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After an undergraduate transfer student is accepted for admission, official transcripts showing completed collegiate coursework are evaluated by the admission office to determine whether or not the student may be granted advanced standing. The coursework must be found to be relevant to the degree the student is seeking at the Savannah College of Art and Design, with course content and level of instruction resulting in student competencies at least equivalent to or higher than those of students enrolled at the Savannah College of Art and Design. In assessing and documenting equivalent learning through course content and level of instruction, the college uses recognized guidelines which aid in the evaluation of credit, such as those published by the American Council on Education, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, and NAFSA: Association of International Educators. This policy is consistent with the mission of the Savannah College of Art and Design and ensures that coursework and learning outcomes are at the collegiate level and comparable to the college’s degree programs.
Course content is evaluated by comparing the curricula of other institutions with that of the Savannah College of Art and Design and assessing whether or not foundation studies, general education and major discipline courses are equivalent to those offered at SCAD. Level of instruction is evaluated by comparing the percentage of faculty at other institutions who hold terminal degrees with the percentage of faculty at SCAD who hold terminal degrees. Generally, transfer credit may be accepted from institutions that are regionally accredited, or have appropriate programmatic accreditation, or have been evaluated and proven to be equivalent in course content and level of instruction to SCAD, or are recognized by the ministry of education or equivalent agency in the applicant’s home country. Students who wish to appeal the decision of the college regarding transfer of credit from international institutions may provide an outside credential evaluation, although the college reserves the right to make a final determination of transfer credit. A list of acceptable outside evaluators can be obtained from the admission office.
A maximum of 90 quarter hours of undergraduate credit for a bachelor’s degree may be given for courses appropriate to the college curriculum. Only grades of at least C may be transferred for undergraduate credit. Failure to submit an updated transcript may result in loss of transfer credit.
A portfolio review is required for transfer of specific studio courses during the student’s first quarter of enrollment and for final determination of transfer credit. To receive specific studio course credit, students must follow the portfolio submission criteria and guidelines available in the admission office. Portfolio review occurs during orientation for new students. Additionally, a review of all course syllabi may be required. Portfolios are reviewed by faculty members from the applicable department. Transfer credit is granted when faculty members assess that the quality of work in the portfolio is equivalent to that which would earn a grade of C or better in an equivalent or comparable course at the Savannah College of Art and Design. Failure to submit a portfolio during the first quarter results in loss of opportunity to transfer studio credit. Transfer of credits earned in a distance-learning program is evaluated on a case-by-case, course-by-course basis.
Students who wish to appeal the transfer credit process after the first quarter of enrollment must submit a written request to the admission department. Transfer credit appears on the transcript as such and is not calculated in the student’s grade point average. The final 45 hours of any degree program must be earned at the Savannah College of Art and Design. Off-campus programs offered by the Savannah College of Art and Design are considered in residence and may be counted as such.
Students may transfer a maximum of 90 quarter hours of equivalent content undergraduate courses into the 180 quarter-hour Bachelor of Fine Arts in architecture program leading to the final 45 graduate credit hours of the 225-quarter-hour professional Master of Architecture program. Students are required to complete the final 45 graduate quarter hours of the professional Master of Architecture degree program as graduate students and are subject to all graduate academic and financial policies. After meeting the undergraduate requirements, students are then required to apply in the architecture department to progress into the final 45 graduate credit hours of the program as graduate students. There is no additional application fee.
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