International Transfer Credit Evaluation
Students who have completed college-level (post-secondary) classes at an institution abroad may contact the Office of International Programs (OIP) to request an international transfer credit evaluation. The evaluation is completed by the International Admissions team after the student is accepted. The OIP staff evaluates most international credentials in-house but students may be asked to complete an external international credential evaluation on a case-by-case basis to confirm documentation authenticity and provide guidance on credit and grade conversions.
- International Transfer Credit Policies
- International Transfer Credit Evaluation Process
- Transfer Students from China
- Credential Evaluation Agencies
- Transfer Credit Categories
- Transfer Course Equivalency Search
- International Baccalaureate Credit (IB)
- GCE A-Level Examination
International Transfer Credit Policies
- Read the transfer credit process and transfer policy at UMaine.
Transcripts: Academic transcripts submitted to the Office of International Programs for evaluation must be certified original documents. Documents in a language other than English must be accompanied by an official English translation.
Course equivalencies: Students requesting transfer credit for specific UM course equivalencies need to include detailed course descriptions (in English) with their transcript.
Grades: Students must have earned the equivalent of a grade of C- or better in order for the course to be transferable to UMaine. The grades of the international transfer courses will be listed on the UMaine transcript but not calculated in the cumulative GPA at UMaine.
Credits: The number of international transfer credits for each course is determined by the equivalency of the credit hours or contact hours between the two institutions.
ENG 101: The Office of International Programs does not make transfer credit recommendations for ENG 101. The student must have earned at least a grade of “C” in order to transfer a course from abroad as ENG 101. The OIP works with Prof. Ryan Dippre in the English department to obtain approval for this course.
OAC Credit: UMaine considers Canadian OAC credit to be advanced placement credit. Students may receive up to 3 credits for each OAC course passed with a grade of 60 or higher. OAC transfer credit is recorded under the generic “100X” or “200X” designation unless the student provides a course description that clearly matches a course taught at UMaine.
CEGEP Credit: Credit is not granted for course work taken in the first year at a Canadian CEGEP. UMaine considers the first year of CEGEP to be the equivalent of the 12th grade in the U.S.A.
International Baccalaureate: UMaine grants transfer credit for IB courses at the Higher level completed with grades of 5 or higher. The transcript must be sent directly by IB to UMaine. See the section below for more information.
UK System: Advanced level examinations: UMaine grants transfer credit for A-level courses by the various testing agencies. Transfer credit is granted at the advanced level with a grade of A or B, and not at the Advanced Subsidiary level. The transcript must be sent directly from the testing agency to UMaine. See the section below for more information.
English Language Courses: Credit is not awarded for course work in English language instruction.
International Transfer Credit Evaluation Process
1. Students transferring to UMaine from an institution outside of the U.S.A. or Canada need to contact a professional credential evaluation service to request a course-by-course evaluation of their academic work. The results of this evaluation must be sent directly to the Office of International Programs. See the list of Credential Evaluation Agencies.
2. Students transferring from a Canadian institution may send an official copy of their academic transcript (in English) to the Office of International Programs. Official transcripts ideally should come directly from the issuing university. Official transcripts that have been issued to the student are acceptable only if they are submitted to the OIP in their original, sealed envelope. Faxes and xerox copies of transcripts are not considered to be official documents for the purpose of credit evaluation.
3. After a student has been formally offered admission to the University of Maine and matriculated (submitted the Enrollment Confirmation form), his/her course work will be reviewed and evaluated for transfer credit. If a student wishes to receive credit for a particular course at UMaine – s/he must submit course descriptions (in English) to the Office of International Programs for review in addition to the transcript.
4. The Office of International Programs seeks approval from the Associate Dean of each college and Department Chairs when establishing course equivalencies. When the course equivalencies are finalized, the transfer credits are posted in the student’s account in MaineStreet and the annotated transcript is sent electronically to the appropriate UMaine college. The student is notified that the international transfer credit evaluation is completed.
The entire process takes approximately 2-4 weeks to complete from the time a student’s records are in order.
Credential Evaluation Agencies
The University of Maine requires all transfer students to obtain a professional course-by-course evaluation of all university-level work from a professional credential evaluation service with NACES membership. This professional evaluation will help guide the University of Maine’s internal review of transfer credit equivalencies. It is not a guarantee of transfer credit. Suggested organizations are:
Josef Silny & Associates, Inc., International Education Consultants
7101 SW 102 Avenue, Miami, FL 33173 | Phone: (305) 273-1616; Fax: (305) 273-1338 | website: www.jsilny.org | email: info@jsilny.org
450 7th Avenue, Suite 1107, New York, NY 10123 | Phone: (646) 475-2570; Fax: (713) 789-6022 | Website: www.spantran.com | Email: intake@spantran.com
World Education Services (WES)
P.O. Box 5087, Bowling Green Station, New York, NY 10274-5087 | Phone: (212) 966-6311; Fax: (212) 739-6120 | Website: www.wes.org | email: info@wes.org
Transfer Credits Categories
Exact Equivalency: Credit for a specific UMaine course is recommended only when it is clear from the course description provided that the content of the course to be transferred is equivalent to a course taught at UMaine. Transfer credits that appear with a course code and name that can be found in the Undergraduate Catalog are courses that the student has been granted exact credit. For example, if “POS 273 International Relations” appears on the transfer credit report, then a course that the student took at the previous institution covered the same material as this course at UMaine.
Same Subject Elective: Transfer credits for which UMaine has a comparable subject area, but not an exact course equivalent will appear as ”POS 200X Political Science Elective”. This indicates that the subject area was Political Science, the “200” means that it is a 200-level course, and the “X” designates it as an elective.
General Elective: Transfer credits for which the University of Maine does not offer courses in that specific subject area are listed as “GEL 200X General Elective”.
In some cases, students feel that there is an equivalent course at the University of Maine to a credit that has been given a generic credit. If that is the case, the student must take course descriptions for that course to the department that offers the course to have their previous course evaluated. If the course is deemed to be equivalent by the department then the credit can be changed through the Office of International Programs.
Transfer Course Equivalency Search
The Office of International Programs has posted in MaineStreet the transfer course equivalencies for some institutions abroad.
Note: No login is required to use Transfer Course Equivalencies in MaineStreet.
- Go to MaineStreet
- Select Transfer Course Equivalencies
- Maximize browser window for best display.
- Select Transfer courses or test credit to the Univ. of Maine System.
- Select University of Maine at Orono.
- From the A-Z list, select the first letter of the name of your institution. Please be aware that the names of some universities have been abbreviated.
- Select your school from the list.
- Select Show all Subjects or select a subject.
- Minimize the Menu on left for best display.
Your institution’s courses are listed on the left. UM’s course equivalent is in the column labeled Target Course. If the transfer course satisfies one or more General Education requirements, this information will display in the column to the right.
International Baccalaureate Exams Credit
The University of Maine grants credit for International Baccalaureate Exams equivalent to courses with a minimum exam score. All exams must be taken at the HIGHER level with a grade of 5, 6, or 7. No credit will be awarded for exams taken at the Standard level. These are some examples of approved equivalencies:
| IB Exam(Higher Level with 5, 6, or 7) | UMaine equivalency | UMaine Credits | UM general education |
| Biology | BIO 100 | 4 cr | Lab science |
| Business & Management | MGT 101 | 3 cr | |
| Chemistry | CHY 100X | 3 cr | |
| Design technology | GEE 100X | 3 cr | |
| Economics | ECO 120 | 3 cr | Social Contexts |
| English | ENG 101 | 3 cr | |
| English A1 | ENG 101 | 3 cr | |
| English A: Language & Literature | ENG 100X | 3 cr | Cultural Diversity/Writing Intensive |
| English A: Literature | ENG 101 | 3 cr | |
| Film | NMD 100X | 3 cr | Artistic & Creative Expressions |
| Geography | GEO 100 | 3 cr | Cult Diversity/Pop & Environment |
| German B | GER 203 GER 204 |
3 cr 3 cr |
Cultural Diversity / Intl. Perspectives |
| History of Americas | HTY 100X | 3 cr | West Cult Trad/Social Contexts |
| History Europe | HTY 100X | 3 cr | West Cult Trad/Social Contexts |
| History Europe/Middle East | HTY 100X | 3 cr | West Cult Trad/Social Contexts |
| Latin | LAT 101 | 3 cr | |
| Mathematics | MAT 100X | 3 cr | |
| Nepali A: Literature | ENG 100X | 3 cr | Cultural Diversity |
| Physics | PHY 111 | 4 cr | Lab science |
| Psychology | PSY 100X | 3 cr | Social Contexts |
| Spanish B | SPA 204 | 3 cr | Cultural Diversity |
| Theater Arts | THE 100X | 3 cr | Artistic & Creative Expressions |
| Visual Arts | ART 100X | 3 cr | Artistic & Creative Expressions |
Cambridge A-level Exams Credit
With its origin in the United Kingdom, the General Certificate of Education (GCE) or International General Certificate of Education (IGCE) is a secondary-level academic qualification that continues to be a popular measure of academic aptitude in other countries. It does not grant transfer credit. The University of Maine grants credit for GCE A-Level Exams taken only at the Advanced Level (A-Level) with grades of A and B. No credit will be given for exams taken at the Advanced Subsidiary level (A/S level).
| A-Level (with grades of A &B) |
UMaine equivalency | UMaine Credits | UM general education |
| App. Inform. & Comm. Tech. | COS 100X | 6 cr | Social Contexts |
| Arabic | VOX 160 | 8 cr | Cultural Diversity |
| Biology | BIO 100 & BIO 200 | 8 cr | Lab science |
| Business Studies | BUA 100X | 6 cr | |
| Chemistry | CHY 121, 122, 123 & 124 | 8 cr | |
| Classical Civilization | HTY 100X | 6 cr | |
| Economics | ECO 120 & ECO 121 | 6 cr | Social Contexts |
| English Literature | ENG 100X | 6 cr | West Cult Trad/Artistic |
| Further Mathematics | MAT 126 & MAT 127 | 8 cr | Quantitative Literacy |
| Geography | GEO 100X | 6 cr | Lab Science/Pop & Environment |
| History | HTY 100X | 6 cr | |
| Mathematics | MAT 122 & MAT 100X | 8 cr | Quantitative Literacy |
| Physical Education | KPE 200X | 6 cr | App Science |
| Physics | PHY 121 & PHY 122 | 8 cr | Lab science |
| Psychology | PSY 100 & PSY 100X | 6 cr | Social Contexts |
| Sociology | SOC 100X | 6 cr | Social Contexts |
| Spanish | SPA 100X | 6 cr | Cultural Diversity |