PhD in Clincal Psychology Transfer Credit Requests

For incoming students with a master's degree, we invite you to apply for transfer credit by submitting your applicable course syllabi - the deadline will be March 20, 2026. 

IMPORTANT: transfer credit must be approved BEFORE the term the course is offered. For example, if you are requesting credit for a class offered in the fall term, you will need to submit the request form well before the first day of the fall term.

Policies and Criteria Fall 2025

Graduate Level: Only graduate-level courses are acceptable for transfer credit. A graduate-level course is any course for which a student received graduate credit at their previous institution(s). This may include graduate-level courses the student took as an undergraduate. 

Acceptable Grades: A grade of “B” or better is required in a graduate-level course to be acceptable for transfer credit. 

Accreditation: Previous graduate work must have been completed at a regionally accredited institution. International coursework must be in English in order to be evaluated for transfer. 

Time Limit for Requesting Transfer Credit: Requests for the transfer of units must be completed by 3/21/25. 

Maximum Units: A maximum of 30 units may be transferred into the PhD program. If a student receives a waiver of courses beyond the transferable units, they must take elective units to meet the total unit requirement for graduation from PAU.  

Units Awarded: Any course can only transfer in the number of transfer units equal to the comparable course at Palo Alto University, despite the number of units previously assigned to the course. The number of units of a course the student wishes to transfer must be equal to or greater than the units of the corresponding Palo Alto University course. Palo Alto University operates on quarter academic terms. Semester credits will be converted to quarter units for evaluation using a 1.5 quarter unit per 1.0 semester unit conversion. 

Course Obsolescence: Courses must have been completed within five years prior to the time of matriculation at PAU. 

Syllabi: Students must provide a syllabus/syllabi for the course(s) they would like to transfer. Course descriptions are not acceptable.  

Appeals and Exceptions: Credit transfer decisions may be appealed, in writing, to the Curriculum Committee. 

The following courses are the only transferable courses:

• PSYS800 History & Systems 

• PSYS801 Child & Adolescent Development 

• PSYS802 Cognitive Bases of Behavior I 

• PSYS804 Affective Bases of Behavior I 

• PSYS807 Adult Development & Aging 

• PSYS809 Psychopharmacology 

• PSYS811 Social & Personality Psychology 

• CLIN802 Introduction to Evidence-Based Treatment

• CLIN803 Psychodynamic Psychotherapy I 

• CLIN806 Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapy I 

• CLIN809 Child, Adolescent & Family Psychotherapy

• ASMT819 Psychopathology & Psychodiagnostics II: Personality Disorders

• ASMT809 Intellectual Assessment 

• ASMT810 Psychometric Theory 

• ASMT815 Assessment of Personality

• ASMT818 Psychopathology & Psychodiagnostics II: Child & Adolescent Disorders

• ASMT826 Assessment of Psychopathology 

• STAT809 Research Methods & Statistics II 

• STAT810 Research Methods & Statistics III

Students may not receive transfer credit for any additional courses, including the following:

• MTHD808 Research Methods & Statistics I 

• CLIN800 Ethics in Clinical Psychology 

• CLIN801 Clinical Interviewing 

• CLDV800 Cultural Differences: Cross-Cultural Issues in Psychology 

• CLIN825-827 Professional Standards in Clinical Psychology 

• PRAC801-806 & PRAC830 Second & Third Year Practicum 

• DISS800 Dissertation 

• INTR800 or INTR801 Internship 

• ASMT800 Psychopathology & Psychodiagnostics I 

• PSYS805 Biological Psychology

• Any electives

Request for PhD Transfer Credit

Step 1: Complete the Online Transfer Credit Request Form (click on link below)

You will need the following information for all courses:

• • Course Number

  • Course Title

  • College or University Where Completed

  • Course Completed Date

  • Grade Received

  • Complete Course Syllabus