Transfer Student Information

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Accreditation and Determination of Transferability

Eastern Kentucky University welcomes transfer students from other colleges and universities. Eastern Kentucky University awards credit in transfer for undergraduate courses completed at colleges and universities whose accreditation is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. To check the accreditation status of your university, please visit the Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs.

EKU also participates in and subscribes to the principles of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education statewide transfer agreements. EKU accepts credits transferred from all public institutions in Kentucky accredited by SACSCOC, or similar recognized accreditation bodies, and will apply them to the essential education and program requirements to the maximum extent specified in these agreements. Credits not identified in these agreements will be applied to degree requirements as deemed appropriate. Lower division courses taken at a community or junior college are accepted in transfer as the coursework is evaluated by the EKU content expert. 

Transfer equivalencies are awarded only for college-level courses in which the student earned a D grade or higher or satisfactorily completed the course.

Credit and grades earned in transfer are posted to the student’s EKU transcript. Students with transfer credit should note that they must successfully complete all their curriculum requirements, achieve academic residency, as well as earn an institutional (EKU) GPA of 2.0 in order to graduate with a degree or University certificate from EKU. 

Credit is granted for correspondence courses taken through accredited colleges and universities recognized by the Department of Education according to the same guidelines described above.

Determination of Course Equivalencies

Transfer Course Evaluation Processing

When an acceptable transfer course without a current equivalency, the Office of the Registrar forwards the course description to the appropriate academic department for their review and consideration. 

The academic department determines whether a direct equivalency (e.g. ENG 101), a subject/discipline elective (e.g. ENG X100), or a generic free elective (e.g. EKU X100) is awarded depending on course content and learning objectives. In some instances, the department will request that the student provide a syllabus in order to evaluate the course. The academic department or Office of the Registrar can recommend that a course be considered for essential education applicability even if an exact equivalency is not awarded. Students wishing to appeal the evaluation of transfer credit should consult with The Office of the Registrar. 

There may be additional restrictions on the applicability of course credit depending on the student’s major and associated academic department. Students are advised to review the college and department sections of the undergraduate catalog for their intended major.

Credit Hour Equivalencies

Credit Hour Conversion

Credit is converted to semester hour equivalents. In converting quarter hours to semester hours, a conversion factor of two-thirds is used.

If a course at another institution is offered for less credit hours than an equivalent course at EKU (e.g., if a three (3) credit hour course at another institution is reasonably similar in content to a four (4) credit hour course at EKU), the student will be given transfer credit for the equivalent course at EKU but only for the number of credit hours earned at the other institution.

If a course at another institution is offered for more credit hours than an equivalent course at EKU (e.g. if a four (4) credit hour course at another institution is reasonably similar in content to a three (3) credit hour course at EKU), the student will be given transfer credit for the equivalent course at EKU at the number of credit hours listed in the catalog plus elective credit for the remaining excess credit hours. 

Kentucky General Education Transfer Agreement

In an effort to promote a seamless transfer between Kentucky two-year and four-year public institutions, the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) developed a policy to facilitate the transfer of credits from one Kentucky public college or university to another. This policy, implemented in 1996 and revised in 2011, is called the General Education Transfer Agreement and allows for the automatic transfer of a block of courses to satisfy general education degree requirements.

Students transferring to EKU from another Kentucky public college or university may be (1) category certified or (2) core certified or (3) fully certified by the Registrar of the school where the coursework was taken (as indicated on the student’s transfer transcript).

Category Certified

Students who have completed one or more of the five general education categories of the General Education Transfer Agreement will be category certified in the relevant areas.

  • Category 1: Communication 

  • Category 2: Quantitative Reasoning

  • Category 3: Arts and Humanities

  • Category 4: Natural Science

  • Category 5: Social and Behavioral Science

CORE Certified

Students who have satisfied all five general education categories of the General Education Transfer Agreement will be general education core certified. CORE certified students will still be required to complete the flex category at EKU.

Transfer General Education Certified

Students who have completed all general education requirements from a Kentucky public college or university and have full general education certification indicated on an official transcript, will be considered fully certified at Eastern Kentucky University. Students who have earned an Associate of Science or Associate of Arts degree from a Kentucky public institution are also considered to be general education certified. 

EKU programs may require students to complete certain prerequisite or foundational coursework that also appears in EKU’s Essential Education inventory. A general education certification does not automatically fulfill these requirements if the equivalent course has not been successfully transferred from the originating institution.

For additional details regarding this agreement, please refer to the CPE website (https://www.cpe.ky.gov/ourwork/transfer.html). 

Transferring General Education from a Private or Out-of-State School

Out-of-State General Education Transfer

EKU will honor transfer general education courses from out-of-state or Kentucky private colleges and universities whose accreditation is recognized by the US Department of Education. If a student’s transfer general education courses are not matched to an EKU Essential Education requirement, then the student may petition the Office of the Registrar to review additional information about the transfer course.

Eastern Kentucky University will also review out-of-state Associate of Science, Associate of Arts, and Bachelor’s degrees for general education certification. 

Transfer Credit Limit

Transfer Credit Limitations

No limit exists on the number of credits that may be transferred from other institutions before the student can enroll; however, students must meet the minimum residency and upper division requirements outlined in the Undergraduate Catalog in order to graduate. 

Academic Load Acceptance

The Office of the Registrar will not record more than 21 academic credit hours for any semester in which the student is enrolled at EKU. Students concurrently enrolled between EKU and another institution should be advised that no more than 21 hours can be accepted for that term. This limit is proportionately reduced for non-traditional terms, including Summer and Winter. All students seeking concurrent enrollment should consult with their academic advisor and the Office of the Registrar.

Credit for Remedial Courses

Transfer credit is not awarded for remedial courses, including remedial English as a second language courses; however, transfer equivalencies for any remedial courses may be used to satisfy course prerequisite requirements. Remedial transfer course numbers usually begin with a 0 and do not contain quality points. Remedial courses may transfer in as EKU remedial courses. EKU remedial courses numbers are those between 000-099.

Credit for Dual Credit Courses

Courses taken for dual credit (courses for which students receive both high school and college credit) are evaluated in the same manner as traditional courses offered by the institution through which they are taken. An official transcript from the original post-secondary institution is required to record these credits. No limit exists on the number of transfer credit hours that will be awarded for dual credit courses.

Credit for Testing and Prior Learning

Per the EKU undergraduate catalog, students who have educational experiences other than traditional university instruction may attempt to earn academic credit through the following learning assessment mechanisms:

  • ACE Credit

  • Advanced Placement Program (APP)

  • Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) – AS and A Level Exams

  • College Level Examination Program (CLEP®)

  • Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Educational Support, DANTES Standardized Subject Test (DANTES DSST) Exams

  • International Baccalaureate (IB) Credit

In addition, academic credit for prior learning through a portfolio assessment or established articulation agreement may be granted. Information about EKU’s academic credit policy, including processes for credit for prior learning may be found in Academic Regulation 4.2.1.

International Transfer Credit

Transfer credit is also awarded for courses completed at accredited colleges and universities outside of the United States based on recommendations from the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) affiliated agencies that evaluate foreign educational institutions. EKU’s preferred partners include Josef Silney & Associates, Inc. and Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE). All transcript evaluations must be submitted with the original transcript attached.

Grades for transfer courses from accredited universities outside of the U.S. are recorded as articulated credit (CR). Per the undergraduate catalog, undergraduate coursework with CR grades may be used to fulfill major, minor, certificate, supporting program, and/or concentration area requirements, (unless explicitly prohibited by the appropriate academic department). Please refer to the Grades section of this catalog for additional information about CR credit.

Course descriptions are required to evaluate transfer courses from accredited colleges and universities outside of the U.S. The student is responsible for submitting all course descriptions and the descriptions must be translated in English. Submission of course descriptions can be made electronically by emailing registrar@eku.edu.

Post-Baccalaureate Students

Transfer credit applied toward satisfactory completion of a bachelor’s degree will not be applied toward degree requirements for a second bachelor’s degree at EKU.

A degree-seeking student who has previously attained a post-secondary or graduate-level degree will have that earned degree noted on their EKU academic record. Details of the academic work counting toward that degree earned at another institution will not be recorded, course by course, onto an EKU transcript. However, a degree-seeking, post-baccalaureate student may not be required to complete essential education requirements.