Taking Courses Elsewhere/Transfer Credit
Thinking about taking courses at another college or university? Taking courses elsewhere can be a great way to catch up or get ahead on credits. This page will walk you through the ins and outs of transferring credits.
Review Course Equivalencies
Virginia Tech provides two main resources to help you search for potential transfer course opportunities.
Please note that the non-VCCS equivalency guide is not a comprehensive guide to all courses at every U.S. college or university. Information in this guide may not be fully up-to-date, so it is important to request pre-approval for any courses you are interested in taking outside of the VCCS system.
Request Authorization of Courses
Before you register for a course at another college, you'll want to make sure if the course will transfer to Virginia Tech as you need it to. You can do this by submitting an authorization to take courses elsewhere form.
If you will be taking courses outside of the VCCS system, be prepared to upload a course syllabus from the other school as part of the authorization process.
New/incoming first-year students and transfer students (who have not yet started taking courses at Virginia Tech) should not go through the pre-approval process. Please refer to the Transfer Guide for information about potential transfer coursework prior to starting at Virginia Tech.
Have additional questions about the transfer credit approval process? Contact pcobtransfercredit@vt.edu.
After Completing a Transfer Course
After you have completed a course (and earned a C or better) at another college, you must request that the college send an official transcript to Virginia Tech. Credit cannot officially be added to your record without a transcript.
Official transcripts should be sent to:
Office of the University Registrar
Student Services Building, Suite 250, Virginia Tech
800 Washington St, S.W.
Blacksburg, VA 24060-0134
transfercredit@vt.edu
Taking Courses Outside of the United States
If you are looking to take courses outside of the United States, please work with the Global Education Office and Pamplin International Programs to complete the required paperwork to be approved for those courses.
Important Transfer Credit Policies
- If prior authorization is not obtained for your course(s), you might not receive transfer credit.
- Courses must be taken at a regionally accredited college or university.
- You cannot receive transfer credit for any course with a grade lower than "C".
- Grades do not transfer, only credits transfer. Transfer credits will not impact your Virginia Tech GPA.
- Of the last 45 semester hours before graduation, a maximum of 18 semester hours may be transfer hours.
- If you are pursuing a dual degree, the additional 30 credit hours required for the dual degree must be completed at Virginia Tech. No transfer credit can be used for the 30 additional credit hours required for the dual degree.
- No more than 50% of the credits required for your degree can be from a community college.