NSE Transfer Credit

Most credits earned through National Student Exchange will transfer back to UMD. However, it is important to understand how those credits will apply to your degree requirements before you leave for your exchange.

With careful planning, NSE coursework may help fulfill major, minor, Liberal Education, or other graduation requirements. However, course approval does not happen automatically. Students are responsible for completing the required steps and working with their academic advisor before their exchange.

Before You Are Accepted for Exchange

Before you are accepted for exchange, you do not need to complete the full transfer credit evaluation process. However, you should begin thinking about how an exchange may fit into your academic plan.

Before acceptance, students should:

  • Review their APAS report to understand remaining degree requirements.
  • Create a preliminary list of courses they may be interested in taking at their preferred host school.
  • Meet with their UMD academic advisor to discuss how an exchange may fit into their degree plan.
  • Identify the types of requirements they may want to fulfill while on exchange, such as Liberal Education, major, minor, elective, or other graduation requirements.

This early planning can help you determine whether a host school is a good academic fit before you move forward in the NSE process.

After You Are Accepted for Exchange

After you are accepted for exchange, you should begin the formal course approval process.

At this stage, students should:

  • Research courses at your NSE host school.
  • Check Transferology for existing UMD transfer decisions.
  • Gather syllabi or course descriptions for courses that need review.
  • Talk with your UMD academic advisor.
  • Submit a Transfer Course Evaluation request for courses without active transfer decisions.
  • Document your plan using the NSE Academic Planning Form.

Course Approval Steps

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Course Approval Steps

Review UMD’s Transfer Credit Policies

Credits from your NSE host school will likely transfer back to UMD, but you need to understand and follow UMD transfer credit policies and processes.

Information on transfer credit is available on the OneStop website. 

Conversion of Quarter Credits:

UMD follows a semester calendar. Quarter credits from other U.S. institutions are usually converted to semester credits by multiplying the number of quarter credits by 0.666. 

Residency Requirements for Graduation

Credits earned in the National Student Exchange program will count as resident credits in residency requirements.

Grade Records

Individual transfer courses, credits, and grades will not appear on your University of Minnesota transcript. Your transfer GPA is not computed into your University of Minnesota GPA. The approved transfer courses and grades earned will appear on your APAS report and a summary of your transfer credits and a memo will be added to your transcript. 

Courses Needing Special Review

Independent study, workshops, field experience, and internships may or may not transfer, depending on the level and the appropriateness of the learning experience. Review and approval for transfer of these courses is done in the student's major and/or minor department.

Courses That Do Not Transfer

Credit is usually not allowed for courses that are not designed for transfer to baccalaureate degree programs. Such courses are usually highly specialized or are vocational in nature. Remedial or developmental courses are not considered college-level and do not transfer. 

Talk With Your UMD Academic Advisor

Make sure your UMD academic advisor is aware of your NSE plans. Ask what role they play in evaluating transfer credit for your program.

Some faculty advisors review transfer credit for major or minor requirements, while others may refer you to your collegiate advising office. Either way, you should communicate with your advisor as you prepare for your exchange.

Your advisor can help you determine which UMD requirements you may want to fulfill while on exchange, including:

  • General elective credit
  • Liberal Education requirements
  • Major or minor requirements
  • Other graduation requirements

Finding Courses to Take on Exchange

Finding course information at your NSE host school is an important part of planning for your exchange. Your UMD advisor may need course details to help determine whether courses fit into your academic plan.

Use the NSE Academic Planning Form to document course options and guide conversations with your advisor.

  1. Review the “course limitations” and “closed programs” listed for your host school on the NSE site. You may not have access to all courses offered at your host school, so flexibility is important.
  2. Your host NSE coordinator should be able to assist you in identifying course options at your host school and outlining the registration process.  
  3. There are two places to begin your research on course options on your NSE host school’s website:
    1. course handbook/catalog/prospectus.
    2. the department(s) through which you wish to take courses. 
  4. Identify several courses you wish to take on exchange. Keep in mind, you are not guaranteed access to every course, so be sure to select several back-up choices as well. Once you have identified several courses, here is the information you should compile:
    1. Course name and number
    2. Course description 
    3. Number of credits/hours
    4. Prerequisites 
    5. Your academic advisor may want to see a course syllabus as well. If it’s not available on the website, you can contact the department offering the course directly.  Your host NSE coordinator may be of assistance as well.

Review UMD’s Transfer Credit Database (Transferology)

UMD documents every course approved for transfer through Transferology. You can use Transferology to see what courses from your NSE school have been approved for credit in the past. 

  1. Create an account (or log in). 
  2. Click on "Will My Courses Transfer?" at the top of the page. 
  3. Type in your HOST CAMPUS in the "School Name" box. 
  4. Choose a recent term (fall 2025, spring 2026, etc). 
  5. Select the department offering the course(s) you plan to take. 
    1. Scan the list of courses to see if the course is listed. 
    2. If the course does not appear, it does not mean the course will not transfer. See “Submit Courses for a Transfer Course Evaluation." 
    3. Click on "Search for Matches." 
    4. Enter "University of Minnesota Duluth" in the "Filter by School" box and select the campus. 
      1. Courses approved for transfer will appear as "matches." Click "Expand all notes" to see specific transfer info (lib ed, departmental approval, etc).
      2. Courses not yet approved for transfer will appear in the "maybe" section. These courses may be submitted for a Transfer Course Evaluation.

Submit courses for a Transfer Course Evaluation

For any course that does not have a decision in Transferology, or if the decision has expired, you will need to obtain a course syllabus and submit a Transfer Course Evaluation request.

You will need a syllabus for each course submitted for review.

If a syllabus is not available on the host school’s website, contact the instructor or department offering the course. Your host NSE coordinator may also be able to assist.

Document Your Course Plan With Your UMD Academic Advisor

Use the NSE Academic Planning Form to document discussions with your advisor. 

  1. Once you have been placed at an NSE school, research course options that are available to you. Collect syllabi or course descriptions when possible. Remember to choose several back-up courses just in case you’re not able to register for all the classes you would like.
  2. Communicate with your college, major, and/or minor advisors to complete the NSE Academic Planning Form. You should discuss the classes you're interested in taking on exchange and identify which requirements they may fulfill. 
    1. Tentative vs. Final Approval: Some departments will review exchange courses and pre-approve them for transfer towards major/minor requirements. Sometimes their review entails a petition process that you must complete. Other departments will not pre-approve any course you intend to take. They may give you tentative approval before the exchange but will do an official review upon your return. 
  3. After finalizing classes with your advisors, save a copy of the NSE Academic Planning Form for yourself and share the completed form with UMD’s NSE Coordinator, Wes Lewis ([email protected]).

    • If your enrollment changes due to courses being full or unavailable, discuss those course changes with your advisors. Any changes should be documented on the NSE Academic Planning Form.

    • If you are exchanging for more than one term, contact your advisors about registration for the second term when the class schedule becomes available.
    • Also discuss your registration plans for the term you are returning to UMD. For that term, you will register through MyU.

End of Your Exchange

To begin the transfer credit review process, you must have an official transcript from your NSE school sent to UMD at the end of each term of your exchange. Please follow these instructions carefully

Step 1: Send official transcripts to the University of Minnesota Duluth.

  • Mail to UMD Admissions Processing, 123 DAdB, 1049 University Drive, Duluth, MN 55812-3011
  • Email [email protected]

Step 2: Transfer courses will be reviewed by UMD faculty.

Step 3: Your Academic Credit report will be available via Academic Program Audit System (APAS).

A few notes on the transfer process:

  • The transfer review process takes anywhere from a few weeks to 2 monnths. 
  • Check your APAS report periodically to see that your transfer credits are entered on your record. If two months have passed since your transcript arrived, contact the Registrar’s Office directly to check on the status of the review process for your transfer credits.
  • If a course does not transfer for general credit or for the Liberal Education requirement you thought it should, you may request a re-evaluation through the Transfer Credit Evaluation process.
  • Once the transfer credits have been posted to your APAS report, you should contact your academic advisor to ask them to apply your transfer coursework to your degree requirements (which you negotiated earlier through the NSE Academic Planning Form). 
  • Make sure you’ve kept all of your course syllabi, assignments, tests, papers, etc in case they are needed as part of the credit approval process.