Students may take UIUC courses prior to being admitted to a degree program or courses at other institutions and petition to transfer credit toward the degree. No more than 12 semester hours (8 toward the MSME degree) may be transferred from another institution and only 12 semester hours total may be transferred. The petition must mention the UIUC course that is believed to be the equivalent of the course that is being transferred. Both the Department and the Graduate College must approve all transfer credit. Restrictions by the Graduate College, on the transfer of credit, are as follows:

• The student must have completed at least 8 semester hours (12 semester hours for CS) of graduate credit at UIUC before petitioning for the transfer of credit;
• The course(s) must have been taken within the past five years at an accredited institution;
• The course(s) must be graduate-level at that institution and may not already have been applied to another degree (written verification must come from a college or university official whose responsibilities include degree certification);
• The course(s) must be equivalent to a specific graduate course at UIUC;
• The student must have received a grade of A or B; and
• The petition must include an original, official (not issued to the student) transcript.

The maximum credit for a three-hour course on the quarter system is 2 hours. An instructor may recommend less credit if he or she feels that a smaller portion of the UIUC course has been mastered by the student.

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