Beginning with students enrolling at Puget Sound in Fall 2018:
College credits earned prior to high school graduation may transfer if such credits appear on the transcript of a regionally-accredited college or university. This includes coursework completed through concurrent enrollment programs, such as Washington’s Running Start and College in the High School programs. All other transfer restrictions apply, including:
1. Credit Limits: A degree at Puget Sound requires a minimum of 32.00 units; a maximum of 16.00 units of transfer credit may apply toward that total. One Puget Sound unit is equivalent to 4 semester credits or 6 quarter credits (e.g., a 3 semester credit course would equal 0.75 units and a 5 quarter credit course would equal 0.83 units).
a. No more than 2.00 units of activity credit may transfer.
b. The 16.00-unit maximum includes any credit awarded for credit-by-examination programs, such as Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate HL exams.
2. General Transferability: Transfer courses must be similar to courses taught at the University of Puget Sound or otherwise appropriate for inclusion in a liberal arts discipline, with a scholarly approach to the topic.
Note: We do not accept coursework designated as vocational or technical, remedial or retraining, focused on personal development, from professional disciplines not offered by the University, or that instructs in doctrine or ideology.
3. Core Requirements: Core Requirements may be fulfilled via college transfer credit. Transfer credit taken for Core Requirements is subject to some additional restrictions:
a. The Connections Core requirements (both the 100-level and 200-400 level courses) may not be completed via transferred courses.
b. Coursework for the Divisional Requirements must fit within one of the divisions approved by the faculty (Natural Scientific and Mathematical Perspectives, Social Scientific and Historical Perspectives, or Artistic and Humanistic Perspectives).
To fulfill other university Core Requirements, an eligible transfer course must be:
c. Worth at least 3 semester credits or 4 quarter credits, and,
d. Taken for a letter grade (not graded pass/fail).
Note: For students following the pre-2024/2025 core requirements, any course taken for the Natural Scientific Approaches Core must have a regular, formal laboratory component.
4. Major or Minor Credit: Acceptance of transfer credit toward major or minor requirements is at the discretion of the academic department, and may require review of course materials including assignments and syllabi. As most students do not declare a major until their sophomore year, we strongly recommend retaining all materials from transfer courses in case of more extensive review later. Some departments do not accept online coursework toward their major or minor requirements.
5. Washington State Direct Transfer Agreement (DTA): A student who matriculates at Puget Sound after completing a Direct Transfer Agreement associate degree through a Washington, Oregon, or California community college with a grade point average of 3.00 or higher shall be awarded junior standing, 16.00 total units of transfer credit, and shall be considered to have completed the Critical Conversations Seminar, and all three Divisional Core requirements. Completion of additional core requirements will be determined by evaluation of the student’s previous coursework on a course-by-course basis. Additionally, those who matriculate as transfer students (students who have attended another regionally accredited college or university *after* the completion of high school) shall be considered to have completed the 100 level Connections Core requirement. Degrees included in this policy are Washington’s DTA associate degree (AA-DTA), Oregon’s AAOT, and California’s AA-T and AS-T degrees.
The full list of all transfer credit policies and limits appears in the Academic and Administrative Policies section of the Bulletin under Transfer Information.
For students who enrolled at Puget Sound in Spring 2018 or earlier:
College credits earned prior to high school graduation may transfer only if the credits were earned in regularly scheduled college classes taught on a college campus, and if such courses exceeded the normal preparation a student would be expected to earn in high school. Such coursework is evaluated on a case-by-case basis.