Transfer Credit

Pacific Union College welcomes and encourages all students to contact the Records Office prior to taking courses at other institutions in order to ensure that the credit will be accepted. Contact us at transfer@puc.edu or at 707-965-6676.

Potential transfer students can contact the Admissions Office to begin the transfer process.

A. CREDIT FROM REGIONALLY ACCREDITED U.S. COLLEGES OR UNIVERSITIES

Transferable Credit and Course Equivalencies

Any course completed with a grade of C- or higher is transferrable according to the following guidelines:

• Transfer credit is granted for courses designated by the originating institutions as transferable. Exceptions: Technical/vocational courses, military occupations and courses, and non-military training programs have limited transferability regardless of the designation by the originating institution (see next bullet). Work experience credit and remedial credit are not transferrable regardless of the designation by the originating institution (see Non-Transferable Credit below).
• Limited transfer credit is granted for technical/vocational courses, military occupations and courses, and non-military training programs that are not applicable to the major or general education requirements for programs currently offered at Pacific Union College. A maximum of 16 quarter hours of total credit is accepted for these types of courses.
• Limited transfer credit is granted for courses designated by the originating institution as applying only to associate degrees and thus normally non-transferrable to 4-year colleges. These courses are accepted only if equivalent courses are currently offered at Pacific Union College. The number of credit hours given per course will not exceed the number of credit hours of the Pacific Union College course.
• Pacific Union College normally accepts a maximum of 18 semester hours per semester or 18 quarter hours per quarter for all transfer credit. Any exception to this policy must be approved by the registrar and the appropriate department.
• Pacific Union College operates on the quarter system. When converting semester credit to quarter credit, the following ratio is used: 1 semester hour = 1.5 quarter hours.

Course equivalencies for the transferred courses will be established according to the following guidelines:

• The major department determines course equivalencies in the major through review of course titles, descriptions, and/or syllabi.
• The registrar evaluates all other courses to determine course equivalencies. If titles and/or course descriptions are similar to courses offered at Pacific Union College, the transfer class is counted as equivalent. The registrar consults with the Academic Standards and General Education Committee to determine General Education equivalencies.
• Pacific Union College has articulation agreements with institutions such as Mendocino College, Napa Valley College, Sacramento City College, and Santa Rosa Junior College which outline course equivalencies for these institutions.
• Credit for military occupations and courses and non-military training programs is awarded according to recommendations in the following publications: Guide to the Evaluation of Educational Experiences in the Armed Services published by the American Council on Education, The National Guide to Educational Credit for Training Programs published by the American Council on Education, and College Credit Recommendations, The Directory of The National Program on Noncollegiate Sponsored Instruction published by the Board of Regents, New York University.
• Upper-division credit is not allowed for junior college courses or for courses numbered as lower-division credit at another senior college or university. 
• If a lower division course has the same content as an upper division course at Pacific Union College, the credit is counted as lower division, but at the major department's discretion, the course may fulfill an upper division requirement in the major. While a department may change the upper division hours in the major for that student, the student must meet the total upper division hours of 60 for the degree.
• When evaluating course equivalencies, the college reserves the right to require repetition of courses that have become outdated.
• The College English sequence (ENGL 101-102) can only be fulfilled by equivalent English courses taken at institutions where all instruction is in English. 

IGETC

The Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) is a series of courses offered in the California community colleges for students who plan to transfer to baccalaureate-level institutions. PUC accepts the completed IGETC certificate as meeting a significant portion of the baccalaureate GE package. 

There are two options for the IGETC: the CSU option and the UC option.

• The CSU option (55.5 quarter hours) satisfies all requirements for areas I, III, IV, and V (51-56 quarter hours) in the PUC GE package.
• The UC option (51 quarter hours) satisfies all requirements for areas I.A, I.C, III, IV, and V (48-53 quarter hours) in the PUC GE package. Students will still need to meet requirement I.B: Oral Communication (3 quarter hours). 

Students who take the IGETC will still need to meet the following requirements for the PUC GE package:

• II: Religion (6-15 quarter hours)
• VI: Health & Fitness (3-6 quarter hours)
• VII: Practical and Applied Arts (4 quarter hours)
• VIII: Foreign Language (12-24 quarter hours) - Bachelor of Arts students only

Completion of the IGETC must be certified by a community college counselor and submitted to Pacific Union College with the student's final transcript prior to the first term of enrollment.

Non-Transferable Credit

A course is not transferrable if it is:

• Completed with a grade of D+ or lower.
• Equivalent to a remedial course at Pacific Union College or is designated by the originating institution as developmental, remedial, not transferable, or not intended for associate degree credit. If such a course fulfills a Pacific Union College requirement, e.g. Intermediate Algebra, the requirement is considered met, but no credit is given for the transfer.
• Designated as a work experience course.

B. CREDIT FROM ACCREDITED COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES OUTSIDE OF THE U.S.

Foreign transcripts are evaluated according to the policies in section A. Depending on the originating country and institution, Pacific Union College may request that the student submit an evaluation from one of the following organizations:

• AACRAO's International Education Services (IES)
• World Education Services (WES)
• Education Credential Evaluators (ECE)
• International Education Research Foundation (IERF)

In order for the evaluation to be considered official, it must be submitted directly to the Pacific Union College Records Office from the evaluating organization.

C. CREDIT FROM INSTITUTIONS WITHOUT REGIONAL ACCREDITATION 

The student may request a transcript evaluation after completing 16 quarter hours in residence at Pacific Union College with at least a 2.0 grade-point average. At this time, the transcript from the unaccredited institution will be analyzed on a course-by-course basis with consideration to the guidelines presented in section A. Credit may be granted for those courses that appropriately apply to the program at Pacific Union College, but in most instances the student will be asked to validate courses taken at an unaccredited institution by passing challenge examinations before the credit will be granted.