At Laurier, we recognize that you’ve worked hard to pursue your goals through your previous postsecondary experience. To honour that, we work hard to maximize the credit you receive towards your future degree by individually assessing every applicant for eligible transfer credits.

Jump to:

• Credit System at Laurier
• Transfer Credit Capacity
• Sources of Transfer Credits
• Types of Transfer Credits
• Transfer Credit Evaluation and Admission

Credit System at Laurier

Every university and college has its own way of valuing coursework and granting credits. Rest assured, your coursework will be assessed and appreciated fairly, but the scale Laurier uses to count credits may be different from what you've used at your previous institution. To understand Laurier's credit system (and how your courses will be counted), take a look at this breakdown:

• A course that is one semester long is worth 0.5 credit.
• A course that is two semesters long is worth 1.0 credit.
• A four-year honours undergraduate degree requires 20.0 credits.

For example: 5.0 transfer credits are equal to one year's (or two semesters') worth of courses.

To find what transfer credits you have been awarded, you can access your offer letter on Portal. Once you have accepted your offer, transfer credits will also display in your LORIS and MyDegree accounts.

Transfer Credit Capacity

Residency Requirement (Laurier Credit Minimum)

Every university has what is called a "residency requirement" when it comes to transfer credits. This requirement specifies a minimum number of credits that must be completed at that university in order to be eligible to earn a degree from them. At Laurier, all students applying to graduate must have earned at least 10.0 credits (or two years' worth of coursework) at Laurier (in addition to any other required coursework completed at other postsecondary institutions). At least 5.0 of these 10.0 credits must be from senior-level courses (300- or 400-level).

Transfer Credit Maximum

There is no maximum for the number of postsecondary transfer credits you can be granted when you receive an offer to study at Laurier. However, as noted above, you must complete at least 10.0 credits towards your Laurier degree at Laurier (most degrees are made up of 20.0 credits in total).

If you are granted more than 10.0 transfer credits, all of them will appear on your Laurier record and could be counted towards your degree requirements (including required courses, if applicable). However, you must fulfill all degree requirements, including necessary electives, and at least 10.0 credits during your time at Laurier.

Questions?

To learn more about residency requirements and the unique credits required for your chosen program/pathway, set up an appointment with one of our academic advisors once you have accepted your offer. If you have questions prior to acceptance, contact chooselaurier@wlu.ca.

Sources of Transfer Credits

Transfer credits are automatically evaluated and granted upon admission in recognition of eligible coursework completed at another institution. Depending on your academic background, you may be eligible for transfer credit towards your Laurier degree. Please note that we do not provide pre-assessments for transfer credits. A transfer credit assessment will be included with your offer letter.

All applicants, whether coming from a high school, college, or university background, are individually assessed for eligible transfer credits. Select your most recent educational experience to learn more about eligibility and requirements for earning transfer credits:

Types of Transfer Credits

Transfer credits are credits granted by the university in recognition of work you’ve previously completed at another institution. All academic coursework that meets our minimum grade requirements and has been completed at an accredited postsecondary institution will automatically be considered for transfer credit when you apply to Laurier. There are three types of transfer credits that may be granted based on the coursework completed:

1. Direct Equivalency

The course is equivalent to a specific Laurier course. It may be used toward specific program requirements if required.

• Example: SY 101 - Introduction to Sociolgy, EN 190 - Introduction to Academic Writing

2. Miscellaneous Discipline Credit

Laurier does not have an exact equivalent for the course taken; however, a miscellaneous transfer credit is awarded based on the relevant discipline. Typically, these credits will only count toward elective requirements.

• Examples:
  • 0.5 100-level Biology credit, noted by BI 1XX in your student portal
  • 0.5 200-level Criminology credit, noted by CC 2XX in your student portal

3. Interdisciplinary Credit

The course is not equivalent to a Laurier course and does not fall within a Laurier department. Therefore, a miscellaneous transfer credit is awarded that can count towards the elective requirements of your Laurier degree. These credits will only count toward elective requirements.

• Example: 0.5 100-level Interdisciplinary credit, noted by UU 1XX in your student portal

Transfer Credit Evaluation and Admission

When you apply to Laurier, we will automatically evaluate your application for transfer credits. You will receive a transfer credit assessment at the same time you receive an offer of admission.

After you confirm your offer of admission, you can submit a request to have specific transfer credits that have been granted as "elective" and/or "miscellaneous program" credits re-evaluated for a specific course equivalency. You have up to one year following receipt of an offer of admission to request this reassessment.

High school curriculums eligible for transfer credits are not qualified for the transfer credit reassessment process. Any course outlines from these curriculums submitted through the form will not be processed, and students will not receive any follow-up. 

Requesting a Course Equivalency

A transfer credit equivalency is granted when the content and requirements of a course completed at another institution are evaluated and declared the same or comparable to a required course at Laurier. Requests for transfer credit equivalencies are evaluated by faculty three times a year, aligning with your admission term.

To request reassessment of a miscellaneous program or elective transfer credit for a specific Laurier course equivalency, you must:

1. Confirm your offer to Laurier.
2. Submit official course outlines from the issuing postsecondary institution for each course you want evaluated using the Transfer Credit Reassessment form. Complete one form per course request by the deadline below.
3. Download each individual request when prompted on the form.

If you have been granted a block of transfer credits on your offer letter as a result of following a pathway to Laurier, please review these additional instructions regarding block transfer credit reassessments.

*Estimate only. The actual date may vary.

Exclusions

There are some rare circumstances in which a course you have taken previously at another institution may have covered a significant amount of content that overlaps with a Laurier course, but not enough to be considered a true equivalency. If faculty determine this about one of your transfer credits, it will be assigned as a miscellaneous discipline credit (see Transfer Credit Types above), however you may notice the word "exclusion" next to it on your Laurier record. This means that if you choose to enrol in the excluded course at Laurier (the "exclusion"), you will retain the new credit and forfeit your transfer credit. Decisions on exclusions are made by faculty from the relevant department.
 
For example, if you earn a 0.5 EN 100-level transfer credit based on an English course you took previously that covers much of the same content as EN100 (but not all), you may see "Exclusions: EN100" next to the course code on your record. In this case, if you choose to take EN100 during your time at Laurier, your transfer credit will be forfeited and replaced with "EN100" and your final grade in that course. If you do not take EN100, you will retain your miscellaneous discipline credit. If EN100 is required to complete your degree, you will need to take the course at Laurier and not retain the transfer credit.

Questions or Concerns Regarding Assessments

If you are an upper-year student with questions or concerns about your transfer credit assessment, send your inquiries to transfercredit@wlu.ca before the first day of your last semester at Laurier. Any potential adjustments are dependent on the courses you have completed to date at Laurier and the transfer credit criteria outlined on this page.

Note: All requests will be individually reviewed, however adjustments are not guaranteed.

Credits Earned through a Laurier Exchange Program / Letter of Permission (LOP)

Transfer credits awarded for exchange programs organized by Laurier, or for courses done by Letter of Permission (LOP), are not eligible for reassessment. Credits were evaluated for (and granted) course equivalencies at the time of initial approval and will not be reassessed by admissions.