Transfer Credit Policies

View Henderson's Transfer Course Equivalency Tables

Prior college-level coursework completed at either a two-year or four-year institution will be evaluated only after a student is admitted to Henderson State University and once all prior transcripts are submitted. All transcripts should be submitted to the Admissions Office. For information regarding transfer admission requirements, please visit Henderson's transfer admissions page.

Prior college transcripts will be evaluated for courses capable of counting toward the Liberal Arts Core as well as major and minor program requirements. Once this evaluation is complete new students will be invited to meet with an advisor, who will guide them through the process of establishing a degree plan. Accepted transfer work will be added to the student's Henderson State transcript with notations reflecting approved equivalencies. Henderson State University proudly honors transfer course equivalencies established under the Arkansas Course Transfer System (ACTS).

Important Transfer Credit Policies

In ALL cases, official transcripts from the originating institution or testing organization will be required prior to any credits being posted to the HSU transcript.

Only transfer courses earning a "C" grade or better will be considered for credit at HSU. As an exception, students may petition for up to 7 hours of "D" level work to be accepted toward Liberal Arts Core requirements.

Remedial and Developmental courses will not transfer.

Transfer credits will not be calculated into a student's cumulative GPA at HSU.

Maximum allowed transfer credit hours toward undergraduate degree = 90

Minimum required credit hours completed at HSU (in residency) = 30

Maximum 60 transfer credit hours from two-year school (if an Associates was awarded from the two-year school the maximum allowed is 64 hours)

Of the maximum 90 transfer credits allowed 60 - 64 may be from two-year schools (see the bullet above)

Transfer credits earned while academically suspended from Henderson will be accepted pending proper evaluation.

If the credit hours for a transfer course differ from a HSU equivalent course, the student will be awarded the number of credit hours offered by the originating institution.

In extremely rare cases HSU program directors may allow a transfer course completed at the lower division level to fulfill a major/minor requirement normally satisfied by an upper division course. In this case the transcript will note an “L” prior to the course number to indicate the course is a lower level credit. IMPORTANT NOTE - In these cases the student will NOT be awarded credit toward the 42 upper division hrs required for graduation.

Transfer courses completed at the upper-division level may be used to fulfill requirements met by similar HSU courses taught at the lower division level. In these cases because the student completed the course at the upper division level, corresponding credits may count toward the 42 upper-division hours required for graduation.

Concerning schools on a quarter-term system, credits awarded by the originating institution will be divided by 1.5 to determine appropriate semester hours.

International transfer credits must be evaluated by a member organization of Association for International Credential Evaluators, Inc. (AICE) or National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES).

Students with a prior Bachelor degree from a U.S. accredited school will be considered to have met the LAC requirement - not including writing across the curriculum, non-western, and writing intensive course within a major. All students must complete a U.S. Government or U.S. History course in order to graduate from HSU. Note that this is different from earning a second sequential Bachelor degree from Henderson. Students with a prior Bachelor degree from another school should consult the appropriate policy within the academic catalog.

CLEP, DSST, AP, IB, Departmental & Microsoft Certification College Credit

Henderson State welcomes students who have earned college credit by examination. Exam scores for CLEP, DSST, AP, IB & Microsoft Certification should be submitted directly to the Registrar’s Office. The university does not transcript A-F letter grades for CLEP, DSST, AP, IB, & Microsoft Certification college credit. In all cases credit will be transcripted as CR (Credit Earned). Exam scores not meeting minimal standards as determined by the awarding organization will not be transcripted. Henderson State reserves the right to require scores greater than the minimal standards. Departmental credit by examination may be transcripted with A-F grading. A maximum of 30 credit hours by examination may count toward graduation.

Note: As of May 15, 2017 Henderson State University no longer accepts credits from StraighterLine or Sophia Learning.

American Council On Education (ACE) Military Transcripts

Henderson State welcomes students with college credit awarded by ACE for military experience and education. A maximum of 30 credit hours of ACE military credit may count toward graduation. Credit will be denoted on the transcript as CR (Credit Earned).

Reverse Transfer

Students who have enrolled at an accredited Professional School (e.g., dental, medical, pharmacy, optometry, chiropractic or veterinary) prior to completion of a degree at Henderson State University may, upon successful completion of the first year of their professional program, receive an undergraduate degree from HSU provided they have met the following requirements.

Successful completion of at least 90 undergraduate credits prior to entering professional school with at least 30 credit hours earned in residence at HSU;

Completion of at least 42 upper division undergraduate credit hours;

Completion of all state mandated liberal arts core requirements; and

Completion of all requirements for a major area of study. Courses in the professional curriculum may, with approval of the program director, be used to satisfy the major requirements.

This policy may be implemented by a student at any time. However, students who do not request the bachelor degree within one calendar year of leaving HSU will have their catalog year for graduation requirements moved forward to the current catalog. This may result in additional courses being required from Henderson State University. An official transcript from the attended professional school must be submitted before the bachelor degree can be awarded.

Note: Upon awarding the Bachelor degree a comment will be added to the HSU transcript indicating the application of this policy.

Transfer Agreements

The University has a number of transfer agreements with a variety of Institutions. Those can be found on the registrar’s website. https://hsu.edu/academics/registrar/transfer-and-credit/

Note: The nature of some agreements may not require a course equivalency table.