Transfer Credit Policies

According to the terms of the North Carolina Independent Comprehensive Articulation Agreement (ICAA), students who have earned an Associate in Arts or an Associate in Science degree from a North Carolina Community College are considered to have met Gardner-Webb’s General Education requirements with the exception of upper-division General Education requirements of REL 300: Old Testament and REL 301: New Testament. Credit for REL 300 and/or 301 may be transferred as part of these students’ community college coursework. Associate of Applied Science degree holders are not eligible for consideration under this provision.

Any student applying to Gardner-Webb who has not earned an Associate in Arts or an Associate in Sciences from a North Carolina community college, but who has earned 60 hours of credit from a regionally accredited two- or four-year institution will have their transfer credits evaluated against the 44-hour minimum standard of General Education hours as established in the ICAA (visit the Gardner-Webb University website to view these General Education requirements). Students who are within six hours of meeting this standard may complete this six-hour deficiency in their first year of study at Gardner-Webb.

Some, though not most, major programs have specific Gardner-Webb General Education courses as requirements or prerequisites, a practice permitted under the ICAA. All transfer students are required to meet these Additional Requirements for Transfer Majors either by acceptable transfer credit or by earning credit for these courses at Gardner-Webb. These Additional Requirements for Transfer Majors area listed in the Catalog description of each individual major program’s specific course requirements.

Students transferring credit from an accredited institution who have not received an associate’s degree will have their credits evaluated using the following criteria.

Courses which correspond to a Gardner-Webb University General Education course or to a Universal General Education Transfer Component designated course under the North Carolina ICAA will receive appropriate credit for the course within the General Education curriculum.
Courses which are not eligible for consideration within the General Education curriculum will be evaluated for application to the student’s major, minor, or as an elective course if the course is substantially similar to courses offered at Gardner-Webb.

Credits presented for transfer from a non-regionally accredited institution will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and may require supplementary documentation for consideration. Supplementary documentation will usually consist of a copy of the syllabus, credentials of the instructor, and possibly evidence of student work.

Transfer Credit from Two-Year Colleges

Students transferring from accredited two-year colleges may transfer up to 60 credit hours. An additional 60 credit hours must be taken on the senior-college level, with the final 30 credit hours for graduation taken at Gardner-Webb.

Community college graduates with an Associate in Arts or Associate in Science degree from a North Carolina Community College should see the Comprehensive Articulation Agreement section of this Catalog.

Transfer credit for courses taken in an Associate of Applied Science program in an academic area offered in the Gardner-Webb University Academic Catalog will be applied based on standard course equivalencies.

Transfer Credit from Four-Year Colleges

Students transferring from accredited four-year colleges may transfer up to 90 credit hours. For a bachelor’s degree, the final 30 credit hours for graduation must be taken at Gardner-Webb. Candidates for the associate degree must take their final 24 hours at Gardner-Webb.

Transfer Students Minimum Hours Policy

Students who transfer into the Gardner-Webb Online must complete at least one-quarter of the degree program at Gardner-Webb.

Transfer Credit Appeals

Appeals of the evaluation of transfer credits for specific University course equivalencies or of whether transfer credits fulfill specific major or minor requirements are made by the student, in consultation with his/her advisor, to the University department/school that houses the specific course, major, or minor. In consultation with Registrar Services, the department chair or school dean makes the final decision on course equivalencies and on what meets the program’s major and minor requirements. The decision of the chair/dean cannot be further appealed.

Students requesting to substitute transfer credits which have not been evaluated as equivalent to a specific University course that is designated as meeting a General Education requirement must appeal to the General Education Committee if they wish to have that transfer credit considered as meeting any General Education requirement. General Education Requirement Substitution Forms are available in WebbConnect. All decisions of the General Education Committee are final and cannot be further appealed.

Transfer Credit Appeal for Non-Regionally Accredited Institutions

If a transfer student attended a school that is not regionally accredited, the student will need to follow the guidelines below in order for Gardner-Webb to consider the courses individually for transfer.

All courses reviewed for transfer must be related to General Education or the major subject area chosen by the student. There are currently two ways in which we can review these specific courses:

If any course(s) has recommendation from an agency listed below, that recommendation will be used to aid in the evaluation. In the event the recommendation is vague or unsatisfactory, the Gardner-Webb department chair for the subject area of the course being evaluated will be contacted for aid in determining the full appropriate credit to be granted. The agencies from which we accept recommendations are: American Council on Education, American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, and NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
For coursework that does not have recommendation from the guides listed above, the student must complete the following procedural steps for each course he or she wishes to have transferred:

a. Produce a syllabus for the course requested for transfer.

b. Request the academic institution previously attended to submit a record of credentials for the teaching faculty member(s) of each course requested for transfer (a catalog showing degrees earned, faculty vita, or a letter from the academic dean indicating graduate-level work and area of graduate work for the faculty member(s).

These credentials will be reviewed by the Dean of Adult and Distance Education for authenticity and credibility. Once the credentials are approved, the Dean's Office will contact Registrar Services to permit review of the course syllabi for possible transfer of courses.

Note: Courses completed multiple times at prior institutions will only be counted once toward completion of a Gardner-Webb University degree.