Transfer Student Information

Will my courses transfer?

You can see if your courses have equivalents in MSU's transfer equivalency site. A school or course not listed does not signify that it will not be accepted.

For students admitted starting fall 2023, MSU will accept and transcribe all courses from institutions recognized by the United States Department of Education from regionally accredited organizations or nationally recognized agencies. Minot State does not accept credits from non-accredited institutions. All credit hours will be transcribed as semester hours and all transcribed courses calculate as part of the student's cumulative grade point average. Plus or minus grades are not recorded. The GPA at MSU is a cumulative GPA, including all academic credit earned at MSU and at any other college or university attended. An official evaluation will be done when your transcript(s) are posted.

Courses are accepted in transfer in a combination of ways:

    • Equal to a specific course at MSU
    • Given general education credit
    • Fulfills a requirement towards major, minor or concentration
    • As elective credit

For a chart showing the transfer codes and what they mean, click here.

Please refer to the section on reviewing your transfer credit report for additional details regarding how these will be coded on your record. Refer to the challenge procedures below if you would like to challenge how a course was accepted.

Once a course is approved as equivalent by a department, its equivalency is guaranteed for five years from when the course was approved and taken.

Minot State University participates in the General Education Requirements Transfer Agreement (GERTA) with other North Dakota institutions and the NDUS transfer agreements with Washington, Oregon, the South Dakota system, the Montana University system, MnSCU institutions, Wyoming Community Colleges, and California Community Colleges. More information, details, and qualifications for the state articulation agreements are available through the NDUS Procedures.

A full list of agreements is available on the Academic Affairs website.

  • Continuing Education Credit
    Credits earned through continuing education opportunities from other campuses may be transferable. However, documentation must be provided to the registrar’s office prior to their acceptance.
  • Graduate Credit
    A student may not apply transfer graduate credit toward requirements for an associate or baccalaureate degree at Minot State University.
  • Military Credit
    Basic training courses are accepted in transfer as KIN 100 and fulfill the wellness category of general education requirements at the University. All other military credit is evaluated using the most recent ACE Guide recommendations. Military work experience will not be accepted.
  • Religion Course Credit
    No more than six semester credits in doctrinal religion will be accepted in transfer. Doctrinal religion courses that are accepted can be used as electives only.
  • Credit from Two-Year Institutions
    Credit typically transfers from two-year institutions to Minot State University. Department chairs determine applicability of courses in transfer and the registrar’s office determines transferability of courses that fulfill general education requirements. In order to be awarded a baccalaureate degree, a student must complete a minimum of 60 semester hours at a four-year institution, of which 30 semester hours must be earned through Minot State University.
  • Remedial Credit
    Transfer credit earned at the remedial level will be transcribed. However, credit(s) will not count toward earned credit with Minot State University or be calculated in a student’s GPA.
  • Institutional Credit
    Credit is evaluated on the basis by which the credit was initially awarded by the sending institution.. Credit by examination, credit awarded via placement, or life experience credit awarded by another institution is not accepted in transfer.
  • Other Credit Options
    MSU accepts credits earned via a nationally standardized examination in accordance with NDUS Procedure and the NDUS minimum scores listed under Non-Collegiate Learning Experiences. A list of CLEP, AP, DSST, and IB credits that are accepted can be found on the NDUS website.

Students thinking about attending MSU may request an unofficial transfer review. The request will be held for 30 days until an unofficial transcript is received by mail, fax, or email to the Registrar’s Office or kimberly.johnson.4@minotstateu.edu; however, for the quickest response students should submit their unofficial transcript with the request form. The Registrar's Office will provide an unofficial review of students' general education Required Core and Foundation Content coursework. Please allow 3-5 business days to process.

For International students with coursework outside of the United States, in order to complete an unofficial transcript evaluation your transcript needs to first be evaluated by one of the evaluation companies that Minot State University accepts. The companies MSU accepts evaluations from are: World Education Services, Education Credential Evaluators, or American Education Research Corporation. Once we have the evaluation and form completed, we would be able to complete an unofficial evaluation.

Once a student has been accepted, transfer credits will be evaluated and posted in the order in which they are received. Students are contacted via email after their transcripts are posted. An evaluation of courses and MSU equivalents are available for your review in Campus Connection > Transfer Credit > View Transfer Credit Report.

  • General Education Requirements fall into one of 3 categories:
    • Required Core
      • Communications (C)
      • English (E)
      • Mathematics (M)
    • Foundational Content
      • History (H)
      • Humanities (HU)
      • Laboratory Science (LS)
      • Social Science (SS)
    • Developmental Content
      • Critical Capacities Skills
        • Problem Solving (CCS1)
        • Information Literacy (CCS2)
        • Critical Reading (CCS3)
        • Quantitative Literacy (CCS4)
        • Oral/Written Communications (CCS5)
        • Collaboration (CCS6)
      • Personal and Social Responsibility
        • Relationships and Value Systems (PSR1)
        • Responding to Community Needs (PSR2)
        • Individual Well-Being (PSR3)
      • Interconnecting Perspectives
        • Knowledge (IP1)
        • Experience (IP2)
  • Courses that have been equated to 100 + general education letter code (i.e. 100HU = humanities) are considered to meet general education requirements, but have no specific course equivalency.
  • TRNSFR 100, 200, 300, and 400 courses are coded as such because they either do not have an equivalency, or it is not known what the equivalency for the course would be. If it is not known what the equivalency should be, a course description or course syllabus needs to be taken to the corresponding department to determine what the course equivalent should be.

Your general education requirements will be considered met if you meet one of the following:

  • Successful completion of a four-year bachelor’s degree from an accredited degree-granting institution.
  • Starting for students admitted fall 2023, successful completion of Associate of Arts (AA) or Associate of Science (AS) degree a accredited degree-granting institution or the equivalent of a two-year associate degree as confirmed by a credential evaluator for international institutions.
  • Successful completion of general education requirements at any North Dakota University System institution or Tribal College will fulfill the North Dakota General Education Transfer Agreement (GERTA).

Students meet with chairs to discuss if a course is equivalent to an MSU course or if it can be used as a substitution. Normally, the chair will need to see the course description or course syllabus to help with the determination.

Course Substitution
A course substitution is when a student requests to substitute a different course (transferred or MSU) in lieu of a required course to complete their degree. Substitutions are issued by the academic department on a case-by-case basis and are only good for the current student requesting the substitution(s). Course Substitution Forms are submitted by the advisor or chair on the student's behalf and maintained as a part of the student's file. Course substitutions do not override prerequisites and appear on the student's academic requirements report.

Course Equivalency
A course equivalency is when a student transfers in a course from another college or university and wants that course to be equal to one that Minot State offers. Once the transferring course has a Minot State equivalency assigned to it, the course will be equivalent for other students coming from the same college or university. Course equivalencies are processed and maintained by the Registrar’s Office.

In order to complete a degree at Minot State University, at least 60 credits must be from a 4 year institution and at least 30 credits must be from MSU.

HLC Higher Learning Commission
MSCHE Middle States Commission on Higher Education
NECHE New England Commission of Higher Education
NWCCU Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
SACSCOC Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
WASC Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission
WASC-ACCJC  Western Association of Schools and Colleges Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges