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While the Center for Advising and Academic Success (CAAS) is responsible for the review and evaluation of transfer credits to the College of Staten Island, the Registrar’s Office serves as an important resource for students who are transferring in or returning to CSI after some time away. This section of our website provides the most current information on academic policies, tools used to evaluate transfer credits, types of credit awarded, special programs through which credits are accepted, and resources our students can use to find additional information.
After reviewing the information provided, do you have additional questions or concerns related to transferring or readmitting? Contact transferstudents@csi.cuny.edu (if you are coming to us from another college) or readmit@csi.cuny.edu (if you previously attended CSI and want to return).
Please click here for additional information about the transfer student commitment and enrollment process.
General Information
The Transfer Evaluation Unit in CAAS awards transfer credit, according to the guidelines discussed here, to students pursuing a first bachelor’s degree. The College of Staten Island reserves the right to accept or reject credits earned at other institutions of higher education. In general, it is the College’s policy to accept credits earned at institutions which are fully accredited by their regional accrediting association for colleges and universities, provided that such credits have been earned through university-level courses appropriate to the student’s degree program. To receive transfer credit for courses, students must have completed the course(s) with a grade of C or higher for non-CUNY institutions or a grade of D or higher for CUNY institutions.
Transfer Credits – Readmission
When undergraduate students are readmitted to the College and have completed college-level work at another institution during their break in attendance, they are required to submit an official transcript from each institution attended. They will receive credit for the equivalent CSI courses or general elective credit, based upon the guidelines in place and described throughout this document. Grades received and the GPA earned from the institution(s) attended will not be transferred: the GPA at CSI will be based solely on courses completed at CSI.
Transfer Credits – Readmission: Dismissed Students
When undergraduate CSI students who are academically dismissed from the college complete college-level work at another institution during their break in attendance, they first must submit an appeal to the Course and Standing Committee requesting readmission to CSI. If the appeal is approved, the student must also submit an official transcript from each institution attended. They will receive credit for the equivalent CSI courses or general elective credit, based upon the guidelines in place and described throughout this document. Grades received and the GPA earned from the institution(s) attended will not be transferred: the GPA at CSI will be based solely on courses completed at CSI. (Please click here for the readmission appeal forms and instructions.)
CUNY Equivalency Guide
The College of Staten Island transfers credit on a course-by-course basis. Current CUNY students can use “Evaluate my Transfer Credit” on their CUNYfirst Student Center to see equivalency information for academic courses completed at other CUNY schools.
Pathways Transfer Policy
Pathways makes it easier for students to transfer general education courses from one CUNY college to another. Once a student completes a Common Required Core, Common Flexible Core, or College Option requirement at one CUNY school, that requirement is considered to have been met at any other CUNY school.
The College of Staten Island follows CUNY’s policy on guaranteed transferability of CUNY Pathways courses and their requirement designations. Students who receive credit for a course, but find that it has a different requirement designation applied by CSI, can contact transferstudents@csi.cuny.edu to request a review and adjustment for that course evaluation.
Transfer Credit Evaluation
After an admitted student matriculates by sending their Admissions Response Form into the Office of Recruitment & Admissions, the Transfer Evaluation Unit will complete a course-by-course evaluation of transfer credits. Once the process is completed, the evaluation information is available for students to view in their CUNYfirst account as part of the Transfer Credit Report, housed under the “Academic Records” tile. Please visit here for a brief tutorial on the required navigation.
Please note that only credit-bearing courses are accepted for transfer, and the GPA earned at a prior institution does not transfer over to CSI. In addition, special programs at CSI may have different transfer rules than the general college and may not allow transfer credits to satisfy their program’s requirements.
Once the credit evaluation is complete, prospective students are invited to meet with an advisor in the Center for Advisement and Academic Success (CAAS) to discuss their transferred courses and plan their first semester of coursework. (Students who have attended a CUNY school prior to CSI are not required to meet with CAAS and can register on their own.)
Students can also use their DegreeWorks portal to view how their transferred credits apply to their chosen degree by navigating to Student Center > DegreeWorks-Online Advisement.
For more information about the transfer student commitment and enrollment process, please click here.
General Elective Credit
The Transfer Evaluation Unit evaluates courses based on the grade earned and the course title only. If a course’s title is not recognized as being a direct equivalent to one offered at CSI, a student may be given general elective credit in a subject (199, 299, or ELEC). These credits count as credit towards the degree, but not as a specific course or as satisfying a specific degree requirement. If a student believes the content of what they previously took matches the content of a CSI course, they have the opportunity to bring qualifying documents (course description, syllabus, abstract etc.) to the corresponding department for review. If the department makes a determination of CSI equivalency, the department’s chair or designee will send the evaluation recommendation to the Transfer Evaluation Unit for processing and posting to the student’s record.
Anatomy and Physiology Credit
CSI will only transfer Anatomy and Physiology 1 and 2 together when they are successfully completed at the same institution. Students who have taken only one course in the sequence, or have taken both but at different schools, will receive BIO 199 credit.
Courses Receiving No Credit
The College of Staten Island reserves the right to deny credit for courses that are not comparable to those offered in its degree programs. Some categories of courses that generally do not receive transfer credit are:
- Courses considered below college level (usually numbered below 100)
- Repeated courses or courses with duplicate subject content
- Courses offered for non-credit in continuing education
- Courses providing instruction in English as a Second Language
Transfer Credit Limit
The College of Staten Island will post all eligible transfer courses to a student’s Transfer Credit Report. However, to ensure satisfaction of our degree residency requirement, a maximum of 30 credits will be applied toward the associate degree course requirements and a maximum of 90 credits will be applied toward the baccalaureate degree course requirements.
CSI will not transfer any course with a grade of C- or lower from non-CUNY institutions or a D- or lower from CUNY institutions.
Military Credit
Official military transcripts (Joint Services Transcripts) must be submitted to CSI for evaluation. Coursework recommended for academic college credit at the lower- or upper-division level by the American Council on Education (ACE) will be considered for transfer, provided that the coursework is applicable to the student’s degree program at the College of Staten Island.
Military coursework is evaluated by CSI’s Office of Veterans Support Services.
Foreign Institutions
Students with credit from foreign institutions may receive credit for equivalent coursework at CSI. When applicable, an official English translation of the transcript must be provided. Translation agencies, as well as other information on foreign evaluation services, can be found here.
Other Transfer Credit
Life Experience Credit
A student has the opportunity to receive up to 15 credits of coursework based on life experience. While this credit is not awarded by the Transfer Evaluation Unit, there are two existing for requesting this type of credit:
- Once enrolled at CSI, students may explore the possibility of obtaining departmental approval for transfer of credit based on life experience by submitting a proposal and portfolio to the academic department that oversees the course they are seeking credit for. If the department makes a determination of CSI equivalency, the department’s chair or designee will send the evaluation recommendation to the Transfer Evaluation Unit for processing and posting to the student’s record.
- Students who hold certain positions at the NYPD, FDNY, Department of Corrections, EMT, or as a CUNY Peace Officer may be able to receive automatic life experience credit by submitting an active agency ID to the Office of the Registrar. For more information, students can contact transferstudents@csi.cuny.edu.
Advanced Placement
Students who have taken Advanced Placement (AP) courses in high school and receive a score of 4 or 5 on the corresponding AP exam my receive credit from CSI. The Transfer Evaluation Unit must receive an official transcript of the exam grades directly in order for these credits to be awarded.
College Now
Students who take college-level courses while still in high school may receive credit for those courses from CSI. It is the responsibility of the student both to inform CSI that they have taken college courses and to submit an official transcript from the corresponding college(s) to the Office of Recruitment and Admissions. These courses should be reported and evaluated before the student begins their first semester at CSI. Students should check CUNYfirst Self-ServiceTransfer Credit Report to ensure credits have been reviewed and transferred. If a student believes their coursework has not been evaluated he or she can contact transferstudents@csi.cuny.edu.
Courses taken for college credit in high school may not transfer at the same level as a course with the same title taken by a matriculated college student. For example, to receive credit for the first level of a language course at CSI, a high school student must have taken the third level of that language through College Now.
CLEP
Students may take a CLEP exam to receive credit for CSI coursework. Only certain exams are accepted for credit at CSI: the CLEP site allows a student to view which exams an institution takes before registering to take a CLEP test. Additionally, credit will not be awarded for any subject in which the student has already taken the corresponding CSI course or a higher level than the corresponding course.
Appeal Procedure
Students with questions or concerns about their transfer credits can send an appeal to transferstudents@csi.cuny.edu to request additional review of the evaluation.
If students do not receive a response to their college appeal within 15 business days, or if students wish to appeal a negative decision on their campus-based appeal, they may appeal that decision to the CUNY University Provost/ Office of Academic Affairs using the University Transfer Credit Appeals Form.