Transfer Credit Guidelines

To transfer credit, please request that your prior institution send the official transcript to:

Transfer Processing
C/O Undergraduate Admissions
University Of Massachusetts Amherst
37 Mather Drive
Amherst, MA. 01003

Electronic transcripts sent directly from other institutions can also be sent to elcolts@admissions.umass.edu
Official transcripts must be sent directly from your previous institution to UMass. We are unable to accept official transcripts directly from students. 

The following courses generally transfer to UMass:

  • Courses offered at a school that has regional academic accreditation at the post-secondary level
    [consult the other school's catalog]
  • Courses comparable in nature, content, and level to courses offered at UMass Amherst
    [compare course descriptions/syllabi]
  • Courses passed with a minimum grade of C- and are listed on an official transcript

The following courses generally will not transfer to UMass:

  • Taught by a school which does not have regional academic accreditation at the post-secondary level
  • Failed, or passed with a grade lower than C-
  • Remedial or developmental
    (pre-100 level, ESL, basic math, pre-composition, etc.)
  • Skills oriented
    (Lotus 1-2-3, study skills, career development, word processing, business communication, sales, etc.)
  • Vocational
    (secretarial, lab technology, real estate, electronics, paralegal, medical assistant, radiology, etc.)
  • Non-credit or offered through certificate programs, professional or community service seminars, etc.
  • Credited with Continuing Education Units (CEUs) instead of semester or quarter credits

If you are a current UMass student you must complete the following paperwork prior to undertaking transfer coursework

Prior approval of transfer courses is important for all students, but it is even more crucial for students who entered the University in Fall 2010 or later as Freshmen. Those students need specific advising about whether one 4-credit or two 3-credit courses would be needed to satisfy Social, Biological or Physical World requirements in General Education.

Seniors who intend to complete their final degree requirements off-campus must complete the Senior Year in Absentia Form available at the University Registrar's Office, 213 Whitmore. 

Students studying abroad must complete the Preliminary Registration Approval Form (PRAF), available at the International Programs Office, Hills South.

A Standard Prior Approval Form is required for all other students. If transfer coursework is to be used to satisfy major or college requirements, students should check with the Chief Undergraduate Advisor (or designee) for their major to ensure acceptable choices prior to course registration.

Transfer course information

Credit systems may vary from school to school. Transfer credit will be awarded in semester-hour equivalents. Quarter-hour credits are generally multiplied by .67 to determine the semester-hour equivalent.

Attempts are made to assign exact UMass Amherst equivalents when course content sufficiently matches a course offered at UMass and the related department accepts the match. If the course is transferable, but no equivalent exists, then a generic number such as ITRA or IEXB will be assigned as the course number.

Some courses have a generic number such as ITRA or IEXB because the course content is not equivalent to any existing UMass course, or the related department chooses not to designate an exact equivalent (e.g. School of Management, School of Engineering).  These URQMT designations will automatically be applied to the appropriate Gen Ed or Diversity requirement. However, academic advisors may choose to satisfy a major or college requirement with a generic course. The advisor notes this on a Student Exception Form and submits it to the University Registrar's Office, 213 Whitmore.