Transfer Course Approval Process (for non-CCCS courses)

Transfer credit evaluations for courses from colleges and universities outside of the CCCS system will be performed in a manner to best benefit the student while still meeting State, institutional, and regional accreditation rules.  Effort will be made to determine direct equivalencies to Mines courses based on precedent and reasonable research.  There will be instances when a direct equivalency cannot be made initially and those courses will be posted as free elective credit for later review initiated by a Transfer Course Approval request.

The Transfer Course Approval (TCA) process can be undertaken when an admitted or current student wishes to take a course(s) outside of Mines and wants to make sure the course(s) will transfer in as desired.  Below are the criteria and notes for various curricular areas.

Free Elective (FREE 1XX)

• Most courses that fulfill free elective credit requirements are typically freshman-level courses that include the words introductory, general, or survey in the title and are under normal humanities, arts or social science subject areas, such as art, geography, history, philosophy, sociology, etc.
• Most any academic course can transfer in as free elective credit. When taking a course that meets the above guidance, there is no need to submit the Transfer Course Approval form; please submit the TCA form for free elective credit approval only when there is uncertainty.

Mid-level HASS Elective  (HASS mid-level elective courses are commonly referred to as HASS 2XX, HASS 3XX, and HASS 300-level)

To meet HASS mid-level elective requirements, the transferring course must generally:

• Be from a humanities, arts or social science subject area
• Must not be introductory, general, appreciation, or survey in nature
• Have a sophomore or junior level designation (200- to 300-level courses at most institutions)
• Include an academic research paper component that involves primary texts and a deeper investigation of a humanities, arts or social science subject area
• Please include a syllabus along with the completed TCA form when submitting your request to expedite the review process by the academic department

NOTE:  HASS mid-level elective courses are different from the HASS 200 – Global Studies requirement.

Major, Minor, Area of Special Interest (ASI) or Upper-Division Courses

• These courses will require faculty review
• Please include a syllabus along with the completed TCA form when submitting your request to expedite the review process by the academic department.

Note:  No credit will be granted for vocational courses (such as carpentry, medical assisting, etc.), or for developmental courses, including math and science courses below the level to be applicable to a Mines degree, such as pre-calculus or introductory chemistry.

Transfer Evaluation System (TES)

Before starting the Transfer Course Approval process you may want to use the Transfer Evaluation System tool to see if a course from a domestic US institution has already been reviewed.

Transfer Course Approval Process

The Transfer Course Approval form can be found on the registrar’s office forms page.  (Do not use the Course Exception form.)

Transfer Course Appeals

To appeal a transfer credit decision, please email transfer@mines.edu and address your concern to the Registrar, Paul Myskiw. For further concerns, you may contact the Colorado Department of Higher Education.