Organizations"  in the publication entitled Accredited Institutions of Postsecondary Education, published by the American Council on Education, Washington, DC. Credits completed during candidacy status will not be acceptable toward degree requirements considered.
  3. Up to 25 percent of the number of credits required for the degree may be applied upon review and approval of the faculty. For example, 15 credits could be approved for students enrolled in a 60-credit associate degree program. Note: Because not all courses are three credits, some flexibility is allowed in approving credit. For example, a prospective associate degree student who presents two 4-credit courses and three 3-credit courses would be granted 17 rather than 14 credits.
  4. Only courses that meet the degree requirements of the program in which the student is enrolled (or plans to enroll in) will be considered.
  5. For undergraduate programs, only courses for which a grade of C or above has been earned will be reviewed. For graduate programs, only courses for which a grade of B or above has been earned will be considered. P grades will also be considered as long as documentation has been provided indicating that the P is equivalent to a grade of C or above in undergraduate courses or B or above in graduate courses.
  6. Acceptance of credit will be determined by the faculty on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration degree requirements, level of the coursework being reviewed, and the accreditation status of the credit-granting institution. The exception is that courses approved for one student through this process may be subsequently applied to the records of other students as appropriate (i.e., provided that each course meets degree requirements and has the course number, course title, content description, and number of credits as the previously approved course). As for all courses from non-regionally accredited institutions, this will only apply to courses taken prior to a student's enrollment in Excelsior College.
  7. Credits will only be accepted from institutions that are operating at the time of the review. Credits from institutions that have closed will not be considered because it may be impossible to obtain the necessary documentation.
  8. Restrictions on acceptance of credit from institutions that are not regionally accredited are listed below:
    • Associate in Applied Science in Nursing (no core courses/professional or other requirements specified by Excelsior College faculty will transfer)
    • Associate in Science in Nursing (no core courses/professional or other requirements specified by Excelsior College faculty will transfer)
    • Bachelor of Science in Nursing (no core courses/professional or other requirements specified by Excelsior College faculty will transfer)
    • Master of Science in Nursing (no core courses/professional or other requirements specified by Excelsior College faculty will transfer)
    • The undergraduate component of the RN to MS in nursing (no core courses/professional or other requirements specified by the faculty from Excelsior College will transfer)
    • Bachelor of Science - Electrical Engineering Technology (in addition to technology component core and elective courses, degree-specific requirements include: physics I-II, physics lab, calculus I-II, differential equations, and ethics)
    • Bachelor of Science - Nuclear Engineering Technology (in addition to technology component core and elective courses, degree-specific requirements include: chemistry, chemistry lab, physics I-II, physics lab, atomic physics, nuclear physics, thermodynamics, calculus I-II, and ethics)
    • Bachelor of Science - Information Technology (in addition to technology component core and elective courses, degree-specific requirements include: ethics, discrete math, and an additional math course from the list in the catalog)
    • Bachelor of Science - General Business and all concentrations (in addition to business component core, concentration, and elective courses, degree-specific requirements include: ethics, macroeconomics, microeconomics, precalculus, and statistics)
    • Dual degree program, Bachelor of Science in Health Care Management/MBA - five foundation courses supporting the MBA (Business Ethics, Quantitative Analysis, Organizational Behavior and Theory in Health Care, Advanced Marketing, and Finance)
    • Dual degree program, Bachelor of Science in Business/MBA - five foundation courses supporting the MBA (Business Ethics, Quantitative Analysis, Organizational Behavior and Marketing, and Finance in addition to business component core, concentration, and elective courses, degree-specific requirements include: ethics, macroeconomics, microeconomics, precalculus, and statistics
    • Dual degree program, Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering Technology/MBA - five foundation courses supporting the MBA (Business Ethics, Quantitative Analysis, Organizational Behavior and Marketing, and Finance, in addition to technology component core and elective courses, degree-specific requirements include: chemistry, chemistry lab, physics I-II, physics lab, atomic physics, nuclear physics, thermodynamics, calculus I-II, and ethics
    • Master of Science in Cybersecurity (no core courses/professional or other requirements specified by Excelsior College faculty will transfer)
    • Bachelor of Science in Accounting - NYS CPA Track (in addition to business component core, concentration, and elective courses, degree-specific requirements include: ethics, macroeconomics, microeconomics, precalculus, and statistics)

Excelsior College reserves the right to accept or deny credit from any specific institution or program.

Note: Students who have college-level credit from any degree granting institution accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) that also has been approved and recommended by the American Council on Education's (ACE) College Credit Recommendation Service will be allowed to have the credit applied using the Recognition of Accredited Institutions policy in which no fee is assessed. However, if the student wishes to appeal using the Transferring Credit from Non-regionally Accredited Schools policy because there is a potential to receive more credit, and the DETC institution meets the criteria of this policy, then the student has the option of appealing using the Transferring Credit from Non-regionally Accredited Schools policy in which a fee is assessed in the case of prospective students and pending applicants.