Transfer Credit

Transfer credit issues for undergraduates arise under two circumstances:

• students who are transferring to Rice University;
• Rice students who have taken (or will take) courses at another institution.

Transferring to Rice

The Political Science Department is not involved in admitting transfer students to Rice. Members of the department are willing to talk about political science at Rice, but questions about the admissions process should be directed to the Admissions Office (admission@rice.edu; phone: 713-348-RICE).

Transfer Credit for Rice Students

Transfer credit for political science courses taken by students enrolled at Rice is handled by the Political Science Department. Students may seek transfer credit either before or after they take courses at another institution. We strongly recommend that students seek transfer credit before taking outside courses so they know what credit they will receive before investing time in courses at other institutions.

While each case is considered individually, the following guidelines may help you:

• Courses must be taken in a political science department (or taught by a faculty member with a Ph.D. in political science if the department is not a conventional “political science department”) at a four-year institution that grants Bachelors degrees. This means that the department does not award credit for courses taken at community college or courses organized by a third party provider/program that are not offered at a four-year school that grants Bachelor’s degrees as part of their regular semester course offerings.
   
• Introductory courses are generally transferred as the equivalent course number at Rice (i.e., an introduction to comparative politics course would be transferred as POLI 212).
   
• Intermediate level courses are transferred as POLI 3XX. POLI 3XX counts as upper level credit, but POLI 3XX does not count for distribution. Transfer credit courses cannot substitute for specific 300-level Rice political science courses. No more than 6 hours of POLI 3XX can be counted towards the political science major.
   
• The department does not award transfer credit at the 400, 500, or 600 level. Students can transfer in advanced courses, but these courses will be transferred as POLI 3XX.
   
• The department will not accept credit for an online or distance learning course.