Transfer of Credit – Internal and External

A student may transfer a maximum of 6 graduate credits from another Hood graduate program or from an accredited institution prior to the first semester of graduate study for the majority of programs with some exceptions that follow.  A student in the M.S. in Counseling or the MFA in Ceramic Arts programs may transfer up to 9 graduate credits external to Hood.  Those in the DOL or DBA programs may transfer up to 8 credits of post-master's or doctoral-level work.  In special cases, a student may transfer additional credits into the program beyond the stated maxima if there are extenuating circumstances, at the discretion of the graduate school dean and program director.   Per the guidelines below, transfer credit for work completed elsewhere may be accepted after enrollment at Hood College with the permission of the program director and Office of the Registrar.  External transfer credit does not apply toward the cumulative grade point average, but internal transfer credit does. Exceptions to this policy may exist through Memoranda of Understanding with other institutions. For more information, please contact the program director.

Requested transfer credit must meet the following criteria:

• Courses eligible for transfer (internal or external) must have been completed no earlier than five years from the start of the current Hood graduate program;
• Courses must carry at least two semester hours of credit;
• Courses must carry a grade of B or better; courses earned on a pass/fail basis are not eligible for transfer;
• Coursework completed in one graduate program (certificate or master’s) may only be utilized in one other graduate program, whether taken concurrently or sequentially.

The procedure to transfer credits is as follows:

• The student must complete the Graduate Transfer Course Permission form, obtain the required signatures/approvals, and submit to the Office of the Registrar. Syllabi or course descriptions for the requested transfer courses must accompany the form.
• Upon completion of external coursework, the student must submit an official transcript to the Office of the Registrar to have the approved transfer credits awarded on the Hood transcript. 

Students who completed a Hood College certificate in the following areas within five years of enrollment in the related master's program, may apply all certificate credits towards the master's program.  No additional internal transfer credit will be accepted, and students may not apply coursework from two certificate programs to one master's or doctoral program:  

• Bioinformatics certificate into Bioinformatics (M.S.)
• Ceramic Arts certificate to Ceramic Arts M.A. or MFA
• Cybersecurity certificate into Information Technology, Cybersecurity (M.S.), or Computer Science (Cybersecurity certificate courses may only be used once towards one of these master's degrees)
• Elementary STEM certificate into Curriculum and Instruction (science and mathematics concentration)
• GIS certificate into Environmental Biology
• Accounting, Financial Management or Organizational Management certificate into MBA
• Secondary Mathematics Education certificate into Mathematics Education or Mathematics Instructional Leadership
• Thanatology certificate into Counseling
• Trauma, Crisis, Grief and Loss certificate into Counseling

Students who completed a master's degree at Hood College in one of our graduate education programs and wish to pursue the Educational Leadership 18-credit certificate, may transfer any applicable coursework taken, where a minimum grade of B was earned, from that master's degree to the certificate program. The coursework must have been completed within five years of enrollment in the certificate program. Any coursework beyond the five years the student wishes to transfer from the master's program to the certificate program, will require additional approval of the program director and registrar.