Transfer Credit Evaluation Policies

Evaluation of college transcripts includes, but is not limited to, the following procedures:

Evaluation of work:
1. The Registrar’s Office will prepare a tentative course-by-course evaluation of transfer work. If a student is transferring from a college or university accredited by a regional accreditation association (such as the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools), his/her work will be generally accepted if it is equivalent to or parallel with course work offered at HSU and satisfactory grades have been earned. Final acceptance of transfer work is subject to the approval of the Registrar, who is the Articulation Officer for Hardin-Simmons University. HSU requires an official copy of all transcripts.
2. Students seeking to transfer from a non-regionally accredited college or university may be permitted to transfer as many as 30 semester hours contingent upon: (1) evaluation of the work to be transferred on a course-by-course basis; (2) completion of at least 15 semester hours of HSU work with a grade of “C” or better.
3. Up to 15 semester hours of work unrelated to fields of study offered at HSU may be accepted for elective credit in the student’s degree program.
4. All transferable work completed at an accredited two-year college will be posted to a transferring student’s official transcript. However, no more than 66 of those semester hours may be applied to any degree. Therefore, if the student earns more than 66 semester hours from a two-year institution, it will be the responsibility of the student’s advisor and/or major department to identify no more than 66 of those hours to be applied toward an HSU degree. Once a student who has enrolled at HSU has completed a total of 66 semester hours, regardless of where those hours have been earned, the remainder of the hours to be applied to a degree must be completed at a four-year institution. No community or junior college credit will be accepted after the student has earned 66 total hours.
5. Hardin-Simmons University does not grant credit for experiential learning or professional certificates.
6. Freshman or sophomore-level courses completed at another institution will not transfer as upper-division credit. Furthermore, such courses may not be substituted for upper-level courses unless approved by the head of the department in which the course is offered or by the dean of the appropriate college or school. If substitution is approved, the lower level course will not count toward total upper level hours required for the degree. (See also Post-Enrollment Transfer Credit.)
7. An Evaluation Form, which indicates the transfer status of all courses attempted, will be provided to the applicant usually within three weeks after the receipt of all official transcripts and application credentials.
Grades: Courses with a grade lower than C will not be accepted in transfer. However, at the time of admission, a student may petition to transfer no more than two courses with grades of D, providing the resulting overall transfer GPA is 2.00 or higher. After enrolling at HSU, no grade lower than a C will be accepted for transfer credit. Except for approved Intercollege work taken subsequent to the student’s admission to HSU, only work taken at HSU will be used in calculating the grade point average for purposes of graduation, honors, institutional scholarships, and general academic standing.
Credit by Examination: Course credit earned by examination from another institution must be evaluated and validated in accordance with regular HSU Credit by Examination policies.
Residence Work: A student transferring from a senior college or university who wishes to complete a degree from HSU must complete a minimum of 25% of the semester credit hours (excluding Intercollege work) in residence at HSU. At least 12 upper level hours in the major field and 6 upper level hours in the minor field must be taken from HSU.
Transfer Work During the Senior Year: A maximum of nine semester hours may be transferred from another senior institution during the senior year (last 30 hours), provided the student has met the minimum residence requirement. See also Post-Enrollment Transfer Credit.
Transfer Credit for Non-Collegiate Courses: Transfer credit is given for equivalent work done under the supervision of the United States Armed Forces Institute and related service schools in keeping with the recommendations of the American Council on Education and the Commission on Educational Credit. Credit for the satisfactory completion of non-collegiate courses may also be awarded in subject fields applicable to degrees at HSU, in keeping with stipulations in the Directory of the National Program on Non-Collegiate Sponsored Institutions published by the American Council on Education. Credit may also be awarded for scores of 5, 6, or 7 in Higher Level courses offered through the International Baccalaureate and approved by the appropriate department. Final approval rests with the Registrar.
Post-Enrollment Transfer Credit: An HSU student who wishes to receive credit for courses taken concurrently or during the summer term at another college or university must obtain written permission documented by the submission of an approved authorization form supplied by the Registrar’s Office. Course work taken at HSU for which a grade has been reported may not be repeated and transferred from another institution.
Transfer of Chapel Credit: Chapel credits from other institutions are non-transferable. For each hour of course work that transfers to Hardin-Simmons transfer students will receive .65 chapel credits up to 60. Transfer students must attend at least 20 chapels to graduate. A total of 80 chapel credits are required.
Life Experience Credit: Although some colleges and universities may award “Life Experience Credit,” HSU does not award or accept such credit.
Transfer Equivalencies: Texas Common Course Numbering System indicates some of the transfer equivalencies of courses in the Texas common course numbering system. see a listing of equivalencies at https://www.hsutx.edu/academics/registrars-office/transfer-courses/
Correspondence Credit: No more than 12 credits of correspondence work may be accepted toward a baccalaureate degree at HSU. Correspondence work will not satisfy residence requirements. NOTE: correspondence courses and are NOT accepted for credit in foreign languages.

Applicants with Disabilities

Only persons who meet the academic and technical qualifications for admission established by Hardin-Simmons University will be admitted into the programs offered by the University. In assessing applications for admission, the University will reasonably accommodate the disabilities of applicants so long as those accommodations do not create an undue hardship on the University or alter academic requirements the University has established as essential to its program of instruction.

Distance Education For Out-Of-State Enrollment

On October 29, 2010, the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) released new program integrity regulations. One of the regulations focused on the need for an institution offering distance education, including practicums, seminars, test proctoring, online courses and degree studies, to acquire authorization from any state in which it operates. This authorization is required to maintain eligibility for students of the state to receive federal financial aid. From October 2010, HSU has demonstrated a “good faith” effort to comply in each state in which it serves students. States with regulations in place expect that institutions already be in compliance with their regulations before serving any students in their state.

HSU has been approved by the State of Texas to participate in the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements.

As of April 2020, 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S.Virgin Islands are members of SARA affording HSU permission to enroll students from these states in online coursework. Visit NC-SARA's website for the most current status of participating states.

What This Means

Before accepting enrollments from students residing in a non-SARA state (as of April 2021 California is the only non-SARA state), HSU must be in compliance with the distance learning regulations of the states in which students reside while enrolled. Some states require universities to seek approval before enrolling their residents, and the approval processes can be expensive and time intensive.

What Hardin-Simmons University Is Doing

HSU continues to work to obtain authorization from other non-SARA states. However, due to authorization and review processes associated with some states, we may be limited in our ability to accept some distance learning course enrollments. Please visit our website at www.hsutx.edu/online/ or contact the Provost Office, (325) 670- 1210 to inquire about the current status of your state with regard to this USDOE state authorization requirement. Depending on the status of your state of residence regarding the requirement, HSU may notify you that you are not eligible to register for HSU distance education courses. In this case, Hardin-Simmons University will provide assistance in finding alternatives.