Transferring Universities or Changing Majors in Thailand: Credit Transfer Rules
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Aug 07, 2026 • Study in Southeast Asia
Changing majors inside your current Thai university is a separate process from เทียบโอน, transferring credits to a different university, and each has its own rules and paperwork.
🏠 Internal major changes need your current faculty's release plus the target faculty's approval, usually after year 1.
📩 Credit transfer between universities needs the receiving registrar to compare your old syllabus against its curriculum.
At Mahidol University International College, regular students can transfer up to half their required credits, honors students up to 25 percent.
Transferred courses commonly need a grade of C or above, and coursework older than 5 years is often rejected.
⏱️ Start the registrar review early. It takes anywhere from several weeks to a full semester.
Changing Major vs Changing University: Two Different Processes
Thai universities separate two situations that students often mix up. Moving to a different faculty or major inside the same university is an internal transfer, handled by your current registrar and the faculty you want to join. Moving your credits to a different university entirely is เทียบโอน (credit transfer), and it needs approval from both your old and new institutions. The rules, paperwork, and timelines differ for each, so identify which one applies to you before you start.
Changing Your Major Within the Same University
Most Thai universities let you apply for an internal major or faculty change after you finish your first year, sometimes earlier if your faculty allows it. You submit a request to your current faculty and to the faculty you want to join, and the receiving faculty reviews your grades, your entrance or admission scores, and whether it has open seats for your intended year group.
Your current cumulative GPA matters most in this decision. Competitive faculties such as medicine, pharmacy, or engineering often reject internal transfer requests during high-demand intakes because they have few or no open seats. Ask your intended faculty's academic affairs office directly about seat availability and GPA expectations for the semester you want to join, since these change every intake and are not published as a fixed rule.
If you switch majors, expect to retake or bridge some first-year courses that do not match your new curriculum. Your new faculty's registrar evaluates which of your completed courses count toward the new degree structure, using the same course-matching principles as external credit transfer described below.
Transferring Credits to a Different University
เทียบโอน (credit transfer) lets you carry completed coursework from one institution to another, whether you move between two Thai universities, come from a Thai vocational or diploma program, or bring credits earned abroad. Each receiving university's registrar office compares your previous course syllabus against its own curriculum and decides how many credits count, so processes and outcomes vary between universities.
Mahidol University International College publishes one of the clearer public examples of these rules. Regular status students there cannot transfer more than half of the total credits required for their degree, while honors-track students face a stricter 25 percent cap. Transferred courses need a grade equivalent to C or above for regular status, or B or above for honors status, and MUIC only accepts coursework completed within the past 5 years.
Course content also has to line up closely with the target course. MUIC requires the original course to cover at least three-quarters of the content of the course it replaces, based on the syllabus you submit. Other Thai universities run similar content-matching reviews even where they do not publish an exact percentage threshold, so check your target university's own credit transfer page or registrar office for its specific numbers before you apply.
Transferring From a Vocational or Diploma Program
Students holding a 2-year vocational diploma (ปวส.) or an associate degree also go through เทียบโอน when they enter a bachelor's program, rather than starting all over from year one. The receiving faculty maps your vocational subjects against its own first and second year courses and grants credit only where the content overlaps closely enough. Technical and applied subjects transfer more easily than general education requirements, since Thai universities set their own general education courses and expect most students to complete them on campus.
This route runs separately from the national TCAS admission rounds used for fresh high school graduates. You still apply through your target university's direct or quota admission channel for transfer and diploma holders, then submit your credit transfer request once you have a confirmed seat.
What Transferred Credits Do and Do Not Give You
Transferred credits reduce the courses you still need to take, they do not reduce total tuition already paid at your original university.
Transferred grades usually do not count toward your GPA at the new university, only the credit hours transfer.
A credit transfer approval does not replace admission. You still need to apply and get accepted into the new university or major separately.
Scholarship-funded students should confirm with their sponsor before transferring, since some scholarship bonds restrict changing university or major.
Steps to Request a Credit Transfer
Confirm admission or internal transfer approval into your target university, faculty, or major first.
Collect your official transcript and course syllabi from your current or previous institution.
Submit the credit transfer application to the new university's registrar or academic affairs office, usually before your first semester there starts.
Wait for the registrar to compare course content and confirm which credits transfer, a review that commonly takes several weeks to a full semester.
Register only for the remaining required courses once you receive your approved credit transfer summary.
Before You Apply
Contact your target university's registrar office directly and ask for its written credit transfer policy rather than relying on what other students tell you, since limits on transferable credits, required grades, and time limits on old coursework differ between universities and change between academic years. Start the process early. Registrars need time to review syllabi against their curriculum, and a late application can push your enrollment in required courses back a full semester.