Transferring credits to SMU

Course equivalencies can be found using our Equivalency Course Tool. Courses not directly offered at SMU may receive generic course numbers or free-elective transfer credit. 

If a course isn’t listed, it will be evaluated after SMU receives your official college transcript. If you’re planning for a future transfer, contact transfer@smu.edu to inquire whether the course is transferable.

• Courses below college level, such as developmental English, math, and reading courses, as well as ESL courses
• Vocational-technical courses, including Workforce Education courses
• Physical education activity courses exceeding two credit hours
• Correspondence courses
• Courses completed at non-regionally accredited institutions
• Courses with a grade below C- (Note: While these courses are non-transferable, the grade is factored into the all-college GPA, which is used for admission eligibility and calculating Latin honors at graduation.)
• Credit by examination earned at another college or university

Yes. SMU accepts “Pass,” “Satisfactory,” and “Credit” grades for transfer courses if the awarding institution's grading scale defines them as equivalent to a grade of C- or better.

Yes. SMU lets students exclude courses taken 10+ years ago from their credit earned, transfer GPA, and admission review. Academic Forgiveness must be requested during the application process and applies to all coursework in and prior to the chosen term, no partial forgiveness is allowed.

Upon admission, you'll receive a Transfer Evaluation Report (TER) that shows which courses have been approved for SMU credit, the reasons why other courses were deemed non-transferable, and your transfer GPA.

Courses not directly offered at SMU may receive generic course numbers or free-elective (FETC) transfer credit. Generic course numbers include designations such as “XX” or “YY.”

Yes. If you received generic course numbers or free-elective transfer credit, you can submit a Re-Evaluation of Transfer Credit Petition along with a copy the course syllabus to request an SMU equivalency or Common Curriculum (CC) requirement.

Yes. You can use credit taken prior to high school graduation to satisfy Common Curriculum, major, minor, or elective requirements. To get credit, submit your official transcripts to Undergraduate Admission. Courses that were taken through dual or concurrent enrollment are designated as TRHS on the TER.

In your first semester at SMU, you can choose to rescind credit for a course taken before high school graduation. Doing so will remove the credit and exclude the course from your transfer GPA. This decision cannot be reversed.

Your Transfer GPA is the cumulative GPA earned from courses taken at your previous colleges or universities that are accepted for transfer credit. It is considered for both admission and transfer scholarship eligibility.

A grade of W (Withdrawn) is not included in the transfer GPA. A grade of I (Incomplete) or a missing grade is calculated as an F. A grade of IP (In Progress) for a current term is not calculated.

For majors requiring a subset of courses and specific GPAs for entry, the subset GPA is calculated using the first graded attempt of these courses, regardless of whether the course was failed or later repeated.

No. Your SMU cumulative GPA and major and minor GPAs are not calculated using your transfer grades. Your all-college GPA, which can be used to determine degree honors, includes your transfer grades.

Yes. Official transcripts are required for all college-level coursework attempted, regardless of transferability.

Transcripts must be sent directly to SMU from the issuing institution to be considered official. Transcripts issued to you are acceptable if they are received in a sealed, letterhead envelope with the Registrar’s Office stamp.

SMU only accepts electronic transcripts sent securely by the issuing institution (e.g., via Scrip-Safe, NSC, or GreenLight). Transcripts sent by students will not be accepted.

Transcripts must be dated fewer than three years prior to processing.

SMU’s preferred method of delivery is electronic transcripts. Transcripts must come directly from the transcript vendor. Make sure to select SMU Undergraduate Admission or enter ugadmission@smu.edu as the recipient.

Paper transcripts can be mailed to:

Office of Undergraduate Admissions
SMU
P.O. Box 750181
Dallas, TX 75275-0181

All international transcripts must be accompanied by a course-by-course professional evaluation from an approved agency.

No. Coursework from one institution that appears on another institution’s transcript will not be accepted for transfer credit. An official transcript must be issued by each institution attended. Copies of transcripts provided by other institutions are also not acceptable.

Yes. SMU recognizes that students may occasionally need to complete courses elsewhere. However, you must have pre-approval and you can only take coursework at accredited four-year colleges and universities after you enroll in SMU.

You must submit a Pre-Approval of Transfer Credit Petition before enrolling in courses at another institution. You may petition courses for free-elective, departmental or major, or Common Curriculum credit.

Many departments limit the types of courses eligible for post-matriculation transfer credit and may not accept certain modalities or method of delivery.

Students who fail to obtain prior approval may later petition for transfer credit, but there is no guarantee it will be granted.

After matriculating (officially enrolling) at SMU, students may transfer a maximum of 30 credit hours. This limit does not apply to transfer hours earned before officially enrolling in SMU.

If you complete more than 30 transferable hours post-matriculation, you can designate which of your courses will apply and you may change these designations. Any changes should be made in consultation with your records offices to ensure proper credit allocation.

No. SMU does not accept transfer credit from non-approved study abroad programs. If you have questions about study abroad, contact abroad@smu.edu.

Yes, you may petition to transfer up to 30 credits from regionally accredited four-year institutions.

After matriculating (officially enrolling) at SMU, students may transfer a maximum of 30 credit hours. This limit does not apply to transfer hours earned before officially enrolling in SMU.

You can designate which of their courses will apply to the 30-hour limit.

Yes. You may revise transfer-credit designations. These changes should be made in consultation with your records offices to ensure proper credit allocation.

Yes. SMU accepts “Pass” grades for transfer courses if the awarding institution’s grading scale defines “Pass” as equivalent to a grade of C- or better. For example, if a transferring institution considers “P" as passing with a C- or better, SMU will evaluate and award credit for the course.

You are limited to a total of 12 hours of “Pass” credits, including grades earned for accepted transfer courses.

No. The 12-hour limit is a firm requirement and cannot be waived.