Admissions

Transfering Credits

Graduate Students

The University reserves the right to refuse transfer credit in part or in whole or to allow credit provisionally. Up to 6 credit hours of course work may be accepted as transfer credit for graduate students provided the course work was completed within the past three years at an accredited college or university, the course work was taken for graduate credit and did not apply toward completion of requirements for another degree, and the student earned a grade of B or better in the course. A limited amount of additional transfer credit may be approved upon petition to the senior associate dean.

Undergraduate Students

Advanced standing may be awarded for appropriate course work completed at other accredited institutions provided minimum grade requirements have been met. The minimum acceptable grade is C for course work to be applied toward an undergraduate degree. Advanced standing may also be awarded for nontraditional classroom or clinical experience as outlined below. Health sciences degree programs vary in the amount of advanced standing they will award. For bachelor's programs, no more than 66 credit hours can be accepted as advanced standing from a two-year institution.

Credit by Examination: From Service Schools, from Non-collegiate Organiza­tions, and by Nontraditional Methods-Credit may be awarded through one or any combination of the following:

Special Departmental Examinations: Student may request approval from the appropriate dean, through the program director, to petition any department to take an examination covering the subject matter of a specific course. Approval of such a request may be granted only when the student has offered evidence of sufficient occupational or educational background to indicate a reasonable command of the subject matter. Departments reserve the right to deny such requests. Assigning credit by special departmental examination will depend on the depart­ment's evaluation of the examination. The examinations will normally be at least three hours duration. A fee for each course examination is charged for prepar­ing, administering, and grading the examination.

Waiving Courses by Examination:  In some instances, students may instead request approval to take a waiver examination to satisfy a curriculum requirement. The examination will normally be of at least one hour's duration; a fee is charged for each waiver examination. Students do not receive academic credit for waiver examinations. A student who has previously taken examinations to waive course requirements may not subse­quently take a special departmental examination for credit in the same course.

Credits for College Board College - Level Examination Program (CLEP): As of July 2001, CLEP examinations are offered as computer-based tests at most test centers. To earn credit, the student must score at the 50th percentile on each examination. GW grants credit for specific examinations. Those examinations that are not accepted include English Composition, English Composition with Essay, and College Mathe­matics. Arrangements for taking the examina­tions are the responsibility of the applicant and should be made through College Board College-Level Examination Board. Information is available at www.collegeboard.com/clep.

CLEP examinations are offered to military personnel through DANTES. Arrangements for taking DANTES CLEP examinations are the responsibility of the applicant and should be made through the military educational advisor.

Credit is not assigned for any examination that duplicates material studied in college course work previously completed. Assignment of credit is determined by the Office of Admissions for Health Sciences Programs.

Credit from Military Service Schools: A limited amount of credit may be assigned for selected military service school courses in accordance with recom­mendations from the American Council on Education's Guide to the Evaluation of Educational Experiences in the Armed Services.

Credit Earned through DANTES:  Credit may be assigned for approved Defense Activity for Nontraditional Education Support (DANTES) Subject Standardized Tests completed with the ACE recommended score. Additional information is available at www.getcollegecredit.com.