Traditional Undergraduate Transfer Credits

Types of Transfer Credit Accepted by Concordia University 

• Transfer Articulation Agreements
  Concordia has several California Community Colleges specifying how coursework will satisfy Concordia Q&I general education, major, and minor requirements.
• Credit By Exam Alignment Charts (AP, IB, CLEP, DSST)
  Concordia accepts a maximum of thirty (30) non-accredited, credit by exam (AP, CLEP, IB, DSST), and/or military credit.


• Additional Information

The following statements describe Concordia University’s transfer credit policies:

1. Concordia University will accept transfer units completed at undergraduate, degree granting, US institutions fully accredited by one of the regional accrediting bodies. Concordia will also accept units from international institutions that are formally recognized by their country’s ministry of education. The transcript(s) must be evaluated (course by course transcript evaluation) by a NACES approved evaluation agency.
2. Concordia accepts the following General Education certifications to fulfill most of the university’s Q& I general education requirements:  
   1. Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC)
   2. California State University (CSU) General Education Breadth requirements
   3. California General Education Transfer Curriculum (Cal-GETC)
   4. Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT)
   5. Associate of Arts (AA) and the Associate of Science (AS) degrees that meet the Cal-GETC requirements or CSU General Education Breadth requirements for degrees completed prior to Fall 2025.
3. Course requirements for the IGETC, CSU General Education Breadth, Cal-GETC, ADT, comparable transfer certifications, and the AA and AS degrees must be completed prior to matriculating to Concordia. Official certifications and degrees must be submitted upon completion of all required courses. Deadlines to submit verification or a petition for verification to Concordia are October 15 for fall semester and March 15 for the spring semester of the academic year a student matriculates to Concordia. Upon verification, Concordia’s general education requirements are waived except for the required Enduring Questions & Ideas core courses (CPHI 200 and CTHL 200) and theology courses.
4. A total of ninety (90) semester units are allowed for students, of which a maximum of seventy (70) semester units may be transferred from a regionally accredited community college. Concordia will accept grades of C- or better. Within the 90, up to fifteen (15) semester units of (P) Pass, (CR) Credit or (S) Satisfactory grades will be accepted if it is equivalent to C- or higher grade.
5. Only courses with a grade of C- or higher will apply towards the student’s general education, major or elective credit.
6. Within the 90 and 70 semester units, only thirty (30) non-accredited, credit by exam (AP, CLEP, IB, DSST), and/or military credits may be transferred. Military credits are accepted for elective credit only unless approval is obtained by the appropriate department chair or dean.
7. To receive credit for AP, IB, CLEP or DSST, official scores must meet the minimum score requirement and be submitted to the Office of the Registrar prior to the beginning of the student’s final semester.
8. Non-accredited transfer courses are those that come from institutions that are not accredited by a regional accrediting body and only accepted if taken before a student matriculate to Concordia.
   1. Non-accredited transfer courses may not be applied to major or minor requirements.
   2. Non-accredited transfer courses may be applied to Q&I general education requirements and elective credit if approved by the appropriate department chair or dean.

Additional Information

• Non-transferable courses are indicated by the institution’s course numbering and/or course description (i.e., developmental courses such a pre-college level courses in math or writing or vocational-training courses) and will not be accepted for transfer credit.
• Transfer credit taken at an institution not listed on the Transfer Articulation Agreements may be submitted to the appropriate department chair or dean for review for acceptance to satisfy Q&I general education, major, and minor requirements. Student forms are in MyCUI (Registrar Student Forms).
• If a student has attempted a course more than once, only the most recent grade will be used for credit review. All other attempts will be considered “repeats” and will transfer no credit. Transfer courses will be identified as repeats if they meet the following criteria:
  • The same course (as identified by course title and number) is taken more than once at the same institution;
  • Two or more courses taken at different institutions are evaluated as meeting the same objectives.

Credit By Exam Alignment Charts

Concordia accepts a maximum of thirty (30) non-accredited, credit by exam (AP, CLEP, IB, DSST), and/or military credits. Students may order their official Credit by Exam score and send it to the Registrar’s Office for review for credit. Official scores must be submitted no later than the beginning of the student’s final semester at Concordia. If a student takes a college course equivalence where AP, IB or CLEP credit was received, the student forfeits the AP, IB or CLEP credit.

Advanced Placement (AP)
Students that completed AP exams with a minimum score of 3 or above may be granted course-for-course credit or elective credit (900) from the AP subjects approved by department chairs. College Board AP scores:  https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/sending-scores

International Baccalaureate (IB)
Students that completed International Baccalaureate (IB) subjects in high school may be granted course or elective credit based on the subject level, minimum score and/or completion of the IB Diploma Official International Baccalaureate scores: https://www.ibo.org/programmes/diploma-programme/assessment-and-exams/requesting-transcripts/

College Level Examination Program (CLEP)
Students who have previous knowledge from independent study and successful prior coursework may consider CLEP as an option The following CLEP subjects below are approved by department chairs for Concordia course credit and the minimum score required. College Board CLEP scores: https://clep.collegeboard.org/scores/send-scores-transcripts

DANTES (DSST) or Joint Services Transcript
Veteran students with credits may visit DANTES (DSST): https://www.dantes.mil/dsst/ or Joint Services Transcript https://jst.doded.mil/official.html

Sending Official College Transcripts from Other Institutions

Current students may order official college transcripts using Parchment or National Student Clearinghouse, where the institution can send official electronic transcript directly to the Registrar's Office or [email protected]. New students must send official transcripts to [email protected]

If electronic delivery is not available then official college transcripts must be sent directly from the institution via U.S. Postal Service to the address:
Concordia University Irvine
Attn: Registrar’s Office
1530 Concordia West
Irvine, CA 92612

Concordia accepts units from international institutions that are formally recognized by their county's ministry of education. Students must order an official course-by- course evaluation from a NACES approved evaluation agency (i.e. IERF, WES, or IEE).