Transfer Credit Policy
Admission of Transfer Students and Transfer Credits
Students who, after graduation from high school, attended a regionally accredited college or university must file a CUNY Transfer (Advanced Standing) application. All previous college work of an applicant is taken into consideration in admission decisions. In a separate process, all coursework determined to be suitable by Hunter College academic departments will be awarded transfer course credit. All previous courses (including courses taken at Hunter with a non-degree student status) count in the calculation of the cumulative grade point average (GPA) for admission, even though some of these courses may not be awarded transfer credit.
Transcripts from all previously attended colleges must be submitted. Transcripts for courses that were in progress at the time of the application to CUNY must be submitted as soon as grades for such courses are available. Failure to supply the required documentation at the time of application to the College may result in the denial of transfer credit and, in case of fraudulent application, possible disciplinary action (up to a five-year expulsion from Hunter College and CUNY).
Transfer Student Admission
Transfer applicants are considered for admission with advanced standing if they have a cumulative 2.5 grade point average or better in all previous college work. Note that admission to some majors at Hunter requires a grade point average above 2.5 from previous colleges. For a list of such programs, please go to this page. Please check the program description in the Hunter College Catalog for the major program that you’d like to enter.
Admission to Hunter College does not guarantee admission to a particular program of study. If you seek admission in order to graduate with a specific academic major, please refer to the department website of the program of interest to learn admissions and/or major requirements.
Applicants with fewer than 24 credits must satisfy freshman admission criteria.
Admission and Transfer Credits of Hunter College Nondegree Students
Nondegree students who are attending Hunter College now or have done so in the past, must meet normal admission and transfer criteria, that is, an overall cumulative GPA of 2.5 in all previous coursework (including nondegree status courses at Hunter). They must also show a minimum GPA of 2.0 in their Hunter coursework for admittance as degree students. Once students are admitted as degree students, the nondegree Hunter credits will be counted as credits leading to a degree and courses from all previous colleges will be considered for transfer.
Transferring Graduate Coursework
Graduate courses taken as part of a graduate program may not be transferred as undergraduate courses or counted towards an undergraduate degree program. Decisions in these matters can be appealed by contacting the appropriate academic department or program.
Transfer of Military Credits
Hunter College may award up to fifteen (15) college credits, based on review of students’ military transcripts. The exact number of credits will be determined by a committee appointed by the Hunter College Senate, taking into account credit recommendations from the American Council on Education (ACE). All credits will be awarded as general elective credits. Students may apply to departments or programs to obtain specific course equivalencies.
Transfer Credit Policy
A. What Courses Can Be Transferred In?
1. Courses transferred for credit must be college-level courses from domestic regionally-accredited colleges or colleges recognized by the Ministry of Education in the country of origin.
2. Transferable courses should be similar in scope and content to courses offered for credit at Hunter College.
3. Course credits may be transferred if a grade of “C” or better was earned (“D” or better at CUNY institutions).
B. How Do Transferred Courses Appear On the Hunter Transcript?
1. The semester credit amount for each course generally remains the same when transferred. Credits coming from a school using a quarter system will be converted to the semester system using a .66 multiplication factor.
2. Courses and credits are transferred. Grades may or may not appear on the transcript, but they do not count towards the Hunter GPA. The student’s grade point average at Hunter is calculated solely on the basis of coursework taken at Hunter College. For information on the handling of E-Permit courses, see here.
3. Some courses are counted as exact equivalents of Hunter courses and may thus fulfill specific college or major requirements. Other courses may only be transferred as electives. The following databases contain lists of courses that have often been transferred in the past and have already been evaluated as specific Hunter courses:
For CUNY courses, please click here
For Non-CUNY courses, please click here
PLEASE NOTE: Some degree programs require specific minimum grades for the transfer of courses that are required for their major. If a transferred course with an exact equivalent has too low a grade for your intended major, it may be transferred in as an elective, which will count towards graduation, but will not count towards your major requirements. If you want a course to count for a specific major, you will need to retake it with a grade that satisfies the major department or program requirement.
C. How Many Credits Can Be Transferred In?
1. Regardless of any other circumstances, a student must complete a minimum of 30 credits in residence at Hunter College to obtain a Hunter College Bachelor’s degree. The maximum total number of credits that may be transferred to Hunter College is 90.
2a. Up to 90 credits can be transferred from accredited Bachelor’s degree-granting institutions.
2b. Of the maximum number of 90 transfer credits, up to 70 credits may be transferred which were taken as part of or in excess of required courses in an accredited Associate degree-granting program.
3. One-half of the credits required for a major, a minor, or an interdisciplinary program must be completed in residence at Hunter. If there is doubt about what courses can be transferred and counted for a specific major, minor, or program, questions should be addressed to the appropriate academic department.
D. What Types of Courses Do Not Transfer to Hunter College?
Examples of courses that generally do not transfer include: ESL/Remedial/Developmental courses; Freshman orientation/experience courses; certain military training; firemen/police studies; EMT training; secretarial/office technology courses; hospitality management; Non-CUNY nursing courses; medical professional training. For a listing of CUNY courses that have not been accepted for transfer, see here.
Special Policies For Students Who Transfer From CUNY Colleges With a Two-Year Degree
Students with an AA or AS (but not AAS) degree from a CUNY college will be deemed to have completed the CUNY Common Core requirements (for additional Hunter General Education requirements please visit this page.
Students with an AA or AS (but not AAS) degree from a CUNY college will be awarded a minimum of sixty credits and a maximum of seventy credits towards their bachelor’s degree.
Special Policies For Transfer Students from SUNY Colleges
SUNY transfer students who have completed the entire 30-credit GER or an AA or AS or Bachelor’s degree from SUNY will be deemed to have completed the CUNY Common Core requirement (Note: To transfer 60 credits, all courses must meet the criteria of the “Transfer Credit Policy” above). SUNY transfer students who completed a portion of the 30-credit GER requirement will have those credits applied to the CUNY Common Core areas as appropriate additional Hunter General Education Requirements can be found here.
Second-Degree Students
Students admitted to Hunter with a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution (Second-degree students) will be deemed to have completed all four parts of Hunter’s General Education requirement (CUNY Common Core, Hunter Focus, Writing requirement, and Pluralism and Diversity requirement).