Doctoral admissions
Have you completed doctoral coursework at another university? NMU evaluates eligible courses individually for transfer toward specific elective requirements. Request your review during admissions and receive a written determination before your first NMU course begins.
Maximum accepted
6
Across all previous institutions combined. Approved coursework may satisfy elective requirements only.
Official evidence must establish the grade or its equivalent. B- is ineligible.
Measured from course completion to the actual beginning of your first NMU course.
Each course must independently match a specific NMU elective.
EligibilityReview processInternational courseworkFees and recordsQuestions
Before you request a review
Meeting the basic criteria allows a course to be reviewed. Admission to NMU and a favorable credential evaluation do not guarantee transfer credit.
Courses must be completed, credit-bearing doctoral coursework documented on an official transcript from the institution where they were taken. Undergraduate, master’s, audited, noncredit, incomplete, withdrawn, failed, and in-progress courses are ineligible.
The institution must have held qualifying accreditation when the coursework was completed. Its accrediting agency must be recognized in the institution’s home country. For U.S. institutions, the agency must be recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Outside the United States, recognition must come from the relevant ministry or governmental authority. Legal authorization to operate alone is insufficient.
The course must fall within the five-year limit and remain academically current. If your start is deferred, NMU rechecks the course dates and elective applicability against the revised start.
Content, academic level, learning outcomes, and credit value must meet a specific NMU elective requirement. Similar titles alone are insufficient. Partial substitutions, combining courses to satisfy one elective, and rounding up converted credits are prohibited.
Coursework already applied toward an awarded degree is ineligible. Credit for experience, portfolios, examinations, professional certifications, and noncollegiate training is also ineligible, even if it appears on a transcript.
Transfer credit cannot replace required courses, research requirements, dissertation requirements, or academic milestones.
During the admissions process
01
Request transfer credit during admissions. Identify each course you want reviewed and the institution where you completed it.
02
Arrange official transcripts showing course titles, credit values, completion dates or terms, and final grades. Provide syllabi or course descriptions that reflect the coursework as completed.
03
Admissions staff verify the file and send it to the Academic Committee. The Committee decides whether each course qualifies and identifies the elective it satisfies.
Official transcripts must come directly from the originating institution, its authorized transcript service, or an NMU-approved international credential evaluation service. Applicant-provided copies may support preliminary review but cannot establish the official record.
All required records, academic review, and the written transfer determination must be completed before your first NMU course begins. If the request remains unresolved, you must defer your start or withdraw the request and begin without transfer credit. New requests are not accepted after the first course begins.
Qualifications earned abroad
A course-by-course evaluation for U.S. equivalency is required from World Education Services (WES) or another NMU-approved member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES). This applies regardless of your citizenship or residence.
Confirm NMU’s acceptance of another NACES agency before ordering or submitting its report.
The report must cover every submitted course and provide U.S. semester-credit and grade equivalents. Arrange direct delivery from the evaluation agency to NMU. Copies you provide may support preliminary review but do not satisfy the official report requirement.
You must also meet the evaluator’s documentation requirements and provide NMU’s supporting course documentation. NMU arranges English translations of supporting course materials when needed for academic review. The report and review must be completed before your first NMU course begins.
After a course is approved
NMU charges no fee for transfer-credit review or recording. No NMU course tuition is charged for an elective requirement fully satisfied by approved transfer credit. Your program plan and estimated tuition must reflect approved credit before your first course begins.
You pay any external evaluation and report-delivery fees directly to the evaluation agency under its published payment and refund terms. NMU does not reimburse prior-university tuition or external evaluation fees.
Accepted credit appears on your NMU transcript with a transfer designation and the approved semester-credit value. Original grades are used to assess eligibility and are excluded from your NMU grade point average.
Approved credit counts toward the designated electives and total degree credits. It does not count as coursework completed through NMU. You must complete all remaining academic and graduation requirements.
The Academic Committee rechecks previously approved coursework against the new electives before an approved program or concentration change takes effect. A change cannot add new transfer requests or increase the credit originally accepted.
NMU may correct clerical errors to match an existing written approval. A correction cannot add courses, change an academic equivalency decision, or create an eligibility exception.
Verified evidence that supporting records were invalid or credit was unearned, rescinded, or originally ineligible may lead to withdrawal under the policy’s notice, response, and independent appeal procedures. A later accreditation change alone does not invalidate a credit award that met the requirement when completed.
Common questions
Only when official grading information establishes performance equivalent to B or higher. A passing designation alone is insufficient. NMU denies the course if the required equivalency cannot be verified.
Yes, if it meets every requirement of this policy and has not been applied toward an awarded degree. NMU requires official confirmation from the originating institution when prior use of a course is unclear.
Quarter credits are multiplied by two-thirds. For international coursework, NMU uses the semester-credit equivalency established by the approved credential evaluation. Credit cannot be rounded up or exceed the verified amount earned or the credit value of the NMU elective satisfied.
You may submit one written appeal that identifies an evaluation error or provides new official evidence about courses in your original request. The appeal cannot introduce new courses or request policy exceptions. It must be resolved before the first NMU course begins. If it remains unresolved, defer your start or withdraw the appeal and proceed under the original determination.
The receiving institution decides under its own admissions and transfer policies. NMU cannot guarantee acceptance of its coursework or degrees. Credit previously transferred into NMU retains its transfer designation, and another institution may require the original source transcript.
Keep the complete policy
The full policy explains all eligibility requirements, review procedures, appeals, record corrections, and transfer-credit limits. Read it before requesting a review.
Complete 15-section policy · PDF · 7 pages
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