Transfer Credit Evaluation Notes
Key to Abbreviations Used in UT Transfer Credit Evaluations
| ACT | generic Physical Education activity (PED) credit |
|---|---|
| ADV | generic upper-division (junior/senior) credit |
| APADV | generic upper-division (junior/senior) Music Performance credit |
| APP | generic lower-division (freshman/sophomore) Music Performance credit |
| ELV | generic elective credit (used in place of a UT Austin department abbreviation) |
| FLA | generic foreign language credit (used as department abbreviation for languages not taught at UT Austin) |
| FLAB | generic freshman-level lecture+laboratory credit in Natural Science departments |
| FLIT | generic freshman-level literature credit in English |
| FRMN | generic freshman-level lecture credit |
| HR, HRS | generic lower-division (freshman/sophomore) credit |
| LAB | generic lower-division (freshman/sophomore) laboratory credit in Natural Science or Engineering departments |
| LBADV | generic upper-division (junior/senior) laboratory credit in Natural Science or Engineering departments |
| LIT | generic lower-division (freshman/sophomore) Music literature credit |
| LTADV | generic upper-division (junior/senior) English or Music literature credit |
| N/C | nontransferable credit |
| SIG | generic Signature Course credit in Undergraduate Studies |
| SLAB | generic sophomore-level lecture+laboratory credit in Natural Science departments |
| SLIT | generic sophomore-level literature credit in English |
| SOPH | generic sophomore-level lecture credit |
| TX | generic lower-division (freshman/sophomore) Texas Government or History credit, applies toward legislative requirement |
| TXADV | generic upper-division (junior/senior) Texas Government or History credit, applies toward legislative requirement |
| U S | generic lower-division (freshman/sophomore) United States Government or History credit, applies toward legislative requirement |
| USADV | generic upper-division (junior/senior) United States Government or History credit, applies toward legislative requirement |
| US+TX | generic lower-division (freshman/sophomore) combined United States & Texas Government credit, applies toward legislative requirement |
| 000000 | used in the ATE inventory as the sending institution's course number to indicate all courses for a given prefix/department abbreviation are nontransferable |
ATE Modifiers & Updates
ATE system taken thru/from andsubmitted thru/from modifying conditions are ending/beginning dates for an evaluation, expressed by semester (fall, spring, summer) and year.
The UT major modifying condition identifies a variant evaluation for students enrolled in a particular UT Austin undergraduate division.
The ATE inventory is subject to ongoing review, and transfer credit evaluations may change over time. ATE maintenance is based on frequency of credit transferred to UT Austin. Higher-traffic institutions are reviewed before those from which less credit is submitted. Similarly, freshman and sophomore courses are reviewed more often because most transfer credit is lower-division.
Level of Transfer Credit
Junior/community college courses transfer to UT Austin as lower-division (freshman or sophomore) credit.
University/four-year college courses transfer at the same level, lower- or upper-division, as they were taken at the sending institution.
Graduate, professional, or other post-baccalaureate level coursework is not transferred as undergraduate credit.
Degree Applicability
The student's UT Austin undergraduate division determines transfer credit applicability toward a degree. Questions regarding degree requirements should be directed to an advisor in the appropriate UT dean's office or department.
The “Planner” option of UT's Interactive Degree Audit (IDA) system estimates degree applicability of transfer credit.
Transfer Credit Grades
Transfer credit is not granted for courses in which a grade of D or F is earned.
Transfer credit grades are not computed in a student's internal UT Austin GPA.
Nontransferable Courses
Developmental/subcollege level courses (such as basic or intermediate algebra, developmental reading or writing) and workforce/vocational courses are not transferable to UT Austin.
Generic & Elective Transfer Credit Evaluations
Courses at other institutions often have no direct UT Austin equivalents, but nonetheless are accepted in transfer. If such a course is in a discipline offered at UT Austin it transfers as generic lower- or upper-division credit with no specific course number, for example “HIS 3 hrs” or “HIS 3 adv.”
Generic transfer credit is routinely assigned in some curricula, such as upper-division Biology, Computer Science, or Journalism and all Electrical Engineering coursework. A departmental or Dean's office advisor later determines the specific credit to be allowed for degree purposes on a substitution basis.
Elective (ELV) credit is assigned when a course is acceptable for transfer but no equivalent department exists at UT Austin. Use of elective credit toward a degree may be limited by the student's academic dean.
Variable-Credit Courses
Variable-credit courses at other institutions appear in the ATE inventory with their lowest known credit value. Evaluations are adjusted to match the actual amount of earned credit when such courses are submitted for transfer.
UT Austin Course Numbering
UT Austin course numbers comprise three digits. The first digit denotes the semester-hour credit value of the course. The second and third digits denote the level of the course: 00 for subfreshman, 01-19 for lower-division, and 20-79 for upper-division undergraduate courses.
The meaning of alphabetic suffixes in UT Austin course numbers varies among departments. However, the suffixes “A” and “B” always indicate the first and second halves of a two-semester course; for example, the three-hour, one-semester course “MUS 605A” is the first half of the complete six-hour, two-semester course “MUS 605.” The suffixes “X,” “Y,” and “Z” similarly denote the first, second, or third portion of a single course.
Course numbers may be modified to reflect more or less credit value than usually is offered at UT Austin. For example, “M 301,” a three-credit course, is evaluated as “M 401” when taken as a four-credit course at another institution, allowing the full amount of earned credit to transfer.
Retired UT Austin courses are sometimes used in transfer evaluations. For example,E 308Q, M 304E, & RHE 317 are no longer offered in residence but are routinely assigned in transfer evaluations because their equivalents are still commonly taught at other institutions and because the credit is still useful toward satisfaction of UT degree requirements.
UT Austin Unit of Credit
The unit of credit at UT Austin is the semester hour, representing one classroom lecture hour per week for a semester of approximately fifteen weeks.
There is no fixed ratio of weekly laboratory or studio hours to semester credit hours, though generally two or three lab/studio hours per week throughout a semester yields one semester credit hour.
A minimum of 120 semester hours are required for a typical undergraduate degree.