Credit Transfer Policies

Transferring Credit to COM

It is the student’s responsibility to send official transcripts from former colleges to the Admissions and Records Office before being admitted. Transcripts are considered official only when they are

  • received through the mail,
  • hand delivered in a sealed envelope, signed by the registrar and bearing the seal of that college or university, or
  • received electronically through SPEEDE or TREX.

Transcripts received become the property of COM. You must request transcript evaluations by submitting a transcript evaluation form to the Admissions and Records Office. Transcript evaluation forms may be found at www.com.edu/admissions/academic-records or the Admissions and Records Office.

GENERAL REGULATIONS GOVERNING TRANSFER OF COLLEGE CREDIT

  1. The college from which credit is to be transferred must be accredited by one of the nine regional accrediting associations.
  2. Courses with a letter grade of C or better transfer with the corresponding number of semester hours.
  3. Courses that are not applicable to programs at COM may not transfer or fulfill degree requirements.
  4. When a course has been repeated for credit, the highest grade and hours will determine the acceptance of the course.
  5. Transfer grades earned at other institutions are not included in computing the cumulative GPA at COM.
  6. College transcript evaluations are completed within two to four weeks after a transcript evaluation form has been submitted to the Admissions and Records Office. To check the status of an evaluation, a student can run a program evaluation in WebAdvisor.
  7. All foreign transcripts must be evaluated by SpanTran Educational Services Inc. or any other agency approved by COM for acceptance of equivalent coursework.

Reverse Transfer

Students who have not completed all course requirements but have completed the residency requirements for a degree or certificate from COM may fulfill their course requirements at another regionally accredited institution and transfer the credits to COM. If the requirements for a degree or certificate are met, COM will automatically issue the award. Students may graduate in accordance with the requirements stated in the catalog in effect up to five years before the date of graduation.

Transfer Criteria

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has adopted the criteria listed below for lower-division and upper-division course credit. The following mandatory provisions regarding transfer of course credits pertain only to credits earned at a Texas public community college or university accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

  1. Criteria for Lower-Division Course Credit Baccalaureate/Associate Degree Courses - Courses offered in the first two years of college study are those which:
  2. Are identified by a majority of public four year undergraduate institutions in the state as courses intended to comprise the first two years of collegiate study, and
  3. Stress development of disciplinary knowledge and skill at an introductory level; or
  4. Include basic principles and verbal, mathematical, and scientific concepts associated with an academic discipline.
  5. Criteria for Upper-Division Course Credit Upper-Division (Baccalaureate) Courses - Courses offered only in the third or fourth years of a baccalaureate program are those which:
  6. Are identified by a majority of public 4-year undergraduate institutions in the state as courses intended to comprise the third and fourth years of post-secondary study, AND
  7. Involve theoretical or analytical specialization beyond the introductory level, OR
  8. Require knowledge and skills provided by previous courses for successful performance by students.

Transfer Curricula

  1. A community college or university shall evaluate course credits presented by admissible transfer students on the same basis as if the credits had been earned at the receiving institution.
  2. The content of a course as reflected in its description, not its source of funding, shall determine its transferability and applicability to a degree program.
  3. No university shall be required to accept by transfer or toward a degree more than 66 semester hours, or half of the degree requirements if these constitute fewer than 66 hours of credits earned by a student in a community college. In addition to the courses listed in the appropriately approved transfer curriculum, the university may count additional lower division courses in the student’s major to give the total of 66 hours. No university is required by this policy to accept more than 66 hours; however, the university may accept additional hours.
  4. Any student transferring from a community college to a university shall have the same choice of catalog designating degree requirements as the student would have had if the dates of attendance at the university had been the same as the dates of attendance at the community college.
  5. Each Texas public community college or university shall accept course credits earned by any student transferring from another accredited Texas public community college or university, provided such credits are within the approved transfer curriculum of the student’s declared major field at the receiving institution. Each Texas public community college or university shall grant full value for transfer curriculum course credits toward degree requirements as they apply to the student’s declared major. Additional course credits may be accepted in transfer at the discretion of the receiving institution.
  6. Since courses included in each transfer curriculum vary according to the major subject areas represented, a student should be advised:
  7. To declare a major prior to attaining sophomore standing at a community college
  8. To declare a major at the time a request is made for admission to a degree program at a university
  9. To be aware that a change of major may result in loss of credits earned in the previous program.
  10. A student shall not be required to complete an entire transfer curriculum for credit in individual courses to be transferable and applicable to a degree program.
  11. The Registrar will serve as articulation officer and be responsible for the dissemination of information relating to the transfer of credit and transfer curricula, and for coordinating the evaluation of transfer credit by advisors within the various academic units on campus to ensure consistency.
  12. Lower-division courses included in the Academic Course Guide Manual and specified in the definition of “Lower-Division Course Credit” shall be freely transferable to and accepted as comparable degree credit by any Texas public institution of higher education where the equivalent course is available for fulfilling baccalaureate degree requirements. It is understood that each Texas institution of higher education may have limitations that invalidate courses after a specific length of time. For Texas community colleges, these freely transferable courses are identified in the latest revised edition of Coordinating Board publication, Community College General Academic Course Guide Manual: A Manual of Approved General Academic Transfer Courses for State Appropriations to Texas Public Community Colleges (revised 2005). Specifically excluded are courses designated as vocational, ESL/ESOL, technical, developmental or remedial, and courses listed as “basic skills.” For senior four-year institutions, lower-division courses that have the same course content and CIP codes as approved by the Coordinating Board shall bear equivalent credit. Specifically excluded are courses designated as ESL/ESOL, technical and developmental/remedial courses. Within the spirit of the law, it is realized that differences in interpretation of “same course content” may generate disputes.
  13. When approved by the Coordinating Board, the transfer curriculum for each subject area shall be published individually and disseminated with these general provisions by the Coordinating Board to the chief academic officer, articulation officer, Registrar, and other appropriate administrators of higher education in Texas. 35 Beginning the Pathway
  14. Institutions are encouraged to assist the Coordinating Board staff in developing course tables for each transfer curriculum. Articulation officers at the universities will be the contacts for the Coordinating Board staff in obtaining the numbers of equivalent courses for each transfer curriculum and periodically updating these tables.
  15. Each transfer curriculum shall include a general description of every course in that curriculum. The Coordinating Board shall provide for the review and revision of each curriculum as needed or at least every five years.
  16. Any community college or university choosing to grant credit for courses taken by non-traditional modes shall evaluate and validate the learning according to policy established at the receiving institution. Examples of non-traditional modes include:
  17. National examination
  18. Institutional examination taken in lieu of course enrollment
  19. Course taken at non-degree granting institution (e.g., military)
  20. Work experience
  21. Life experience

The specific nature of this credit shall be so indicated on the student’s transcript. The total amount of non-traditional credit accepted, if any, shall be entirely controlled by the receiving institution.

  1. Institutions that establish institution-wide enrollment ceilings or specific program enrollment controls may be exempted from certain of these general provisions by the Commissioner of Higher Education upon adequate justification.
  2. The Coordinating Board staff shall periodically schedule workshops on articulation issues.

Transferring COM Course Credit 

COM course credits will transfer to other colleges or universities. Students should see their assigned Advisor for assistance with the transfer process.

Transfer Dispute Resolution

Transfer disputes may arise when a lower-division course is not accepted for credit by a Texas institution of higher education. To qualify as a dispute, the course(s) in question must be offered by the institution denying the credit (receiving institution), or in the case of upper-level institutions, must be published as a lower-division course accepted for fulfilling lower-level requirements. For community colleges, the course(s) must be listed in the Community College General Academic Course Guide Manual, and be offered at the receiving institution. Additionally, the sending institution must challenge the receiving institution’s denial of credit.

Grounds for Denial of Admission

If, upon an examination of the applicant’s personal history and a thorough pre-admissions interview, the College considers it probable that the applicant’s pattern of behavior would be disruptive, COM may deny admission or may admit on a provisional basis with certain conditions required.