Which Courses Transfer?
Applicants who have completed work at another accredited institution of higher education may receive transfer credit in courses in which they received a grade of “C” (2.0) or better. Transfer credit may apply to a student’s program at Columbia International University in one of the following ways: (a) courses that are parallel to required courses in the core curriculum or the student’s major or minor program of studies at Columbia International University may be received as meeting the requirement, and (b) courses that do not parallel any required course may be received as elective credit up to the limit of electives for the particular program in which the student enrolls at CIU. The University is a member of the Higher Education Transfer Alliance (HETA) sponsored by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).
Applicants who have attended non-accredited Bible institutes, training schools and discipleship programs designed as postsecondary, should submit their transcripts and copies of the academic catalogues for credit evaluation. Programs will be evaluated based on ABHE compatible criteria and/or any formal relationship with CIU and/or status with ABHE. Any unaccredited academic credit will be accepted on a case-by-case basis with a standard of two-thirds credit for any comparable course provided the student receives an average “C” grade or higher. No more than 32 credits from an unaccredited school can be transferred into an undergraduate CIU degree program. The faculty reserves the right to grant limited credit for unaccredited study by means of direct CIU faculty assessment of a student portfolio combined with a faculty examination of content and/or skill upon authorization of the academic dean.
To obtain an estimate of transfer credit, applicants must submit official transcripts for all postsecondary study to the Admissions Office along with their application for admission and a request for an estimate of transfer credit. In some cases, applicants may be asked to send a catalog or prospectus from colleges or other postsecondary institutions attended. The Admissions Office will give an evaluation of such work, but a final evaluation will not necessarily be completed until the end of the student’s first semester of study at CIU. A copy of the transfer credit policy is available upon request from the Admissions Office. Please contact the transcript facilitator in the Registrar’s Office for further assistance.