Transfer Credits

Policies and Criteria for MSW Transfer Units

Students can request to transfer up to 32 quarter units (or 21.5 semester units) of prior graduate coursework after being admitted into the program. Only courses for which the student obtained a grade of 'B' or better or 'Pass' in the case of Pass/Fail courses will be considered for transfer, and courses must have been completed within 10 years before the time of matriculation at PAU. Required and elective courses may be transferred provided that the course has an equivalence in PAU's MSW program (i.e., the courses cover the same topic and course objectives and have similar content). However, the MSW program only accepts field education and practice course transfer credits if they are from other CSWE-accredited or candidacy MSW programs. Grade points earned in the courses approved for social work transfer credit are not counted in the student's PAU grade point average.

For students who are admitted as part of a BA-to-MSW pathway agreement, the same credit transfer policy applies except that up to 21.5 quarter units may be transferred, which include five MSW generalist core courses for 13 quarter units and seven generalist licensing courses for 8.5 quarter units. Grade points earned in these courses taken at PAU are counted in the student's PAU grade point average.

The MSW program does not guarantee acceptance of transfer units. Any potential transfer credits are reviewed and approved on a case-by-case basis by the MSW program.

Transfer credit requests are submitted after receiving program admission and no later than one month before the start of the first quarter of study. Students submit a transfer of credit request form, which includes listing the courses they request to transfer and uploading syllabi. The Admissions Office verifies grades and units earned and routes the form to the Social Work Department for review and approval. The Program Director assigns a faculty member who is not the student's faculty advisor to review the documentation and recommend accepting or rejecting the course(s) for transfer credit based on whether the courses taken cover the content, course objectives, and competencies covered in the MSW program courses. The Registrar's Office communicates the transfer of credit decision to the student prior to the start of classes.

For students who are admitted as part of the BA-to-MSW pathway agreement, the same procedure and deadline apply, but it is not necessary to submit course syllabi.

Instructions

Please begin by clicking the link below. Please do not send multiple forms - ONLY submit once.

You will receive an email with a link to a DocuSign form.

Complete the form, attach your course syllabi and transcripts, and sign the form.

If you have any questions, please contact the Admissions Office at admissions@paloaltou.edu.