Transferring In and Testing Out

Truman State University is a signatory for the Missouri 42-Credit General Education Block. Students who complete the General Education Block at one Missouri college or university and who later transfer to another Missouri college or university satisfy the general education requirements of the college or university to which they transfer, provided that school is also a signatory.

To complete the General Education Block at Truman, a student must complete the Disciplinary Perspectives, the Intercultural Perspectives requirements of the Dialogues, and the Self & Society Seminar as well as the Missouri Statute requirement and electives to total 42 credits. Likewise, students who transfer to Truman from another Missouri institution with completion of the General Education Block noted on their transcripts have fulfilled the Disciplinary Perspectives and the Intercultural Perspective requirements of Truman’s Dialogues, as well as the Missouri Statute requirement.

Students who have completed the requirements of the Missouri 42-Credit General Education Block and who are transferring from Truman to another Missouri college or university may request to have completion of the General Education Block noted on their transcripts. Students must make the request in writing to the Registrar’s Office during their last semester at Truman. If a review finds that the student has met all of the requirements for the General Education Block, the Registrar adds this notation to the student’s transcript after the posting of final grades for the semester.

PRE-APPROVAL OF TRANSFER CREDIT FOR ENROLLED STUDENTS

Currently enrolled undergraduate degree-seeking students who wish to transfer courses to Truman from another accredited institution must complete a “Pre-Approval of Transfer Credit” form. This form must be approved through the Registrar’s Office. The “Pre- Approval of Transfer Credit” form should be submitted for approval prior to enrolling in courses at another institution. The University reserves the right to deny transfer of any coursework that has not been previously approved.

Students may not transfer courses during the last 28 credits prior to graduation without special permission.

Currently enrolled students are required to have official transcripts sent from all colleges and universities through which credit has been attempted immediately upon completion of the course(s). These transcripts must be sent directly to the Registrar’s Office.

TRANSFER CREDIT EVALUATION

Students who have earned a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university will have fulfilled the Truman Symposium, the Self & Society Seminar, and the Disciplinary Perspectives requirements of Truman’s Dialogues.

Students who have completed an Associate of Arts (AA) degree, a Truman-approved Associate of Science degree (Applied Science degree not included), or the Missouri 42-Credit General Education Block from an accredited college or university fulfill the Disciplinary Perspectives and the Intercultural Perspective requirements of Truman’s Dialogues. In addition, students who have completed the Associate’s degree from a public institution in the State of Missouri, or who have completed the Missouri 42-Credit General Education Block, may also fulfill the Missouri Statute requirement.

Coursework for transfer students who have not completed the Associate of Arts degree, a Truman-approved Associate of Science degree, or the Missouri 42-Credit General Education Block is evaluated on a course-by-course basis.

Transfer students are granted class standing appropriate to the number of credits accepted by Truman. Students who have completed the Associate of Arts degree, or a Truman-approved Associate of Science degree, are granted junior status.

All transfer students must complete the same requirements for degree completion as native students, including prerequisites for later coursework.

ACCEPTING TRANSFER CREDITS

Truman State University accepts transfer credits from institutions accredited by the following institutional accrediting agencies:

• Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (ACCJC)
• Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
• Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)
• New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE)
• Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU)
• Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SCASCOC)
• WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC)

Courses completed at other institutions or accredited by other institutional accrediting agencies not listed above will be reviewed individually.

ADVANCED COLLEGE PLACEMENT/CREDIT PROGRAMS

The University accepts a wide variety of proficiency and placement examinations to award credit and/or to place students into courses. Advanced college credit programs recognized by Truman include: Advanced Placement Program (AP) examinations; College Level Examination Program (CLEP) examinations; Dual Credit and Prior College Credit Programs; International Baccalaureate (IB) examinations; military experience; and Truman State University designed examinations. Information regarding Truman credit awarded for these programs is available on the Registrar’s Office website (http://www.truman.edu/registrar/transferring-credit/) or by contacting the Registrar’s Office. 

All test-out procedures are subject to change. Please see the appropriate department office for updates.

Waiver of ENG 190 Writing as Critical Thinking

First-year students with extensive writing experience in a variety of discourses and with the ability to meet the needs of varied audiences may elect to challenge the requirement of ENG 190 Writing as Critical Thinking. Applicants must apply to the English and Linguistics Department Chair, who advises students about procedures to waive ENG 190 and about producing a portfolio of university-level writing for evaluation. This portfolio must be submitted to the English and Linguistics Department Chair before a student has completed thirty credits or the first two semesters of coursework at Truman State University. The portfolio is evaluated by the writing faculty for waiver of ENG 190. Any student who succeeds in challenging Writing as Critical Thinking must then take a designated writing-enhanced course instead of ENG 190 in order to satisfy the first unit of the Dialogues writing requirement.

Foreign Language Requirements

All students who seek the bachelor’s degree at Truman must satisfy the foreign language requirement of elementary proficiency, as specified in the Dialogues. Satisfaction of this requirement is defined as successful completion of the second semester of the foreign language. Candidates for the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Music, and Bachelor of Science in Linguistics degrees must achieve intermediate proficiency in one of the foreign languages offered through the intermediate level at Truman. Students should check their degree program to determine if there are additional degree requirements in a foreign language. Intermediate proficiency is defined as successful completion of the fourth semester of the foreign language. Ideally, the foreign language requirement should be completed by the end of the sophomore year.

International students who are candidates for a degree that requires intermediate proficiency in a foreign language should consult the International Student Admission section found in the Admission  section of this catalog. NOTE: For languages not taught at Truman contact the Dean of Arts & Letters and the Department Chair of Classical and Modern Languages Department.

Foreign Language Waiver

Students placing into a foreign language at a level higher than that required by their degree program may fulfill their foreign language requirement in of the following ways: 1) take the course in which they are placed even though it is at a higher level than required, and by successfully completing this course fulfill the foreign language requirement; 2) take the CLEP exam for French, German, or Spanish, and if an appropriate score is earned, the student may waive the foreign language requirement. University credit is granted, depending on the score earned by the student.  Truman’s Assessment and Testing Office administers CLEP exams.  See the Registrar’s exam equivalency brochure, available at registrar.truman.edu, for specific information regarding scores and credit.

Mathematics Requirements

All students who seek the bachelor’s degree at Truman must successfully complete the Pre-calculus or Calculus requirement in the STEM Perspective, as specified in the Dialogues.

The Pre-calculus or Calculus requirement may be satisfied by a) successfully completing Precalculus (MATH 186), b) successfully completing both College Algebra (MATH 156) and Plane Trigonometry (MATH 157), c) successfully completing Quantitative Reasoning (MATH 120), or d) successfully completing any of Truman’s calculus courses: Essentials of Calculus (MATH 192), Liberal Arts and Sciences Calculus (MATH 194), Calculus and Mathematical Concepts for Life Science (MATH 196), or Analytic Geometry and Calculus I (MATH 198). One of these courses may be specifically required for a certain degree program. For example, MATH 198 is required for majors in mathematics, science, and computer science and for the BS in economics, whereas business majors and the BA in economics students may choose either MATH 198 or MATH 192. The goals and approaches of these courses differ. For example, MATH 194 may be highly conceptual, MATH 198 may be more algebraic, MATH 192 may have a stronger emphasis on modeling. The most appropriate course depends on the individual student. Note that MATH 120 does not meet prerequisites for higher-level mathematics courses so should only be taken by students not planning to go on to calculus. One should not conclude that any single course is “harder” or “easier” for all students.

Note that a calculus course is only available to students who have a) demonstrated sufficient performance in the classes meeting the STEM requirement in Pre-calculus or Calculus with any course EXCEPT MATH 120, or b) been placed into that course by the Mathematics Department according to the procedure outlined below. Students cannot “waive” the prerequisites to the calculus courses.

Mathematics Placement

The Mathematics Department determines what mathematics courses may or may not be appropriate for incoming students on the basis of a variety of factors, including the courses taken in high school, the level of success in those courses, the two scores on the mathematics placement exams, and the scores and sub scores on the ACT. A student who believes that he or she was underplaced can appeal to the Mathematics Department Chair.