Academic Regulations Special Credit, Credit for Military Service, and Excess Undergraduate Credit

Special Credit, Credit for Military Service, and Excess Undergraduate Credit

• 7.0: Special Credit, Credit for Military Service, and Excess Undergraduate Credit
• 7.1: Credit by departmental/divisional examination. Opportunities for earning undergraduate credit by departmental/divisional examination are encouraged in order to expedite the education of qualified students. Toward this end, each instructional department/division shall establish procedures to consider candidates, to administer, and to grade such examinations, and each department/division shall provide the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs or a designee with comprehensive information on the principal courses that are available for departmental/divisional credit by examination, and test schedules if known. This information shall be made available in the Bulletin or its supplement, and it should be adequate to enable the student to assess eligibility and qualifications to take tests for credit.
  • The student may request an examination for credit in a course if the course is available for credit by examination and if no grade in the course other than a grade of W or NC has been awarded. The examination shall be at least as comprehensive as those given in the course and shall be graded S (performance comparable to that expected of a student who receives an A, B, or C in the course) or unsatisfactory. The Registrar shall establish forms and procedures to assure proper distribution of results, and for satisfactory performance shall record credit for the course on the student's record. No record shall be made on the transcript for unsatisfactory performance.
• 7.2: Achievement credit. Except as provided herein for the International Baccalaureate Program, credit or transfer credit for nationally administered examinations shall be awarded only after approval by the IPFW division/department that offers courses in the subject area. For participants in the International Baccalaureate Program, an award of 3-8 credits shall be made for each High level examination passed with a score of 4 or above. The admissions office will award undistributed credit in the appropriate disciplines until specific credit equivalencies are established by IPFW departments. No credit will be awarded for performance on Subsidiary level examinations.
• 7.3: Credit for military service. Distributed or undistributed credit will be awarded, based on evaluation by appropriate PFW disciplinary faculty, to optimize student academic progress and paths to degree completion while meeting expectations of professional accreditation and associations, for all Joint Service Transcript (JST) ACE academic credit recommendations at the undergraduate level. For military students, the maximum number of transferrable credits through the JST, CLEP, DANTES and Excelsior Exams may not exceed 70% of an individual's degree requirements for online programs or 75% for in person programs. Transfer for military personnel include:
  • Distributed or undistributed credit, based on evaluation by appropriate PFW disciplinary faculty, for all JST ACE undergraduate level academic credit recommendations.
  • Distributed or undistributed credit for transfer of courses from other institutions in accordance with established PFW transfer credit policies.
  • Distributed or undistributed credit as established by the appropriate PFW disciplinary faculty for CLEP scores of 50 or higher.
  • Distributed or undistributed credit as established by the appropriate PFW disciplinary faculty for DSST scores of 400 or higher.
  • Distributed or undistributed credit as established by the appropriate PFW disciplinary faculty for Excelsior College examination scores of C or higher. 
• 7.4: Excess undergraduate credit. A senior with a GPA of 3.00 or better may, with written permission from both an authorized graduate advisor and the instructor(s) involved, enroll in up to nine credits in excess of the requirements for graduation, in courses intended for use in a graduate program. Permission, if given, shall be noted on forms supplied by the Registrar, who shall make a transcript notation of the special status of these credits. Instructors shall impose graduate-level standards on such a student.