HAW 7.208 Transfer Credit Evaluation Policy

Issued: June 10, 2002
Revised: September 08, 2023
Download PDF

Purpose:

The purpose of this policy is to define transfer students and describe the procedures for students seeking to transfer credits from other institutions. This policy does not apply to prior learning assessment (PLA).

Background:

The College's practices in this area were reviewed by the Academic Senate in Spring 2002. The Senate's recommendations were forwarded on March 8, 2002. The Academic Senate reviewed the policy again as requested by the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs during 2008/09 and approved a revision on October 30, 2009.

In Spring 2013, the UH system implemented a process (called SZPARTI), by which credits completed at other UH system institutions could be automatically transferred. Action on the part of the individual student is not required. The Academic Senate reviewed a revision to the policy proposed by the Registrar and based on the new process, and approved it February 28, 2014.

In Spring 2022 the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs initiated a review of all Student Affairs policies and the committee that revised this policy, also reviewed policy HAW 7.209-Transferring Credits from External Institutions. The committee felt that there was significant overlap between both policies and combined them together into the revised edition to be reviewed by the College Council.

Policy:

Hawaii Community College will accept credits under the following conditions:

1. Acceptance of external credit(s) is at the sole discretion of the receiving campus.
2. Credits previously earned from UH system institutions prior to being admitted to Hawaii CC will be transferred upon request from the student.
3. Hawaii Community College will officially evaluate credits only for students granted admission to the College.
4. To transfer credits from non-UH institutions, students should have an official transcript sent directly to the Hawaii CC Admissions & Records Office from the transferring institution.
5. Credits earned from non-UH institutions may be transferred to Hawai'i CC if the following criteria are met: (1) the official transcript is from an accredited institution recognized by Hawai'i CC, (2) the transcript is in English or translated into English by a certified translator, and (3) the earned grade for the course is at least a "D" (not "D-") or equivalent acceptable score.
6. Transcripts received by Hawai'i CC become the property of Hawai'i CC, and the original(s) is/are not forwarded to other institutions or returned to the student.
7. The Admissions & Records Office will transfer in courses that are in the UH course transfer database. If a course has not been articulated in the UH course transfer database, the Admissions and Records Office will bring the course in either as an elective or a general subject area requirement.
8. The Admissions & Records Office, the student, program faculty, an advisor or Counselor may initiate the articulation process to have a course considered for articulation to a specific course equivalency.
9. When applicable, transfer credits may be counted towards the specific requirements of a program; otherwise, they will be counted as general electives.
10. For program requirements that require a "C" grade or better, a "C-" grade will not fulfill the requirement, but can be transferred in to fulfill an elective or area requirement.
11. Transfer credit may be awarded for upper-division courses numbered 300 or higher.
12. Grades for transferred courses are not computed in the Hawai'i CC cumulative grade point average (GPA).
13. If a student retakes a course at another UH system campus, the transferred grade will not supersede the Hawai'i Community College grade. For example, if a student takes PHYL 141 at Hawai'i CC, and retakes the course at Leeward Community College the following semester, the Hawai'i CC grade will remain on the transcript. 
    However, if the course was taken once at Leeward CC and once at Kapi'olani CC (and not attempted at Hawai'i CC ), Hawai'i CC will bring in the credit for the class with the higher of the two grades.
14. If a course that was already taken at Hawai 'i CC is repeated at another UH System campus, then the external credit will be transferred in only when needed to fulfill unmet program requirements. The external grade earned will not be used in the calculation of their Hawai 'i CC GPA.
    For example, if a student takes BUSN 150 at Hawai'i CC and earns a "D" grade, which does not satisfy the program requirement, and repeats the course at Leeward CC and earns a "C" grade, then the credit from Leeward CC will be transferred in to fulfill the program requirement. 
    However, if a student takes HIST 152 at Hawai'i CC and earns a "C" grade, then repeats the course at Windward CC and earns a "B" grade, the Windward CC credit will NOT be transferred to Hawai'i CC.
15. Not all accepted credits will apply to every degree/certificate program at Hawai'i Community College. If the student changes programs at Hawai'i Community College, the transfer credits accepted earlier may not fulfill the program requirements in the newly selected program.
16. The length of time that has passed since the credits were earned is not relevant to the acceptability of the transfer credits. In some programs, however, where the passing of time may have caused the course content to become outdated, the student may be required to repeat courses that will update and strengthen the competency. This is particularly important if enrolling in classes requiring prerequisite skills.
17. Credits earned concurrently from UH system institutions will be transferred to Hawai'i CC at the close of the semester if the course is already in the UH System articulation database.
18. Credits earned within the University of Hawai'i with course or class designations related to degree requirements such as "Writing Intensive" will transfer when such designations have been determined according to the articulation established in the University of Hawai'i Executive Policy ES.209. No WI courses will transfer from outside the UH System. For WI designation to be brought in, a grade of "C" or better (not C-) must be earned.
19. The ratio for converting quarter-system credits to semester-system credits is 3:2.
20. Courses that fulfill Foundation, Diversification, and Campus requirements of which the requirement is set at 3 credits per course and transfer in as 2-2.66 transfer credits will be accepted as meeting the requirement. Additionally, courses meeting the Science Laboratory requirement, which is currently set at 1 credit and transfer in as .66 transfer credits will be accepted as meeting the requirement. The remaining credits to complete the Foundations or Diversifications requirements may be made up as elective credit. All other requirements must be met in order for a student to receive a degree from Hawai'i CC to include but not limited to all credit requirements for each degree awarded.