Key Terms & Important Info
This is a group of unassigned credits that transfer as general lower-level credit only. A block is just a convenient way to list a larger number of credits from an outside institution that do not receive any specific credit at TWU.
Some English courses transfer to TWU as unassigned credits with a literary (LIT) or composition (COMP) waiver. The course must be listed as “ENGL 100 level Lit; waives ENGL 103 or 104” or “ENGL 100 level comp; waives ENGL 103 or 104.”
A LIT or COMP waiver may apply towards the Academic Research and Writing core requirement. Please note that if a student has two COMP waivers, only one may count towards the core requirement, and the other will just receive unassigned credits:
- LIT + LIT = waives ENGL 103 + 104
- LIT + COMP = waives ENGL 103 +104
- COMP + COMP = ONLY waives ONE: ENGL 103 or 104
An official transcript is one that shows all final grades and has no courses listed as in progress.
If you are an incoming student who has never attended TWU, the transfer credit evaluation of your declared transcripts begins automatically once you are admitted to TWU. You must declare all previous academic history during the application process. No transfer credits will be granted if they are not declared prior to your admission to TWU.
If you receive between 24 and 56 semester hours of initial transfer credit, you are exempt from taking FNDN 101 in your first semester at TWU.
If you have 57 semester hours or more of initial transfer credit, you should follow the Modified Core Requirements Table, which is available on our Academic Advising website.
Re-enrolling students who have taken courses through another institution during their time away from TWU will not have these credits added to their initial transfer credit block (they will be assessed individually for possible specific transfer credit).
An official transcript is a transcript submitted to TWU directly from another post-secondary institution. Transcripts may be sent digitally to admissions@twu.ca or mailed to:
TRANSFER ADMISSIONS
MATTSON CENTRE TRINITY WESTERN UNIVERSITY
22500 UNIVERSITY DRIVE
LANGLEY BC V2Y 1Y1
CANADA
This is a course that must be completed (or waived) prior to being able to register for another course. Prerequisite courses meet learning requirements that are needed before advancing to a higher-level course. If any of your transfer credit courses are required as prerequisites for other TWU courses (or if you have more than 24 semester hours of initial transfer credit), it is important that you submit a copy of your official transcript(s) to TWU at least one week prior to your course registration date to prevent delays in registering for courses that require these prerequisites.
Specific credit is granted when a course is a direct equivalent of a specific TWU course. Substantial information about the content of the courses (i.e. a syllabus, which should include a detailed outline of the course, including exams, papers, textbooks, materials etc.) is required for our faculty evaluators to conduct the evaluation for specific TWU credits.
If there are any courses listed on your transfer credit record which have “syllabus needed” in the notes, you will need to submit syllabi to your enrolment advisor or to transfer@twu.ca for these courses. If you do not have access to your syllabi, please contact your transfer institution’s registrar’s office to request copies of your course syllabi.
A syllabus includes a detailed outline of the course, including exams, papers, textbooks, materials, professor, etc.
Syllabi should be from the year and semester that a student took the course. The following checklist outlines the contents of a course syllabus. If your syllabus does not contain all the information from this checklist, your evaluation may be delayed. We highly recommend you review your syllabus against this checklist before sending your transfer evaluation requests. Submitting complete and detailed course syllabi for all courses will expedite TWU’s evaluation of your transfer credits. For courses where a laboratory component was required (eg. biology, chemistry), a separate lab syllabus must be submitted for evaluation in addition to the primary course syllabus.
- Name of the transferring institution
- Semester and year the course was taken
- Course code (e.g., GEOG 1120)
- Course title (e.g., Introduction to Physical Geography)
- Course instructor information
- Number of course credits (semester hours)
- Course description
- Course learning outcomes and/or objectives
- Course outline – list of topics covered in the course
- Required reading materials – textbooks
- Criteria for course evaluation – distribution of marks (workload)
- Length of time/hours allocated to complete the course
This document contains all the details about your TWU transfer credit. You can access your transfer credit record at My Transfer Credit once you have logged into your Student Portal. It is recommended that you watch this video explaining how to read your transfer credit record, and then book a meeting with your enrolment advisor (new students) or academic/faculty advisor (current students) to discuss how your transfer credit applies to your TWU program checklist. Please make sure you bring your transfer credit record to all advising sessions because it is the only document that lists course waivers and other important information regarding your transfer credit. You may also contact the Academic Advising team if your faculty advisor is unavailable to meet with you.
Unassigned credit is granted when a course is generally categorized under a TWU program (e.g. MATH, ART, HIST) but does not have a specific/direct course match. Unassigned credits are listed as "[DEPT] #00 level transfer credit." Some examples are as follows: “BIOL 200 level transfer credit,” “ART 100 level transfer credit.”
General credit (GENS) is granted when a course does not fit into a TWU program, but TWU acknowledges that it is academically sound and may receive elective credit. General credits are listed as “GENS 300 level transfer credit.” All initial block transfer credits are considered lower-level GENS credit.
Unassigned credits and general credits may always apply to your general elective credits. Unassigned credit may apply towards some program requirements, but students will need to speak to their advisor for that determination.
General and unassigned credit may not fulfill the requirement for specific courses or prerequisites or apply towards TWU core requirements unless specified with a waiver on the student’s transfer credit record. They do, however, contribute to overall hours earned, which may be used to enter second-, third-, or fourth-year courses.
Some courses are given a general transfer credit waiver. This waives the requirement for a specific course when unassigned credit is granted. Example: ART 100 level transfer credit (3); waives ART 181.
Waivers meet TWU core requirements. In the example above, a student would be waived from ART 181 as a program requirement and the Aesthetic and Performance Inquiry requirement in the core.
Please review your transfer credit record to see if there are any waivers given for your unassigned transfer credit.
An LOP is prior approval for a course to be taken by current TWU students at another institution and receive TWU transfer credit for it upon successful completion. After admission to TWU, students who wish to take credits elsewhere and transfer them to TWU must first apply for an LOP.
Restrictions
LOPs should be rare and limited to situations where a student wishes to study something that is not offered at TWU. TWU online courses now have increased capacity, and students can also discuss with their advisor if an independent study or directed study is needed.
No transfer credit taken by LOP by current students may be applied to core requirements.
Courses will not be granted credit if taken more than once—either at TWU or another institution.
Eligibility to apply for an LOP
To apply for an LOP, the student must be registered in a TWU degree program and must be in good financial standing at TWU. The course must be from an accredited institution that is recognized by TWU.
Please note that being eligible to apply for an LOP does not guarantee that you will be granted permission to transfer a course.
Before applying, it is the student’s responsibility to read through the information below:
You must submit an LOP form and get approval prior to taking the course. Faliure to do so may result in not receiving transfer credit as expected or at all.
You must complete the course requested within one year after receiving the LOP approval. If approval has expired, but you have not started the course, you must re-apply and the decision is subject to change.
You are responsible for checking that the approved transfer courses will meet your program requirements and stay within any transfer credit limits (such as LOP restrictions, upper-level limits, program grade minimums, duplicate courses, etc.).
Applying for an LOP
Timeline: Students are strongly encouraged to submit LOP requests four to six weeks prior to the course registration deadline to allow for document submission and articulation evaluation.
Cost: A $25 service fee is required to process LOP requests for an institution not listed on the BC Transfer Guide (per institution and up to five courses).
Syllabi: The submission of a syllabus may be required if a course has not been previously articulated or if the articulation has expired.
Cancellation of LOP: If you no longer intend to take a course already approved on your LOP, please email transfer@twu.ca to have the course removed from your transfer credit record. You must provide your name, TWU student ID, host institution, and the specific course code (course code from the institution, not the TWU course).
Steps
Print out or digitally fill in this Letter of Permission Application form.
- Submit the form to your academic advisor for their signature to indicate that you have reviewed all other course registration options with them.
Attach each course syllabus unless the course is listed and evaluated in the BC Transfer Guide. Please note that decisions made by TWU are final, and they may differ from the BC Transfer Guide decisions.
To submit and pay (when the hosting institution is not listed in the BC Transfer Guide, $25 fee per form), email the completed form to transfer@twu.ca, and your student account will be charged.
Once the requested courses have been evaluated, you will be notified via email of the transfer decision.
If your request is approved, please review TWU’s transfer decision to ensure it is still applicable to your program requirements and that you are within any transfer credit limits (such as LOP restrictions, upper-level limits, program grade minimums, duplicate courses, etc.).
If required by the host institution, you may request that the TWU Office of the Registrar send a formal LOP to the institution, which will serve as the basis for your admission as a visiting student there. To do so, you must provide the email address from the host institution for it to be sent to.
Request that the host institution send your official transcript directly to TWU once you complete your course and receive a final grade. Upon receiving the transcript (typically within two to four weeks of mailing for physical transcripts), you will be notified of your transfer credit being complete. Transcripts sent by the student are not considered official. They must come directly from the institution to TWU.
Transcripts may be sent digitally to Admissions@twu.ca or mailed to:
TRANSFER ADMISSIONS
MATTSON CENTRE TRINITY WESTERN UNIVERSITY
22500 UNIVERSITY DRIVE
LANGLEY BC V2Y 1Y1
CANADA