Course Equivalency and Course Substitution

Students who transfer courses to MSU that might meet program requirements of a particular major, minor, or concentration should have the courses evaluated by the appropriate program. Students should be able to provide information on each course involved, such as a detailed course description or a course syllabus. When a transfer course is found to be equivalent to a particular MSU course, a Course Equivalency should be submitted to the Registrar’s Office by the department chair via the TES software. This allows any future transfers of the same course from the same institution to automatically be accepted as meeting the requirement of the particular MSU course (valid for five years). In cases where the transfer course is not similar enough for equivalency, but is deemed appropriate as a substitution, a Course Substitution form should be submitted to the Registrar’s office. This form only applies to that particular case for that student and does not meet prerequisite requirements.

There may be times when a student cannot take a particular MSU course required for a program because of time conflicts or changes in a program’s frequency of offering. In such cases, the program may allow another course to substitute for the required course. However, the course used to substitute for the required course cannot be another required course; in other words, one course in a program cannot be used to fulfill two required courses in that program. The substitute course must be one that is not already required by the program. The reason for the substitution must be a circumstance outside of the student’s control (time conflicts or changes in frequency of offerings); poor planning on the part of the student does not constitute sufficient grounds for course substitutions.

Academic Policies Committee - 2/14/14 & FS - 2/27/14

If a Course Substitution form is submitted it does not override a prerequisite.