OFFICE OF THE REGISTRAR

Procedure

If you plan to take a course elsewhere please submit this form as soon as possible. Forms can potentially take weeks to complete the approval process so it is strongly recommended that an approval request be submitted at least a month prior to the start date of the course.

1. Consult your advisers (college, major) before deciding to take a course for transfer credit. Obtain appropriate supporting documents, such as course descriptions or syllabi, for the course(s) you propose to take. Links to supplementary web materials are also accepted.
   
   
2. Submit the Post-Matriculation Transfer Course Proposal form. The form routes electronically to appropriate approvers based on the information you submit. You can expect your post-matriculation transfer course proposal form to go through the following steps:
   1. Your proposal will be sent to your home school for their review and approval.
   2. If your home school approves, your proposal will then be sent to the Northwestern department you indicated on your proposal for their approval.
   3. If the department approves, your proposal will then be sent back to you to review what your home school and the Northwestern department said. You may access the form at this step either via email or via the Frevvo Task List.
      1. (If you proposed applying your transfer course to a major, minor, or certificate, your proposal will be sent to an advisor for the major, minor, or certificate you select. If they approve, your proposal will then be sent back to you to review what your home school, Northwestern department, and major/minor/certificate advisor all said.)
   4. If you approve, your proposal will then be sent back to your home school for their final approval.
   5. If your home school approves, your proposal will be sent to the Office of the Registrar to await your submission of the official transcript you will provide.

   You will also receive update emails at every step once you begin a form. At any point in this process too, any participant may ask for more information or reject the proposal outright. You will receive emailed updates in any of those cases as well.

3. Upon completion of the course, have a final, official transcript sent from the offering institution to:
   Northwestern University
   Office of the Registrar
   Attn: Transfer Credit
   633 Clark St.
   Evanston, IL 60208-1118
   
   If your institution offers an official e-transcript delivery option, please have them sent to nu-transfer-credit@northwestern.edu. Emails with transcripts as PDF attachments are considered unofficial and will not be accepted.
   
   
4. Once the transcript is received and matched to the approval form, the credit will be articulated to your record in CAESAR.  Please note that approval of your course proposal does not guarantee an articulation. Final articulations are subject to the review of the course as submitted on the official transcript. 

• Students must apply for permission to study abroad by the appropriate Northwestern application deadline and fulfill all Northwestern study abroad requirements.
• This applies to all terms and programs (Northwestern, Exchange, Affiliated, and Unaffiliated programs).
• International students on F1/J1 visas* seeking to take courses at foreign institutions in their countries of permanent residence/citizenship are exempt from fulfilling the above study abroad requirements. Such students should consult their Office of International Student and Scholar Services Adviser about potential visa considerations before finalizing plans to study in their country of residence/citizenship. Students must submit a Post-Matriculation Transfer Course Proposal form and may be required to make an appointment with the Senior Associate Director of the Global Learning Office to determine eligibility and/or verify the foreign institution’s accreditation. These students should follow the steps outlined above to consult on-campus advisers, submit applications for credit in advance of enrolling, and after completing class(es) submit final, official transcripts to the Office of the Registrar.

*Dual citizens and other students who do not hold F1/J1 visas may seek a visa exemption from the Global Learning Office by sending a copy of the Biographical Page in their passport for the country in which they’re seeking to study to global@northwestern.edu. Such students should ensure they are enrolled in a health care plan in that country; if not, they should consider purchasing NU’s GeoBlue health insurance policy through the Office of Global Safety and Security

• Submit your study abroad program evaluation after you return.
• Have your final, official transcript sent from your study abroad program or host institution to the Global Learning Office.
• Once the Global Learning Office has verified completion of your program evaluation and received your transcript, your Northwestern University transcript will be updated with eligible transfer credits from study abroad.
• Eligible transfer credits will appear on the Northwestern University transcript as general credits: Gen_Cred 1XX, which will count as elective credits.
• To articulate general credits into Northwestern courses and possibly apply some of them toward major/minor requirements, follow your school’s process for petitioning to designate general credits as something other than electives.

For students on full-time study abroad, a credit conversion ratio, which is based on the total number of credits needed to earn an undergraduate degree at Northwestern University (45 units is used as the standard minimum), compared to the total number of credits needed to earn an undergraduate degree at a foreign institution (equivalent to US Bachelor’s degree), will be calculated to convert foreign credits to Northwestern units. In the example of the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) used throughout Europe, which requires the completion of 180 ECTS credits (60 ECTS/year) for most undergraduate programs, the credit conversion ratio is 0.25 (45/180). A student who completes 20 ECTS credits will receive a total of 5 Northwestern units as transfer credits (Gen_Cred 1XX). In the process of calculating a credit conversion ratio, the result is rounded up to the nearest integer if it has a decimal of 0.5 or higher. Students participating in exchange programs and affiliated programs that offer direct enrollment should refer to their program page for the credit conversion ratio for their program.