Bringing Transfer Credits to Penn State

Transfer Credit Eligibility

Several requirements must be met for credits from a previous institution to be eligible for transfer to Penn State:

  • You must submit official transcripts showing the credits you earned. Unofficial transcripts are not eligible for consideration.
  • The institution(s) from which you earned the credits must be recognized by a regional higher education accrediting association.
  • The grade(s) you earned must be equivalent to a C or higher.
  • Penn State must have a program or course offering similar to the one(s) you would like to transfer.
  • Courses should be applicable in your intended program of study.

As long as these requirements are met, credits from a previous institution are eligible to be transferred to Penn State no matter how much time has passed since the credits were earned. However, for the credits to be applied to your degree, some degrees may require credits to have been earned within the last 10, or in some cases 5, years.

Penn State’s Evaluation and the Transfer Credit Tool

After you submit transfer credits, they will be reviewed and may require further evaluation, depending on whether the courses have been previously evaluated by Penn State. To find out whether a course from another institution has been previously evaluated by Penn State, you may check the Transfer Credit Tool.

For any transfer courses you submit which are included in the Transfer Credit Tool, evaluations will be listed in your Transfer Credit Report in LionPATH.

Any transfer courses you submit that are not included in the Transfer Credit Tool have not been previously evaluated. These courses will be placed in a pending status and will receive a temporary designation of XFRPEN in your transfer credit report.

Evaluation of Courses that Have Not Been Previously Reviewed by Penn State

Courses that have not previously been reviewed and are not listed in the Transfer Credit Tool can be reviewed by faculty to determine whether they are applicable to your intended degree. If you have one or more transfer courses in pending status, you will be asked to submit syllabi for faculty evaluation.

Send your syllabi in one of the following ways:

  • Email to [email protected]
    • Include your name and Penn State ID number in the subject line.
    • Indicate the institution where course work was taken.
    • Attach each syllabus as a separate .pdf or Microsoft Word file.
    • Attach no more than four syllabi per email.
    • Do not send syllabi for multiple institutions in the same email.
    • You will receive an automatic reply email when your syllabi are received.
  • Fax to 814-863-7590
  • Mail to:

Penn State Undergraduate Admissions     
201 Shields Bldg. 
University Park, PA 16802  

Faculty evaluations may take up to six weeks to complete. The best way to check the status of transfer credit evaluations is to monitor your Transfer Credit Report in LionPATH.  

There is no deadline for submitting transcripts; however, transcripts submitted later may result in additional processing fees.

Obtaining Syllabi

To obtain each syllabus, you may need to contact the course instructor or the department chair at the institution where you completed the course. View our tips for obtaining syllabi for additional recommendations and an example of a syllabus.  

Transferring Additional Credits After Enrolling at Penn State

If you are considering taking a course at another institution and transferring the course to Penn State, you should take the following steps to consider potential transfer outcomes:

  • Consult with your academic adviser before enrolling in the course to determine its appropriateness to your Penn State degree.
  • Search for the course in the Transfer Credit Tool to find out if it has been previously evaluated.
  • For courses not previously evaluated or listed in the Transfer Credit Tool as pending review, visit the Course Substitutions and Reviews web portal and navigate to New Transfer Review.

A $25 processing fee may be assessed for each transcript, regardless of whether transfer credit is earned, for courses that you completed elsewhere after enrolling at Penn State.

Transcripts may be sent electronically via email, through Parchment, or through the National Student Clearinghouse directly to Penn State from the institution where course work was attempted. If your school requires an email address to send a transcript electronically, please have the transcript sent to [email protected].

Additional Resources

For more information about transferring credits from previous course work, visit the Penn State Undergraduate Admissions website.

For more information about receiving credits from non-course learning, visit the Prior Learning Assessment website.