Transfer credit guide available with the click of a mouse

Clare Kemp

The Signal Staff

For community college students trying to determine what university they want to attend, an important factor is how many courses will transfer from their previous college.

Students want to know upfront how many hours will transfer and how previous courses will apply to the major of their choice. University of Houston-Clear Lake has given potential students an easier route when determining the transferability of their credits.

In previous semesters, prospective students had to physically show up on campus with transcripts in hand and meet with an adviser to figure out which courses would transfer. Now, UHCL has provided an online Transfer Credit Guide, which reduces the process time and gives immediate results.

“Basically, it gives prospects a tool,” said Sai Sreerama, associate director of University Communication and Telecommunications. “As soon as you log in you know exactly how many hours you can transfer and that gives you an idea of where you place yourself in the university. It helps them make an instantaneous educational judgment, instead of going through the whole process of giving transcripts to an adviser, which may take a long time.”

The online guide includes a level of versatility in that if a certain course is not affirmed through the system, then a student can request equivalency.

“We will evaluate the course(s), notify the individual, and add the course(s) to the system, speeding up the creation of degree and improving the accuracy of the initial degree progress report made available to students,” said Yvette Bendeck, associate vice president of enrollment.

The application allows students to search how lower- and upper-level credits from other community colleges or universities will be accepted toward their transfer. The Online Transfer Credit Guide is in conjunction with the 2+2 transfer plan and gives students a suitable feel for what credibly applies to a specific major. Transfer plans are utilized to guide perspective students in choosing recommended coursework at their current college and assist them in transferring to UHCL.

Junior- and senior-level credits earned seven years or more prior to transfer to UHCL may not be accepted automatically by the school. Therefore, specific requests can be made to the appropriate associate dean for the course to be accepted for transfer. Freshman- and sophomore-level core curriculum courses are not subject to the seven-year rule.

“Any student that is interested in UHCL doesn’t really have to come up to campus,” Sreerama said. “A lot of students are hesitant to come and go through the process of giving transcripts to an adviser. Instead, they can sit in front of the computer in their own house and log onto the UHCL Web site. I think that is pretty useful.”

The University Computing and Telecommunications’ application development team partnered with the Office of Admissions to develop the Transfer Credit Guide.

“Each university establishes their own course equivalencies, so the tool is not intended to be used as a transfer-out tool,” Bendeck said. “In these instances, a student would need to contact the respective institution of interest to ask how UHCL courses will transfer to their institute.”

UHCL’s Transfer Credit Guide is available at www.uhcl.edu/tcg.