Course Equivalency

Southwestern College grants credit for college units earned at any regionally accredited postsecondary institution (e.g., Western Association of Schools and Colleges) other than coursework identified by such institutions as non-degree level coursework. Southwestern College will honor articulation agreements made with other postsecondary institutions (BP & AP - 4050 Articulation).

Coursework deemed to be equivalent in scope and content to coursework taught at Southwestern College is determined by the Evaluations Office in consultation with the appropriate dean and/or faculty. Credits transferred from institutions on the quarter system will be converted to semester credits by multiplying quarter-unit totals by two-thirds. All credit summaries will be completed upon a student’s petitioning for graduation or through consultation with a counselor. In the areas of mathematics and foreign language, credit will not be granted for a lower-level course completed after the higher-level course.  

Students who wish to receive credit toward degrees at Southwestern College for coursework taken at an accredited foreign institution must have their foreign transcripts evaluated by a foreign transcript evaluation service that is a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services, Inc. (NACES), preferably the International Education Research Foundation (IERF). The following items should be noted:

• Student needs to request a comprehensive evaluation report.  Official transcripts from the foreign institution are not required since the official transcripts were submitted to the foreign evaluation service.
• Courses will only be used to satisfy major requirements with a departmental approval on a Substitution of Major Requirement Form.
• Courses of a 3 unit value may be able to clear a Southwestern College General Education Requirement.
  • Credit cannot be awarded for English or speech courses.
  • Statistics courses evaluated at 3 units or more may be used to satisfy Mathematics Competency.
• Courses are not given course-to-course equivalency to Southwestern College courses. 
• Courses are not transferable.
  • Courses cannot be used to satisfy the CSU General Education Breadth or IGETC Requirements.