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  3. Pre-Matriculation Credit

Pre-Matriculation Credit

Pre-Matriculation Credit refers to college coursework completed by incoming first-year students while they were in high school.

Information on transfer credit processes for incoming transfer students is available at https://registrar.vanderbilt.edu/transfer-credit/transfer-students.php.  

Information on test credit processes is available for AP, IB, SAT/ACT course placement, and international exams.

Prospective and admitted students can view previously evaluated courses in the Transfer Credit Search Tool in YES. 

Eligibility 

Pre-matriculation credit is subject to the following rules of eligibility:

  1. The course is regularly offered by an accredited two-year or four-year college or university. For domestic schools, the school must be regionally accredited; for international schools, the school must have country-specific accreditation. Courses taught at a high school or taken at a college strictly for high school students do not satisfy this requirement.
  2. The instructor of the course was a regular faculty member of that college or university. High school teachers who are hired as affiliate faculty to teach college courses on a high school campus do not meet this requirement.
  3. The majority of students in the course were duly matriculated college students seeking either an associate’s or a bachelor’s degree.
  4. The minimum grade earned was C- or better.

Please note: In general, dual enrollment programs offered through a student’s high school do not meet the eligibility requirements for pre-matriculation credit.

Requirements

  • In order for a course to be evaluated, it must be listed with a qualifying grade (C- or above) on an official transcript the external institution.
  • Students seeking pre-matriculation credit should submit courses for review prior to the end of the first year of enrollment at Vanderbilt.

Credit Request Process

  • Confirm you meet the eligibility requirements listed above.
  • Confirm that an official transcript with qualifying grades has been received by Vanderbilt. If not, please see information on submitting a transcript. 
  • Submit a transfer credit request for each course via the Transfer Credit application in YES. Requests should include a syllabus or, at minimum, a course catalog description from the external institution.
  • Please see the YES Transfer Credit User Guide for detailed instructions.

Evaluation Process

  • The External Education Team confirms that all credit requests meet the policy requirements for pre-matriculation credit. 
  • The External Education Team  utilizes industry standards and best practices to  provide suggested credit hours for all courses (e.g., conversion from quarter hours to semester hours).
  • The External Education Team evaluates lower-level/general education courses (1000- and 2000-level courses offered by the College of Arts and Science; many 1000-level courses offered by the other undergraduate schools).
  • The External Education Team sends upper-level/more discipline-specific courses to the relevant department at Vanderbilt for review. Departments may require a detailed syllabus. If a syllabus is required and has not been provided, the External Education Team will contact you for additional information.

Evaluation Timeline

  • Credits are evaluated as quickly as possible. Please allow 35 days for the evaluation process.
  • You can monitor the status of your credit evaluations via the Transfer Credit application in YES. Courses are added to the Transfer Credit Search Tool as they are evaluated.

How Transfer Credit Is Applied to the Vanderbilt Record

  • Transfer credits are posted with a mark of T. Grades earned at external institutions are not posted to the Vanderbilt record, nor do those grades count toward the Vanderbilt grade point average.