Transferring Credit From a Foreign University Toward a US Degree: How Credit Evaluation Works
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Sep 18, 2026 • Updated Sep 18, 2026
To transfer credit from a foreign university you need a course-by-course credential evaluation, and even then the receiving US registrar decides case by case which courses count, often asking for a syllabus before approving anything.
🎓 A course-by-course evaluation compares each of your foreign courses to a US course and recommends a credit-hour equivalent.
The evaluation is a recommendation only. The receiving university's registrar or department makes the final call.
Expect to submit a syllabus or course description for any class where the title alone does not make the content clear.
Grades and GPA generally do not transfer, only credit hours, and even those may count as general electives rather than major credit.
What credit transfer actually decides
Transferring credit means a US university agrees to count coursework you completed abroad toward your new degree, so you do not repeat classes you already passed. This is a separate decision from admission. You can be admitted to a program and still receive no transfer credit if the registrar decides your previous coursework does not match anything in the US curriculum closely enough.
Two things drive the outcome: how the content of your foreign courses compares to US course content, and how your target department applies that comparison to its own degree requirements.
Step one: the course-by-course evaluation
A course-by-course evaluation, produced by a NACES-member agency, lists each course you took, the credit or contact hours involved, and a recommended US equivalent, often expressed in US semester credit hours. This differs from a document-by-document evaluation, which only states your overall degree equivalency and GPA and is not detailed enough for credit transfer.
Order the course-by-course report specifically. If you already have a document-by-document evaluation from a previous application, it will not work for a transfer-credit request, and you need a new report.
Why a strong evaluation still might not transfer every credit
Most US bachelor's and master's programs set a residency requirement: a minimum number of credits you must complete at that specific university to earn its degree, regardless of how much transfer credit you bring in. This caps how much foreign coursework can count, even with a course-by-course evaluation showing close content matches. Check your target program's residency requirement early, since it affects how many of your foreign credits realistically apply toward the degree.
Step two: the registrar's own review
The evaluation agency's recommendation is advisory. Your target university's registrar, and sometimes the academic department for major-specific courses, reviews the evaluation against its own course catalog and decides independently. Two universities can look at the same evaluation report and reach different transfer-credit decisions for identical coursework, since each applies its own catalog and rules. At the graduate level, many departments cap transfer credit at a small number of courses even when the evaluation supports more, so check your target department's own transfer-credit limit before you count on a specific number of courses carrying over.
Many registrars use a reference tool such as AACRAO's EDGE database internally, alongside the evaluation report you submit, to cross-check how a given country's education system and grading scale typically compares to the US system.
When you get asked for a syllabus
If a course title does not clearly map to a US equivalent, expect a request for a syllabus, course description, or reading list in English, or a certified translation. This is routine, not a sign of a problem with your application. Departments want to see topics covered, contact hours, and assessment methods before approving credit, particularly for courses that count toward your major rather than general electives.
Keep your syllabi from every year of your foreign degree, even after graduation, since transfer-credit requests come up years later.
If your school does not issue syllabi in the format US registrars expect, ask a professor or the department office for a written course description instead.
Translate technical or major-specific course descriptions carefully. Generic translations sometimes lose the terms a US department needs to match the course.
What does and does not transfer
| Element | Typically transfers? |
|---|---|
| Credit hours for passed courses | Often, subject to registrar review |
| Course grades | Rarely. Most US schools import only the credit, not the grade itself |
| GPA | Generally does not carry over into your new US GPA |
| Major-required courses | Case by case. Needs closer content match, often needs a syllabus |
| General education or elective credit | More commonly approved than major-specific credit |
Practical steps to protect your credit
Order a course-by-course evaluation before you enroll, not after, so you know your standing when you register for classes.
Ask your target department directly which of your courses are likely to count toward the major, rather than relying on the evaluation report alone.
Request a written transfer-credit decision, since many registrars provide a formal credit summary you can keep for later.
If credit is denied for a course you believe should count, ask the department about an appeal or reconsideration process rather than accepting the first answer.