Current Undergraduate Students

Are you thinking of taking a course at a local college or university while away from Trinity over the summer?  In order to receive credit for these courses, you need to have them approved by Trinity.  It is strongly recommended that you obtain this approval in advance of enrolling in any courses.  If you enroll in a course without obtaining approval, you risk not having it accepted and applied to your records.

After your study away program has been completed, your transfer credits will not be posted to your record until your transcript has been received and until you have approval for all of the credits taken.  Therefore, if your schedule changed after your initial review, you need to submit another transfer credit application for any new courses.  If you didn’t submit an application, you need to do so for all courses.  With careful planning, courses taken while studying away from Trinity may be acceptable towards meeting major, minor, or general education/distribution requirements.  In order to ensure you are getting the best academic advantage for your time away from campus, you need to carefully plan your courses with your academic advisor.  You may also consult the staff in the Office of Study Away for information about each program.

Trinity Programs

Any courses taken as part of a Trinity program that are offered by Trinity (they have a subject prefix such as ROME, TNTB, BNAR, etc.) are considered Trinity courses and do not need to be approved as transfer credits.

For any program where you are taking a combination of Trinity and non-Trinity courses, any courses taken outside of Trinity courses do need to be approved as transfer credits.  These courses will appear with the grades earned on your Trinity transcript, and the grades earned will be included in your Trinity grade point average.   If you are enrolled in a course and decide you no longer want to take it, you must follow the proper add/drop process.  Otherwise, you will earn a grade of F for that course and it will remain on your record.  You will also be subject to the Academic Probation policies based on credits and grades earned for the semester.

Non-Trinity Programs

All courses taken in any non-Trinity program need to be approved as transfer credits.  Through Trinity’s new “Home School Tuition” policy, students pay Trinity tuition when studying away on Trinity and Trinity-Approved External Programs (AEPs), and they earn Trinity academic credit on all Trinity and AEP semester study away programs. All academic credits and grades earned on all Trinity-approved semester study away programs are treated as Trinity College credits and grades. All Trinity College academic regulations apply to students studying for Trinity credit abroad. The courses, credits, and grades are reviewed, approved, and posted on the Trinity academic transcript and course grades are calculated into the student’s Cumulative Grade Point Average.  If you are enrolled in a course and decide you no longer want to take it, you must follow the proper add/drop process of the host program.  Otherwise, you will earn a grade of F for that course and it will remain on your record.  You will also be subject to the Academic Probation policies based on credits and grades earned for the semester.

Students on voluntary or required withdrawal are allowed to take courses while away from Trinity.  The approval of the Registrar’s Office must be obtained prior to enrolling in the courses.  If approval is not given, there is no guarantee that all of the courses will be accepted.  Any courses taken while on withdrawal will not be added to the student’s record until a transfer credit application has been submitted and approved by the student’s advisor, department chair (if applicable) and the Registrar’s Office.  An official transcript must be sent to the Registrar’s Office directly from the school upon course completion.  Grades earned on any courses taken away from Trinity will not be calculated in the Trinity GPA, but will appear on the student’s transcript when posted to their record.

Students who are on suspension for academic or social misconduct are not allowed to have credits completed while on suspension added to their Trinity records.

To obtain approval, print off a copy of the Transfer Credit Application or for Study Away Programs, Study Away Credit Approval, (or pick up a copy in the Registrar’s Office) and take it to your academic advisor.  Discuss your courses with your advisor and obtain his/her signature on the form.  If you are seeking major credit, you will also need the signature of the Department Chair on the form.  If you are taking a Mathematics course, you must obtain their approval as well.

Once you have obtained all of the required signatures, submit the form, along with a course description for each course to the Registrar’s Office for final approval.  If you are seeking approval after you have left for the semester, the form can be scanned and e-mailed, or faxed to the office.  The Registrar’s Office will review the proposed courses to make certain they are not repeating courses already taken at Trinity, and that the subjects are eligible for transfer.  You will be notified by e-mail once the review is complete, or if additional information is needed.

Please allow a minimum of two weeks for processing, and during high volume periods in the Registrar’s Office, additional time may be required.

When selecting courses, there are several important factors to consider:

• Online courses are not acceptable in transfer.
• Once you have earned 18 credits towards your Trinity degree, you may not take courses at community colleges or other two-year institutions.
• Grades earned on transfer courses will not count towards your Trinity grade point average.  If you are looking to improve your grade point average by taking summer courses, they need to be Trinity courses to have any impact.
• Only courses in the liberal arts and sciences/similar to courses offered by Trinity will be accepted.
• Courses cannot repeat work previously taken at Trinity.  If you are repeating a course in order to fulfill a prerequisite or other requirement, the credits from transfer work will not be added to your earned credits if you earned a grade of D- or better on the course taken at Trinity.
• You will only earn credit for courses in which you earn a C- or better.
• We recommend that you select two or three courses for review.  This way if your first choice is closed or cancelled, you have a pre-approved back-up available.
• Informal (verbal or by e-mail) endorsements from faculty or administrators do not constitute official approval of credits by the College.  Formal approval is not complete until you receive word from the Registrar’s Office.
• Instant approval by phone or e-mail is not available, and no approval is granted without the completed transfer credit application.