Credit by Examination

Undergraduate students currently registered at NC State may request an examination for course credit in a course whether enrolled in that course or not, under the conditions described below. Students must initiate a request with their advisor (except when a teaching department awards credit based upon group testing for placement purposes). Should the advisor approve, the student must arrange for the examination with the department offering the course. The department may administer the examination in any manner pertinent to the materials of the course. Departments are encouraged to offer credit by examination in all courses but have the prerogative of excluding certain courses, which are demonstrably unsuited for credit by examination.

The academic standards for credit by examination will be commensurate with the academic standards for the course.  If a student’s performance on the examination is judged to be of C- or higher quality, the department head will notify the Department of Registration and Records on a Grade Report Form that the student has received “credit by examination” for the course.  The Department of Registration and Records will enter the appropriate number of credit hours on the student’s permanent academic record.  Credits earned through examination are not used in the calculation of a student’s grade point average.

A student who receives credit by examination in a course in which that student is currently enrolled must officially drop that course no later than the last day to drop for the term enrolled. If the course credit by examination would enable a student to complete the final requirements for a degree, that student need not be registered in order to receive the credit.

Once a student has failed a course, has failed a previous credit by examination attempt, or has been enrolled in a course past the last day to drop, the student may not attempt credit by examination for that course. Under unusual circumstances, exceptions may be made upon the written recommendation of the student’s adviser and the approval of the department offering the course.

The full regulation on Credit by Examination is available on the Policies, Rules and Regulations website.

Transfer Credit

Transcripts of college course credit for new transfer students and for NC State students who have taken course work at another institution are evaluated by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions in consultation with the deans of the NC State colleges to determine how the work applies to fulfilling the graduation requirements of each student’s intended major. Only courses where the student receives a grade of C- or better will be considered for transfer credit. Students admitted to an NC State undergraduate degree program who wish to take courses at another institution must obtain prior endorsement from their academic department and prior written approval from their college’s associate dean (or dean’s office) in order to insure that the transfer credits will apply toward specific graduation requirements. Transfer credit is not recorded on former students’ permanent records until after they have been readmitted and have re-enrolled at NC State. Students should not assume that transfer credits will be accepted, and should speak with their academic advisor.

Credit accepted for transfer from another institution is shown only as credit hours and is not included in the computation of the grade point average. A list of courses and how they transfer to NC State from other institutions on the Office of Undergraduate Admissions website. Please note this website speaks only to the general transferability of the course work. How transfer credit applies to a student’s degree is determined by the student's academic department and college associate dean’s office.

For the most current information regarding this regulation, please view the full regulation.