Sam Houston State University (SHSU) publishes policies for evaluating, awarding, and accepting credit not originating from the institution. Additionally, SHSU ensures the academic quality of any credit or coursework recorded on its transcripts, ensures an approval process with oversight by persons academically qualified to make the necessary judgements, and ensures the credit awarded is comparable to designated credit experiences and is consistent with the mission of SHSU [1].
Transfer Coursework
SHSU complies with the Texas Administrative Code, Title 19, Part 1, Chapter 4, Subchapter B, Rule 4.24 for accepting credit for transfer hours [2]. General guidelines for transferring credit are found in the undergraduate [3] and graduate [4] catalogs. SHSU accepts 66 academic hours plus four kinesiology hours for a total of 70 semester hours from community colleges [5]. All academic courses attempted at a 4-year regionally accredited university in the United States will be reviewed for transferability. Transferable courses may not be relevant to every degree plan. In consultation with the academic department chairs and advisors, Undergraduate Admissions reviews all academic courses attempted at a 4-year regionally accredited college or university in the United States for transferability. The Undergraduate Catalog includes information on transferring in lower division course credit, upper division course credit, and Workforce Education Courses and Continuing Education Units. The graduate catalog includes information on transferring graduate level courses completed at other accredited colleges and universities. Two Academic Policy Statements govern how credit is awarded at the University:
Additionally, these policies conform to Section 51.968 of the Texas Education Code, requiring universities to “establish the institution’s conditions for granting course credit” [8]. These academic policy statements are publicly available and published online within the Academic Policy Manual [9]. Polices regarding the acceptance of transfer credit and credit for work experience are regularly reviewed, evaluated, and updated to ensure their adequacy as necessary by appropriate constituents at the University, which include the Provost and Vice Provost, Council of Academic Associate Deans (as necessary), Council of Academic Deans, Faculty Senate, Office of General Counsel, the Academic Affairs Council, and the President [10].
SHSU uses the Texas Common Course Numbering (TCCN) System to assist in identifying and evaluating transfer credits for freshman and sophomore level general academic coursework [11]. Where possible, the SHSU course number aligns with the TCCN. For students transferring from a number of community colleges that serve as feeder programs to SHSU, the online Transfer Course Equivalency Guide can identify for students if a class taken at a different institution has an equivalent course at SHSU [12]. To further assist students who are transferring from a community college in Texas, SHSU has established articulation agreements with community colleges [13]. These articulation agreements allow students to transfer credits to SHSU easily and to access academic advising at SHSU while still a community college student, ensuring efficient and effective transfer of credit. Transfer students are encouraged to use the Transfer Course Equivalency Guide [12] to ensure that the courses they take at another college or university will transfer to SHSU.
The Texas Administrative Code, Title 19, Part 1, Chapter 4, Subchapter B, Rule 4.28 [14] requires that core curriculum courses be transferrable among all state institutions in Texas. Students who complete the core requirements at one Texas institution are considered “core complete” when they transfer to another Texas institution. The reader is referred to Standard 9.3 for additional details regarding SHSU’s core curriculum.
To help ensure the transferability of university majors, the State of Texas has also created Fields of Study (FOS) [15]. A FOS typically contains 12 to 18 credit hours considered mandatory for all educational institutions to accept for the major as part of the freshman and sophomore years. Courses identified for inclusion in the FOS must be listed in the Lower Division Academic Course Guide Manual (ACGM) [16]. The ACGM is the official list of approved courses offered for state funding by public community, state, and technical colleges in Texas that can be accepted for general academic transfer at public colleges and universities within Texas. All public colleges and universities in Texas must accept any FOS course completed at another college or other university, in whole or part, towards their baccalaureate degree programs.
Disputes over the transferability of credits are addressed within the undergraduate catalog [17]. To qualify as a dispute, the course(s) in question must be offered by the institution denying the credit (receiving institution), or, in the case of upper level institutions, must be published as a lower division course accepted for fulfilling lower level requirements. For community colleges, the course(s) must be listed in the ACGM and be offered at the receiving institution. Additionally, the sending institution may challenge the receiving institution’s denial of credit. SHSU reserves the right to refuse to accept transfer credit when the instructor of record does not meet the requisite academic credentials. In addition, courses taken at community colleges do not satisfy the advanced hours required at SHSU.
SHSU also accepts up to a maximum of 30 hours of credit through a combination of national standardized examinations and/or locally designed and administered departmental tests. Such national standardized exams include Advanced Placement [18], credit for College Level Examination Program (CLEP) exams [19], Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES) exams [20], and SAT subject exams [21]. SHSU recognizes the International Baccalaureate (IB) program for those students who earn the IB degree [22]. Although SHSU typically accepts a maximum of 30 semester hours of credit through a combination of nationally standardized examinations and/or locally designed and administered departmental tests, students earning the IB degree may transfer more as they are capable of earning in excess of those 30 hours.
SHSU also has a policy for accepting high scores from the ACT or SAT exams for credit in freshman English courses. A score of 33 or above on the English section of the ACT or a score of 700 or above on the SAT qualifies a student for exemption from both ENGL 1301 and 1302. Policies regarding student eligibility for credit by examination are available to students online in the undergraduate catalog [23] and from the Testing Center [24].
At the graduate level, a limited number of courses completed at other colleges and universities accredited by an agency recognized by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board may be applied as transfer credit toward a graduate degree at SHSU at the discretion of each graduate program and the college in which it is housed [25]. Graduate coursework accepted in transfer must be reviewed and approved by the respective graduate advisor, academic dean, and Dean of Graduate Studies.
Study Abroad Programs
To provide students with opportunities for international study, SHSU has implemented policies and procedures for students to receive transfer credit through Exchange Programs Study Abroad. These programs are facilitated by the Office of International Programs in conjunction with appropriate academic departments [26]. Through an international exchange program, students can receive up to 12 semester credit hours from approved foreign institutions [27]. If the course is successfully completed, SHSU students receive transfer credit for these courses on a Credit/No Credit basis. Additionally, students can earn credits through an Affiliated Transfer Credit Study Abroad Program provided by a third-party company providing study abroad services. As with the exchange programs, credits earned by students through Affiliated Study Abroad Programs can be accepted by SHSU as transfer credit [28]. In order to be accepted as credit, courses taking through both Exchange and Affiliated Study Abroad Programs must be approved for transfer by the appropriate SHSU academic department chair [29] using a Course Equivalency Form [30]. SHSU faculty, in consultation with departmental chairs, examine the course description and syllabus of the proposed course to determine if such a course warrants academic credit. Upon the student’s completion of international study, the host international school sends transcripts to the SHSU Office of International Programs. The Office of International Programs then sends the transcript to the respective academic department and the SHSU Registrar.
International Cooperative Degree Programs
SHSU has entered into agreements with institutions in other countries to transfer blocks of course work applicable to degrees at SHSU: a dual baccalaureate degree with Zhejiang Police College [31] in China and a transfer articulation 2+2 program with Firat University in Turkey [32] [33]. The agreement with Firat is a 2+2 program resulting in a bachelor’s degree at SHSU, inclusive of 2 years of coursework at Firat University. Courses taken by students through these agreements are accepted by SHSU as transfer credit.
Considerations for cooperation with international degree programs include ensuring qualified faculty, learning resources, transfer policies, appropriate course equivalencies, admission requirements, and assessment activities. SHSU has developed a standardized approach to ensuring academic quality within such agreements. To establish transfer equivalency for international transfer courses, SHSU faculty and department chairs review the student learning outcomes for both the course to be transferred and the course at SHSU for which credit will be granted. By examining the transcript, course descriptions, and the course syllabi, SHSU is able to ensure that the learning outcomes are at the collegiate level and comparable to the institution’s own course work. Final decisions on transfer equivalency rest with the department chair of the respective course discipline. The SHSU Office of International Programs participates in the initial review for transfer studies. Courses included in the transfer major at SHSU are extensively reviewed by the SHSU department chair and faculty prior to approval [34] [35] [36] [37]. Courses outside of the major required to support the degree, such as mathematics and sciences are reviewed and approved by the corresponding departments at SHSU.