Stanford
Student Services

Undergraduate Transfer Credit

Stanford allows students to transfer coursework completed at accredited U.S. and international colleges or universities. To ensure a smooth process, it is crucial to familiarize yourself with our transfer credit policies and begin your evaluation at the appropriate starting point. Please carefully review the information provided below before submitting your request, as the conditions are highly specific and must be fully understood.

Transfer Credit Requirements

  • You must have completed the coursework at a regionally accredited institution in the U.S. or at an officially recognized international institution.
  • The coursework must be college-level and count towards a college-level degree. Courses counted towards your high school graduation requirements do not qualify. Life and work experience are not accepted for transfer credit.
  • The coursework must have substantial content overlap with Stanford coursework. A maximum of 20 quarter units may represent courses that do not parallel specific undergraduate courses at Stanford (non-program electives).
  • You must have received a “C-” or better grade. “Pass” grades are only accepted when that grade is equivalent to a letter grade of “C-” or better as confirmed by the transcript key, the institution website, or a letter from a school official. 
  • Stanford uses the following formula for non-quarter system unit conversion:
    • conversion rate = minimum # of units required to complete a bachelor's degree at Stanford / minimum # of units required to complete a bachelor's degree at the transfer institution. Transfer credit is posted in whole units, and in cases where half-credit (e.g., 4.5 units) is calculated, the whole units rounded down will be posted to the student's record.
  • Once approved, your transfer credits can count towards your overall university graduation requirements, major/minor requirements, and other degree requirements. 
  • Grades for transfer work are not factored into the Stanford GPA, posted on your Stanford transcript, or Degree Audit.
  •  Students who enroll in courses at Stanford for which they received equivalent transfer credit will have the duplicating transfer credit removed.
  • Once credit has been posted, it cannot be removed from the student record unless the duplicate enrollment policy stated above applies.
  • A maximum of 45 quarter units of approved transfer credit (90 quarter units for transfer students)and/or other external exam credit may be applied toward your undergraduate degree. 

For full information regarding transfer credit policies, please see Student Policies: Transfer Work.

Requesting Transfer Credit

The following steps outline the process for requesting transfer credit:

  1. Identify your external course and determine what type of transfer credit you'd like to request. We recommend first reviewing the Transfer Credit Database to see what courses have already been approved.
  2. Submit the applicable form(s) and documents to the department. The form(s) you'll need to submit will depend on the type of transfer credit you are requesting. 
  3. After completing the course, submit your official transcript to Stanford.

Review How do I request transfer credit? for full instructions.

Submitting Your Official Transcript

The Registrar’s Office requires the official transcript from your external institution to formally approve and post the credit to your record. Please be advised that transfer credit is not officially approved until after the evaluation of the transcript. It is recommended that you submit your official transcript as soon as the courses you are requesting to transfer are completed.

You can submit official transcripts using either of these methods:

  • E-transcripts — send to transfer-credit-transcripts@stanford.edu
  • Sealed paper transcripts — deliver via mail to the Student Services Center at 459 Lagunita Dr, Suite 4 Tresidder Memorial Union, 2nd Floor Stanford, CA 94305.
  • If the external institution uses a Parchment Receive Inbox, please select the one titled “Current Stanford Students (non applicants) - Transcripts - Registrar's Office”

Stanford only accepts official transcripts via direct submission from the external institution; no transcripts received directly from a student or their academic department are accepted.

Timeline

Evaluations for external credit are completed for students who have accepted an offer of admission and are fully matriculated at Stanford. Transfer credit requests for prospective students will not be reviewed. 

Frosh admits should be advised that their transfer credit evaluation requests may not be completed before the start of Autumn quarter enrollment, and no pre-approval requests will be accepted for coursework being taken prior to the start of Autumn quarter. 

Students nearing graduation should submit requests no later than the Final Study List deadline of the quarter prior to the one in which they are conferring their undergraduate degree. Students who are taking their final units for degree completion outside of Stanford should follow the steps outlined on this webpage under “Graduation Quarter”. Official transcripts may be submitted no later than the grading deadline of the quarter you're conferring your undergraduate degree.

Evaluations have a review period of 6-8 weeks. Once the evaluation decision and final transcript reach the Registrar’s Office, there will be a 2-3 week final review period prior to the credit being posted on the transcript. Students will receive a formal email notification once the credit has been posted or if the evaluation was denied.