Office of the University Registrar

Transfer Students

For the most current information regarding admissions procedures and deadline dates, prospective candidates should consult the admissions website.

The contact information for the forwarding of all inquiries, materials and test results is:

Office of Admissions
Brandeis University
415 South Street, MS 003
Waltham, MA 02453

781-736-3500
800-622-0622

Transfer Credit Policy

  • No more than 64 credits (equivalent to 16 four-credit courses) may be granted because Brandeis University residence requirements specify that a minimum of 64 credits in four fall/spring semesters must be successfully completed at Brandeis.
  • Courses must have been taken at accredited, degree-granting institutions from which an official transcript has been received. The courses must be generally equivalent to courses offered at Brandeis, and the grade received must be equivalent to at least a C-minus.
  • Credit is granted based on the principle of “Equivalent Course Load.”  Please see below for a detailed explanation. 
  • Please send any transfer credit policy questions to transfer@brandeis.edu.
  • Students may not be concurrently enrolled at Brandeis during a term in which transfer credit is sought, except as allowed under the provisions of cross-registration.
  • Winter Intersession courses must meet for a minimum of 5 weeks and 37 contact hours to be considered for transfer credit.

Principle of Equivalent Course Load

In general, courses accepted for transfer credit must be similar to those taught at Brandeis. Courses that, in our judgment, are inappropriate to a Brandeis University degree, carry fewer than two semester hours credit or carry a grade lower than C-minus (B-minus in summer school) are excluded from consideration.

For the BA/BS degrees, Brandeis requires 32 semester courses and a minimum academic residency of four fall/spring semesters, exclusive of Brandeis Summer School. Your transfer credit, expressed in semester courses, appears in the top right corner of your evaluation sheet. Since Brandeis does not measure progress toward the degree in terms of "semester hours" or "quarter hours," units such as these are converted to "semester courses" according to the formula below:

  • We ascertain the number of credits or courses required for the receipt of a bachelor's degree at the institution from which you are transferring courses. We total the number acceptable to us for transfer credit, divide by the requirement at your previous institution and multiply by 32 (the degree standard at Brandeis). For example, if your previous school requires 128 credits and you attended one semester, completing 16 credits acceptable for transfer, the equation will be 16/128 x 32 = 4.  Hence, one full semester at that institution will receive full credit at Brandeis.
  • If you worked at a higher or lower rate, credit transferred will reflect that rate. For example, if you complete 12 credits acceptable for transfer at a school that requires 120 credits for graduation, the equation is 12/120 x 32 = 3. In this scenario, the student will receive three Brandeis courses.
  • For two-year schools, we multiply by 16 (e.g., if the degree requirement is 60 credits, the equation will be #/60 x 16 = ?). Since Brandeis requires that at least 16 semester courses and four semesters of full-time study be completed here, no student may be awarded more than 16 semester courses upon transfer.
  • If the equation does not yield a whole number, we round up or down depending on the remainder. For .5 and above, we round up. For less than .5, we rounds down. (e.g. 3.2 is rounded down to 3 courses; 3.6 is rounded up to 4 courses)

Using Transfer Credit towards a Major or Minor

To apply transfer coursework to your declared major or minor, please complete the online petition to request a substitution for a major/minor requirement.