Transfer Credit

Master's Transfer Credit

For master’s degree programs, a maximum of nine applicable credit hours may be transferred into an Illinois Tech graduate degree program. These credits may come from the following: 

  1. Internal or external graduate-eligible transfer credits at the 400- and/or 500-level that have not been applied toward any earned degree. 

  2. Applicable shared undergraduate program credits at the 400- and/or 500-level for an accelerated master's program at Illinois Tech.

The combined limit of nine credit hours may not be exceeded for any master’s degree program, and may not include research and/or thesis credit hours. The credit hours must have been passed with grades of “B” or better, and are subject to the approval of the academic unit and the Office of Academic Affairs. Grades of "B-" may be considered with approval from the academic unit and Academic Affairs under exceptional circumstances. Grades for transferred credits will not be included in the student’s GPA. 

Individual academic units may have different rules for advance standing credits. Please refer to those programs for details.  

Doctoral Transfer Credit

Doctoral degree candidates may transfer previously completed graduate coursework up to a maximum of 42 credit hours beyond the bachelor’s degree. In no case can more than 50% of the total credit hours required for the Ph.D. program be from transfer credits. This may include up to 30 credit hours from a completed master’s degree from Illinois Tech or another institution within the previous six years. Remaining transfer credit hours cannot have been applied to any earned degree.  

Other than those that transfer as part of a completed master’s degree from another institution, research and thesis credit hours may not be submitted for transfer credit consideration. Research and thesis credit hour requirements correspond to work that has been completed while enrolled in an Illinois Tech research course numbered 594 (master’s project), 591 (master of science research and thesis), or 691 (doctoral research and thesis). 

Transfer coursework must be judged to be relevant to the current Illinois Tech doctoral program, must have been completed with grades of ”B” or better, and must be acceptable for graduate credit at the institution where taken. Grades of "B-" may be considered with approval from the academic unit and Academic Affairs under exceptional circumstances. Grades for transferred credits will not be included in the student’s GPA. 

Transfer Credit Submission and Approval

Graduate students who have earned credit following the university's graduate transfer credit guidelines as stated earlier in this section will seek and gain initial academic approval by using the transfer credit review process in the online eForms for Graduate Degree Works system, to be reviewed and approved by the graduate academic adviser, graduate academic department, and the Office of Academic Affairs. For more information, please see the eForms for Degree Works section of this catalog. 

Internal Transfer Credit

Students may request approval of internal transfer credit for Illinois Tech courses that were either 1) graduate-level courses taken in a unit outside the student's academic unit; or 2) graduate-level courses taken during an Illinois Tech undergraduate degree program.  

Students enrolled in an Accelerated Master's Program may share up to nine credit hours of applicable undergraduate coursework with their Illinois Tech master's degree, pending the approval of the graduate program. These courses may satisfy the requirements of both the bachelor’s and master’s degrees.  

Students who are not enrolled in an Accelerated Master's Program may request to transfer excess undergraduate credit only, that is, those that were not necessary to satisfy requirements for the bachelor’s degree. 

External Transfer Credit

For external transfer credit consideration, a student should submit to the adviser a copy of the course description, course syllabus, and grade report with earned credit hours (or a student copy of the transcript). The preliminary academic approval is not final without formal official transcript evaluation and approval by the Office of Academic Affairs as noted below. 

Domestic Transcripts

Submission of the official certified transcript for each earned degree and/or individual course credit for consideration must be mailed or emailed directly from the institution conferring the degree to Illinois Institute of Technology. 

International Transcripts

Submission of the official required documents for each earned degree and/or individual course credit for consideration from an approved NACES-accredited international evaluation service. These documents must be submitted to Illinois Institute of Technology directly from the evaluator. Student submissions are considered unofficial, and will not be accepted. 

Document Submission

Illinois Institute of Technology
Office of Academic Affairs
Attention: Final Documents
10 W. 35th Street, Suite 2C4-2
Chicago, Illinois 60616
graddocs@iit.edu

Note: Illinois Institute of Technology accepts domestic transfer credit from institutions that have obtained regional and national accreditation from agencies recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education as reliable authorities concerning the quality of education or training offered by the institutions of higher education or higher education programs they accredit. All graduate transfer credit may only be conveyed for equivalent graduate academic courses that meet the rigor and standards of graduate education as defined by university academic standards and policies. This policy and the university’s evaluation of requests for transfer credit is and is intended to be consistent with applicable federal and state laws and regulations, and any law or regulation adopted or modified after promulgation of this policy will automatically adjust this policy to the extent required for compliance with the same.