Admission of Transfer Students

Students are welcome to transfer from both two-year and four-year institutions accredited by one of the accreditors previously designated as "regional" accreditors (e.g., Middle States Commission on Higher Education). Candidates for admission from two-year colleges are evaluated using the same criteria used for applicants from four-year institutions. All students must have a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale from their former college(s).

To be considered a transfer student, one must have accumulated 24 or more transferable credits after high school completion and before matriculating to GCU. A student who has not accumulated 24 transferable credits after completing high school and before matriculating to GCU will be considered a first-year student and must follow the requirements outlined in the Admissions Procedures for First-Year Students.

To receive a Georgian Court degree, a student is expected to complete a minimum of 30 credit hours at Georgian Court and General Education and major requirements and earn a minimum of 120 credits. At least half of the credits required for the major, minor, certificate, or certification program must be earned at Georgian Court. A student may transfer a maximum of 90 credits of which no more than 75 may transfer from two-year institutions and no more than 48 credits may count as general electives based on the student’s major at the time of enrollment. Credits are accepted from institutions accredited by one of the accreditors previously designated as "regional" accreditors (e.g., Middle States Commission on Higher Education). Credits from other institutions will be considered for acceptance on a case-by-case basis. Credits accepted in transfer become part of the student’s permanent record. As such, they cannot be replaced by new transfer courses.

The Transfer of Credit policy in the Academic Policies and Procedures section of the catalog governs courses accepted in transfer. Equivalencies for courses taken at a New Jersey community college are listed at http://www.njtransfer.org. Refer to Impact Curriculum Transfer Policy below for General Education courses accepted in transfer. In accordance with N.J. Revised Statute 18A:62-46.1, students who transfer credit from a New Jersey community college but have not earned an associate degree may earn an associate degree from their former community college after enrolling at Georgian Court through a process known as reverse transfer (see the Reverse Transfer section of the Academic Policies and Procedures part of the catalog, under the Transfer of Credit section).  

Admission Procedures for Transfer Students

1. Transfer applications should be sent to the Office of Admissions. Students are encouraged to apply by August 1 for the fall semester and January 1 for the spring semester.
2. Official transcripts from all previously attended colleges must be submitted to the Office of Admissions. Students who would have completed fewer than 24 college-level credits prior to matriculating into Georgian Court University must follow the requirements outlined in the Admissions Procedures for First-Year Students. Students with military experience and training should have an official copy of their Joint Services (military) transcript, showing ACE credit recommendations, sent to GCU. Students currently enrolled in courses elsewhere must have a transcript forwarded to the Office of the Registrar at the end of the semester to complete the transfer of credits and to register for the following semester.
3. The grades for all college-level credits from ALL institutions previously attended are included in the Admission Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA). Only developmental/skills courses (i.e., courses that are lower than the 100 level or do not count toward the student’s degree requirements) are excluded from the Admission CGPA. The Admission CGPA is used to determine acceptance to Georgian Court, and, in some instances, to certain degree programs. A minimum CGPA of 2.0 is required for acceptance to Georgian Court. Specific CGPA requirements can be found in the academic department section of this catalog. The student’s new CGPA will be based upon all credits attempted at Georgian Court University.
4. All admitted students receive a Preliminary Progress Chart prepared by the Office of the Registrar. This chart assists students and academic advisors with course selection. Transferable courses will be designated on the Progress Chart by the letter “T” and the grade earned. The Office of the Registrar reserves the right to make corrections/adjustments to the Progress Chart.
5. Only courses in which a grade of C or higher have been achieved may be accepted in transfer. These courses will be counted as credit toward the Georgian Court program but will not be included in the Georgian Court cumulative grade point average.
6. A student who receives an offer of admission must acknowledge acceptance by sending a $250 nonrefundable deposit. The deposit priority deadline is May 1 for the fall semester and January 1 for the spring semester. Residence facilities are available for full-time matriculating students. Payment of the deposit will begin the enrollment procedures.
7. Upon receipt of the registration instructional materials, students must make an appointment to meet with their academic advisor(s) or attend an admissions registration event before they can register online.

Student Immunization & Document Requirements

All students are required to complete a Student Health Form and provide documentation of immunizations before attending class and/or moving into residence halls. Click here to complete your health forms via the student health portal.

Failure to comply will result in a hold on your account and inability to register for future classes.

Georgian Court University Requires the Following:

• Measles/Mumps/Rubella (MMR): Two doses: First dose given after 1968 and on or after 12 months of age; second dose separated at least by 28 days from the first dose or laboratory report indicating positive immunity.
• Hepatitis B: (Full-Time Undergraduate and Graduate Students Taking 9 or More Credits): Three doses of vaccine (two doses of adult vaccine in adolescents 11 to 15 years of age)/or laboratory report indicating positive immunity.
• Meningococcal (must include Groups A, C, Y, & W-135): Requirement for all first-time students under the age of 19 (Commuters and Residents) and Resident Students over the age of 19. Meningococcal Meningitis vaccine given on or after 16th birthday. Booster dose required if given prior to 16th birthday.
• Verification of a negative Tuberculosis (Mantoux) test or Quantiferon Gold-TB test is required of all resident students performed within 6 months PRIOR to move-in date. International commuter students must submit results from testing within 6 months prior to the start of classes. 

IMPACT Curriculum Transfer Policy

Under the IMPACT program (the name of GCU's general education program), the objective of the transfer policy is to be equitable and generous to both community college and four-year university transfers, while still upholding the values and objective of our program.

Students can transfer courses to meet the requirements of each of the Distributive Competencies based on either (1) equivalency of a course they have previously taken to a course that GCU has approved for that category—including courses approved via NJ Transfer—or (2) a course in one of the disciplines that meets the requirements of the competency, even if it is not a direct equivalent to one of our approved courses.

For the CORE Courses (GEN101, GEN199, GEN400, Religious Studies, Ethics, and Power & Society), the following applies:

• GEN101 is a requirement only for first time in college students. First time in college students are:
  • those who are traditional first-year students, earned college credits in high school, or earned an associate degree while in high school; or
  • those who have not accumulated 24 transferable credits after completing high school and before matriculating to GCU.
• GEN199 will be waived for students entering GCU with 45 or more credits, but they may take the course as an elective.
• GEN400 has no equivalency and is required of all students.
• For the Common Intellectual Experience (CIE) CORE courses (Religious Studies, Ethics, and Power & Society), transfer courses must be directly equivalent to a course that GCU has approved for that category.

For transfer students who, prior to enrolling at Georgian Court, earn an associate degree from an institution accredited by one of the accreditors previously designated as "regional" accreditors (e.g., Middle States Commission on Higher Education) with a cumulative G.P.A. of at least 2.0, Georgian Court’s Block Transfer Policy applies:

1. Transcripts are evaluated such that the associate degree general education program credits will be transferred in full toward meeting GCU's General Education Requirements.
2. Only courses in which a grade of C or higher has been achieved are eligible for transfer.
3. Courses transferred as part of the associate degree’s general education program that have GCU General Education equivalents will be transferred as those equivalent courses. Other general education courses required for the associate degree will be transferred as General Education electives.
4. Students utilizing Block Transfer are waived from all Distributive Competencies but will still need to fulfill the GCU Writing Requirement. 
5. Fulfilling the GCU Writing Requirement: Block transfer students who have GCU transfer credit for the equivalent of EN111 Academic Writing and Research I and a second qualifying college composition course above the EN111 Academic Writing and Research I level at the time they enter GCU will fulfill the GCU Writing Requirement.

NOTE:  The block transfer policy will not apply, even if a student is issued a preliminary progress chart reflecting block transfer, unless a student’s official transcript showing an earned associate degree is received no later than within the first six weeks of the first fall or spring semester of enrollment as a GCU student.

The following policies apply to all transfer students, including those for whom the block transfer policy applies:

1. Only courses in which a grade of C or higher has been achieved are eligible for transfer.
2. Common Intellectual Experience Courses: All GCU students must either transfer in or take approved courses in the following three categories:
   1. Religious Studies
   2. Power & Society
   3. Ethics
3. All GCU students must take GEN400 WI:Visioning a Future.
4. All GCU students must earn a minimum of 33 credits in General Education and complete the experiential learning requirements. Students who have not earned a total of 33 credits in the general education area after completing the three common intellectual experience courses listed above and GEN400 WI:Visioning a Future must earn the remaining General Education credits by choosing courses that satisfy General Education categories for which the students did not transfer equivalent courses.
5. General Education courses required for the major program cannot be waived.
6. GCU accepts a total of 30 credits from all testing sources combined. To receive credit, students must earn a minimum of a C or its equivalent. Please read the full Credit by Testing policy in the Academic Policies and Procedures section of the catalog. Refer to Table II-D for CLEP exams accepted in transfer, and Table II-E for DSST (formerly DANTES) exams accepted in transfer. 
7. Students who transfer in 75 or more credits with a second qualifying college composition course above the EN111 Academic Writing and Research I level at the time they enter GCU will fulfill the GCU Writing Requirement. Students who transfer in 75 or more credits without a second qualifying college composition course above the EN111 Academic Writing and Research I level at the time they enter GCU must fulfill the Writing Intensive component of the GCU Writing Requirement or may petition by submitting a portfolio of their writing to the director of the writing program to determine whether or not the Writing Intensive component has been fulfilled.

IMPACT CURRICULUM COURSE EQUIVALENCIES FOR TRANSFER STUDENTS

Most of the information below providing course equivalency information for Distributive Competencies, Common Intellectual Experience, and Experiential Learning is useful only for transfer students entering GCU without an associate degree. Students who have earned an associate degree should refer to information regarding “block transfer” in the above section of the catalog or on the Admissions/Transfer Students web page at http://www.georgian.edu/admissions/transfer/.

The information below cannot be used by current GCU students to determine equivalencies for courses not yet taken. Once enrolled at GCU, courses taken off campus must be directly equivalent to courses appearing on the General Education web page at http://www.georgian.edu/academics/general-education/ and in the GCU undergraduate catalog. Please refer to http://www.njtransfer.org for course equivalencies for New Jersey community college courses.

A. DISTRIBUTIVE COMPETENCIES           

1. Academic Writing, Information Literacy, & AI Proficiency    

Criteria:   

1. Course focuses on academic writing and research.
2. Students will complete multiple writing tasks of progressive length and complexity totaling at least 18-20 pages.
3. Students will revise their graded writing assignments and/or drafts.
4. Students will learn basic information literacy: finding, evaluating, synthesizing, and documenting sources.
5. Students will learn foundational AI tools that ethically support the research, writing, and revision process.

Discipline Equivalencies: EN111, but other courses from other institutions that do not include AI proficiency will be accepted as long as they meet the other requirements of the course.

2. Creative Thinking & Expression            

Criteria:           

1. Course teaches survey, history, or practice of an art to develop knowledge and appreciation of the form.
2. Course offers opportunities for creating, workshopping, revising, and sharing art OR applying creative thinking to understand and respond to a complex problem or idea.

Discipline Equivalencies: Any studio art course in the visual or performing arts, including, but not limited to, the disciplines of art, creative writing, dance, film production, theater, graphic design, and music. Any art history, theory, or appreciation course, including, but not limited to, the disciplines listed in the preceding sentence.

3. Critical Reading & Analysis 

Criteria:           

1. Course teaches students strategies and techniques for reading and interpreting primary texts, analyzing and synthesizing secondary sources, and evaluating the significance of a text's message, purpose, or argument.
2. Course assesses reading comprehension through written, oral, or project-based assignments.

Discipline Equivalencies: Any course in the humanities that requires students to engage in critical reading, writing, and thinking, including, but not limited to, the disciplines of English/literature, history, philosophy, and religious studies/theology.       

4. Mathematical Reasoning     

Criteria:           

1. Course comes from areas in mathematics. A course based on discipline-specific applications of mathematics may also qualify, provided that a substantial focus on mathematical principles and applications forms the core of the syllabus.
2. Students will learn about principles, theories, methods, and analysis, along with applications in mathematics.
3. Students will select and apply appropriate mathematical knowledge and skills when solving problems.

Discipline Equivalencies: Any non-skills development course in mathematics.              

5. Intercultural Understanding & Intercultural Communication        

Criteria:           

1. Course will teach the knowledge and skills required for students to exhibit awareness and respect for diverse cultural perspectives and traditions.
2. Course will provide opportunities for students to interact and negotiate meaning in spoken or written dialogue across cultural contexts.

Discipline Equivalencies: Any foreign language course, including American Sign Language.       

6. Understanding Human Behavior & Social Systems   

Criteria:           

1. Course will include how social institutions, cultures, and organizations determine socially/culturally acceptable behavior and reactions/responses to socially/culturally unacceptable behavior.
2. Course will include how and why social scientists gather and analyze data, whether qualitative or quantitative, to answer questions or make arguments.
3. Course will provide opportunities for students to apply the theories and practice the methods of social science to understand human behavior.

Discipline Equivalencies: Any course in the social sciences that helps students recognize how social institutions, cultures, and organizations influence human behaivor, including, but not limited to, the disciplines of anthropology, economics, political science, psychology, and sociology.             

7. Scientific Thinking      

Criteria:           

1. The majority of the course (more than 50%) focuses on basic science (basic science has the goal of increasing knowledge or understanding of natural phenomena without a specific goal of application or product development).
2. Course must include a lab.
3. Students will learn about scientific evidence, principles, theories, methods and analysis along with applications.

Discipline Equivalencies: Any science course with a lab, including, but not limited to, the disciplines of astronomy, biology, chemistry, earth science, environmental science, geology, oceanography, and physics.     

B. COMMON INTELLECTUAL EXPERIENCE 

1. Religious Studies        

Criteria:           

1. Course comes from disciplines of religious studies or theology and introduces students in some significant way to the Christian tradition, with a particular focus on Catholicism.
2. Students will learn how to read and interpret primary religious texts.
3. Students will be introduced to the tradition of Catholic Social Teaching.

Transfer Equivalencies: Determined on a case-by-case basis.   

2. Ethics      

Criteria:           

1. Course is a general introduction to ethics in which at least 50% of the course focuses on foundational theological and/or philosophical ethical approaches and methods and includes those related to social justice.
2. Students will read primary texts in the philosophical and/or theological traditions as more than 50% of their reading assignments.
3. Students will learn how to formulate ethical arguments.

Transfer Equivalencies: Will be determined on a case-by-case basis.   

3. Power & Society           

Criteria:           

1. Course will examine power structures in society, especially the effect of systemic oppression on traditionally marginalized populations, but should in some way reflect the university's special concern for women.

Transfer Equivalencies: Will be determined on a case-by-case basis.   

C. EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING       

Criteria:           

1. Two experiences must be successfully completed: 1) GEN400 WI:Visioning a Future, which includes a service learning project; and 2) a service learning project completed in a course other than GEN101 Pathway to the Bridge Pathway to the Bridge or GEN400 WI:Visioning a Future, an internship/practicum/field placement, an approved education abroad experience, or an approved research experience.

Transfer Equivalencies: Will be determined on a case-by-case basis.