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Graduate Credit Transfer Policy

Updated June 2024

All transfer credits are evaluated for relevance to the College’s programs and policies. Grades earned at another institution are not factored into the calculation of cumulative grade point average at CCS. The College makes every effort to ensure you get credit for your past graduate-level work, subject to the following conditions:

  • Coursework taken in the United States must have been completed at a college or university accredited by one of the following regional associations of schools and colleges—Middle States (MSCHE), New England (NECHE), Higher Learning Commission (HLC), Northwest (NWCCU), Southern (SACSCOC), Western (WASC)—or by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). International programs and institutions with non-regional accreditation will be evaluated on an individual basis.
  • For coursework completed outside of the United States, College for Creative Studies requires all transfer students to obtain a professional course-by-course evaluation of all college or university-level work from a professional credential evaluation service like National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) membership.
  • Courses noted on a transcript as transferred from prior institutions will not be considered for transfer credit. An official transcript must be submitted to CCS from any institution(s) attended before transfer credit can be awarded.
  • Courses awarded transfer credit are recorded in permanent academic records. Grades of approved courses are not factored into the calculation of a student’s cumulative grade point average at CCS.
  • Credit will not be awarded for undergraduate level coursework.
  • Approval of transfer credit is at the discretion of program chairs, following, if applicable, a review of the applicant’s portfolio, or other relevant works. Courses must meet the majority of the learning outcomes required by the equivalent course at CCS to be approved.
  • The number of possible credit transfers for each program is as follows:
    • For the MFA in Interdisciplinary Design Studies, students may transfer up to 30 credits) from a graduate program towards the 60 credits required to complete a two  year MFA. For all other MFA degrees, students can transfer up to 9 credits.
    • For all MA design degrees, students can transfer up to 6 credit hours from a graduate program towards the 30 credits required to complete the one-year MA.
    • Note: A limited number of transfer credits to the MA in Art Education is possible if directly aligned to the learning outcomes of any online courses being replaced. Transfer credit is not possible in lieu of summer residence classes.
    • Eligibility for additional credit is determined on a case-by-case basis and will depend on factors such as the alignment of the transferred coursework with the CCS curriculum, the academic rigor of the courses, and the demonstrated proficiency of the student in those subjects. Students should contact the Program Chair to initiate a comprehensive evaluation of their previous coursework.
  • Up to 3 courses (nine credits) completed at the Graduate level as part of a CCS Bachelor of Fine Arts program may be applicable for transfer upon approval.
  • Transfer credits may be awarded for courses with a grade of B (3.0) or higher and completed within 10 years of the time of application.
  • Courses taken at an institution on a quarter or term academic calendar are converted to semester hours before being applied to CCS course requirements.
  • CCS must receive all official final transcripts, along with any supporting documentation or portfolio artifacts required for evaluation and placement of transfer credit
    • before the end of the student’s 1st week of classes (for new/incoming students)
    • within a month of completing the course(s) intended for transfer (for current students)

Frequently Asked Transfer Questions

What Is An Official Transcript?

Only transcripts mailed directly from your previous institution(s) to CCS, as well as transcripts sent directly to you and forwarded to CCS in the original sealed envelope, are considered official. Transcripts received by CCS from a certified digital document service such as Parchment or Clearinghouse are all considered official.

What If My Previous College Was On a Different Academic Calendar?

For in-person programs, CCS operates on a semester academic calendar of two fifteen-week long terms. Colleges operating outside the US, as well as those utilizing alternate units of credit, such as a ‘unit’ or a ‘quarter hour’- an academic calendar consisting of 3-4 main terms spanning 10 to 11 weeks per year- will need to be assessed to determine transferability. Since ‘quarter hour’ terms are shorter, a quarter ‘credit hour’ will require less instructional time. For this reason, students seeking transfer credit from intuitions that operate on a quarter-hour calendar (or other alternate structure) may have their courses combined to equal the instruction time and learning outcomes required in the equivalent CCS course.

*The low residency  MA in Art Education utilizes the 8 week summer semesters for resident courses. The MA in User Experience Design (Distance Ed) operates with 8 compressed 7-week terms for accelerated completion.

How Long Will It Take To Complete My Degree?

In-person MA and MFA degrees are offered in full- and part-time mode. A full-time MFA degree may be completed in two years, and typically takes four years in part-time mode. The MFA in Interdisciplinary Design Studies can be taken in half that time if 30 credits are transferred (see above).  A full-time MA degree takes one year to complete, two years in part-time mode.

The MA in Art Education is a low-residency program lasting 26 months. It runs over seven semesters (including three short summer semesters). Students attend campus for four weeks each July.

The MA in User Experience Design (Distance Ed.) is fully online, and takes 18 months to complete. It comprises 8 condensed 7-week courses for accelerated learning.

New students seeking clarification on time required to complete their degree at CCS should follow up with their Academic Adviser and/or Department Chair after receiving their Transfer Credit Evaluation (TCE). Current students should meet with their Academic Adviser to review their degree audit for an understanding of remaining requirements and time required to complete them.

What If I Want To Change Majors

Students wishing to change their graduate design major, or mode of study, should refer to the Change of Graduate Program Policy.

What Happens To My Transfer Credit If I Change My Major?

Students should express their intent to change their major before finalizing enrollment. This allows the admissions office to re-evaluate all potential transfer credit for application to the student’s new major prior to enrollment.

If a current student decides to change majors at CCS, the transfer credit granted upon initial enrollment will undergo re-evaluation by the Program Chair. All relevant courses completed at CCS will be applied toward the student’s updated degree requirements. However, courses previously transferred to CCS may potentially fulfill an elective requirement, but if they no longer fulfill graduation requirements will default to an ‘Other Courses’ category, remaining in the student’s academic record but not counting towards degree completion. If students feel they have previously completed coursework that should be considered after declaring a change of major, it is the student’s responsibility to initiate this review and provide any required documentation or work examples to support the placement of credit.

Repeated Courses and Federal Student Aid

When a successfully completed course is repeated, the previous enrollment is deducted from the calculation of successfully completed courses; therefore, this will lower your Course Completion Rate. The earned higher grade is counted in the cumulative GPA. Per the Federal Student Aid handbook, students may repeat a course as many times as necessary to receive a passing grade and receive federal funding for that course. The federal definition of a passing grade is anything above an F.

Once the student has taken the course and received a grade above failing (anything above an F), the student may repeat the course only one additional time to try to earn a higher grade and receive federal financial aid funds. Any subsequent repeats of that course cannot be covered by federal financial aid funds. CCS does have some required courses that require at least a C grade per College policy. The College policy does not affect federal eligibility, so the student may still only retake this course once after receiving a grade above an F and receive federal funding.

EXAMPLE:

A student has taken a course requiring a C grade and received above an F but less than a C. The student takes the course a second time but again earns less than a C. The student must continue to retake the course to pass it per CCS policy but is no longer eligible for federal financial aid for that course. If the student subsequently enrolls for 12 credits, including the course they are having to repeat, only 9 of those credits are eligible for federal financial aid. Institutional aid is not affected and can still be processed at the full-time amount. Students who are enrolled for 15 credits are not affected since they will still have 12 eligible credits and would still be considered full-time.

Incomplete Grades

This policy details the criteria and process for an “I” or Incomplete grade.

An incomplete or grade of “I” may be given to a student when a minimal number of course assignments have not been completed due to unavoidable and legitimate circumstances (i.e., injury, hospitalization, jury duty, death of a family member, or other reasons beyond a student’s control).Completion of at least 75% of course work at passing levels is recommended before an “I” grade is assigned.

Unless otherwise indicated, students have one semester to finish any work necessary to complete the course (i.e. Incompletes assigned for the fall semester must be completed by the winter semester; Incompletes assigned for the winter/summer semester must be completed by the fall semester). If work is not completed within this timeframe the Incomplete Grade will default to the grade earned.  Any student receiving an “I” grade in their anticipated semester of graduation, will graduate in a later semester after all unsatisfied credits are confirmed. 

Important: Faculty may exercise the grade change form for situations where the incomplete grade is not warranted, but late assignments have been approved (see Grade Change policy).

Incomplete Grade Verification

The Instructor should submit the current “grade earned” (A-F) for their student during final grading submissions for their course, in the grading module.

  • For students approved to receive an “I” grade: the instructor must submit a completed Incomplete Grade Verification Form to the Academic Advising & Registration Office (AARO).
  • The reason for the incomplete grade and outstanding assignments must be identified on the form and agreed upon by the student.
  • The instructor, student and department chairperson must sign the form.
  • All forms must be received by the final grading deadline of the current semester for “I” grade processing. Incomplete grade submissions will be entered/updated by AARO staff.
  • Forms not received by the deadline will maintain records displaying the “grade earned”.

Updating an Assigned “I” Grade

  • Once the required coursework is completed by the student, the instructor must submit a Grade Change Form with all required signatures, to the AARO, by the “I” Grade Expire Date (or by the final grade due date for the subsequent semester).
  • Assigned “I” grades that do not have grade change submissions , will revert back to the student’s original “grade earned”.
  • The Office of Academic Affairs must approve all standard grade changes beyond a 60-day period and any grade changes for Incompletes.
  • The final assigned grade is calculated into the student’s cumulative GPA and SAP (see Satisfactory Academic Progress for Undergraduate Students and Satisfactory Academic progress for Graduate Students).

Resolving “I” Grades if the faculty is no longer teaching at CCS:
Incomplete Grades assigned by a former faculty member will be handled by the Department Chair of the course; who will review the required assignments and submissions to determine a final grade. The required grade change form must be completed and submitted by the Department Chair to the AARO.

Campus and Facility Access

Students working on Incomplete Grades are not granted automatic access to CCS facilities (studios, labs or classrooms). Departments are not obligated to ensure access to CCS facilities if a student is not registered and/or if a registered student has day/time conflicts during hours of facility open access.

If access to a CCS facility is required (or desired) to complete coursework for an incomplete grade, it is the student’s responsibility to:

  • communicate with the Instructor to understand expectations for completing the coursework;
  • and to confirm If open access to facilities are available through the affiliated department, before agreeing to the incomplete grade.

If campus facilities are approved for use, each department can determine arrangements for reasonable access, which should be verified in advance with appropriate campus offices as required (i.e. registration, security, etc); and included on the Incomplete Grading Form.