A maximum of 30 semester hours of credit by examination from all approved sources is accepted toward the 120 semester hours required for graduation. A maximum of 15 semester hours of credit by examination may be awarded in the major; however, some departments may accept fewer hours of credit by examination.

A maximum of 9 semester hours of credit from independent study is accepted toward the 120 semester hours required for graduation. Practica, capstone courses, internships, Guided Independent Study (GIS) courses, Honors Thesis, and Honors Project hours are not included in this 9 s.h. limit. You may request a waiver of this policy from the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education; waivers will be granted only with support from your advisor.

Ordinarily, a maximum of 56 semester hours of credit from one academic department is accepted toward the minimum 120 semester hours needed for a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (BS) degree, with these exceptions:

• The School of Journalism and Mass Communication does not permit students to apply more than 52 semester hours from JMC courses to a BA degree for students who declared the Journalism and Mass Communication major in fall 2022 or later. For students who declared the major in summer 2022 or earlier, no more than 48 semester hours from JMC courses may be applied to the BA or BS degree. Note that the BS in Journalism and Mass Communication was discontinued in fall 2018.
• Students earning a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Dance may earn up to 61 semester hours in Dance (effective fall 2015).
• If you earn more than the maximum semester hours from one department, you will not receive credit toward graduation for those hours; the excess hours will, however, be used for all other purposes (GPA, registration, etc.).
• The 56 semester-hour maximum applies to both UI and transfer coursework.

• For the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Art, a maximum of 62 semester hours from the School of Art, Art History, and Design is accepted.
• For the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Dance, a maximum of 85 semester hours in Dance is accepted (effective fall 2021).
• Students earning a Bachelor of Music (BM) degree have no maximum hours restriction for semester hours from the School of Music.

• If you are earning two majors, two degrees, or a major and a minor from a department that offers degrees in more than one subject area (for example, if you are earning a BS in Physics and a BS in Astronomy from the department of Physics and Astronomy), you may apply more than 56 semester hours from that department to the 120 semester hours needed for graduation, but must earn a minimum of 56 semester hours from coursework taken outside of your major department.
• If you are seeking double majors in the teacher education programs, you must earn a minimum of 56 semester hours in courses taken outside the College of Education.
• These rules apply to both UI and transfer coursework.

A maximum of 30 semester hours of credit from all sources (UI and transfer) with a grade of P (pass) or S (satisfactory) is accepted toward the 120 semester hours required for graduation. A maximum of 15 semester hours of P and a maximum of 15 semester hours of S credit from the University of Iowa is accepted. P grades awarded in spring 2020 are excluded from these maximums.

ROTC credit includes credit from Aerospace Studies (Air Force ROTC) and Military Science (Army ROTC). CLAS students who enter these programs earn graduation credit from courses offered by these programs. CLAS accepts a maximum of 20 semester hours of ROTC credit toward the 120 semester hours required for graduation.

• Astronomy course sequences as determined by the Department of Physics and Astronomy
• Biochemistry and Molecular Biology course sequences as determined by the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Biology course sequences as determined by the Department of Biology
• Chemistry course sequences as determined by the Department of Chemistry
• Computer science course sequences as determined by the Department of Computer Science
• Health and Human Physiology course sequences as determined by the Department of Health and Human Physiology
• Mathematics course sequences as determined by the Department of Mathematics
• Physics courses sequences as determined by the Department of Physics and Astronomy
• Statistics and Actuarial Science course sequences as determined by the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science
• World language courses shown on MyUI as having requirements or prerequisites

CLAS accepts coursework and grades from two-year and four-year institutions and lets you use such credit in earning a degree from the College. See below for restrictions.

A maximum of 60 semester hours of degree credit from two-year colleges is accepted in transfer toward meeting the minimum 120 semester hours required for graduation. If you earn more than 60 semester hours of degree credit from a two-year college, the credit hours beyond the first 60 will not count toward the total hours you need for graduation, but the extra semester hours and grades will be used in computing your grade point averages, and you may use the coursework to satisfy course requirements.

There is no limit on the number of credit hours that may be transferred from four-year institutions. However, you must satisfy the UI and CLAS residence requirements regardless of the amount of transfer work that is accepted.

If, at any point during your enrollment in the College, you want to supplement your UI study with coursework at another institution (whether two-year or four-year), you should contact Admissions before taking those courses to determine their transferability to the UI. If you do not get the courses approved before taking them, your transfer credit may not be accepted. See the MyUI transfer search page for unofficial information on the transferability of different courses.

Students must report all work completed at other institutions, whether before or after first admission to Iowa. If you fail to have an official transcript sent to Admissions from an institution you previously attended, you may lose your registration privileges.

Restrictions:

• Ordinarily, a maximum of 16 semester hours of vocational or career technical credit is accepted in transfer toward the 120 semester hours required for graduation. The number of hours transferable by students with AS and AAS degrees from institutions that have established special articulation agreements with the University of Iowa may vary.
• Departments may have different policies regarding the maximum number of semester hours of transfer credit that may be applied toward the requirements for a major, minor, or certificate. To determine how much of your transfer coursework will count toward these requirements, consult the relevant department.

For information on how transfer courses or degrees from two-year institutions satisfy General Education Program requirements, see General Education Policies.

The College awards credit by examination for Advanced Placement (AP),College-Level Examination Program (CLEP), General Certificate of Education (GCE) AS and A Levels, and International Baccalaureate (IB) exams. For specific information on these tests, contact Admissions or see Credit by Exam Options. You may also earn credit toward graduation through the Furthering Language Incentive Program (FLIP) and the Mathematics Incentive Program (MIP).

Students who enter the College without having completed the high school course requirements may complete those requirements by earning acceptable scores on approved standardized tests. Contact Admissions for more information.

CLAS permits students to use up to 30 semester hours of credit earned by examination toward graduation. You may apply credit earned by examination toward General Education Program requirements or toward major, certificate, or minor requirements (if the department permits). You can also use them as elective hours.

Advisors and departments will help students use the results of placement and proficiency examinations to choose appropriate courses to continue their study.

Credit by examination policies

• A maximum of 30 semester hours of credit by examination will be accepted toward the 120 semester hours required for graduation.
• Ordinarily, credit earned through examination is applied first to the General Education Program. Credit may also be applied to requirements of a major, minor, or certificate, or as elective credit.
• Departments determine whether any credit by examination will be accepted toward major requirements. Under CLAS policy, no more than 15 semester hours of credit by examination may be approved for use in the major.
• Most credit by examination is placed on the student’s permanent record at the end of his or her first session of enrollment.
• Credit earned through the Furthering Language Incentive Program (FLIP) and the Mathematics Incentive Program (MIP) is considered credit by examination and included in the maximum 30 hours of credit allowed by examination.
• Credit hours earned through examination are ungraded and are not used to compute the GPA.
• Credit by examination that is part of a student's transfer record is not considered residence credit. Other credit by examination hours are residence credit.
• Credit by examination brought to the University of Iowa on transcripts from other institutions will be evaluated by Admissions under the same rules as other transfer credit. The University will validate exam credit from transfer students who bring 12 or more semester hours of regular class credit. See Credit by Exam Options on the Office of Admissions website for details.
• Some AP, CAIE, CLEP, and IB tests may overlap. Credit hours earned from overlapping tests will result in duplication, and students will not earn credit from all the tests.
• Students cannot earn credit from a CLEP test if they have already received college credit for an equivalent course or if they have been enrolled for more than three weeks in an equivalent college level course. Students interested in taking a CLEP test should consult with their academic advisor and complete a CLEP eligibility form before registering to take a test.
• Students may use appropriate scores on University of Iowa mathematics and World Languages tests to complete the high school course requirements. Credit is not awarded for these exams, which function primarily as placement exams. Students may complete high school course requirements in English, Mathematics, Natural Science, or Social Studies with credit-earning scores on AP, CLEP, GCE, and IB tests (see Credit by Exam Options).

The Office of Admissions is authorized to evaluate transcripts from the military services.

Students with educational experience obtained at a non-accredited institution or in a formal training program in which there is no standardized procedure for evaluation of credit may request the validation of their credit. Students should consult the Office of Admissions, as well as the department concerned.

Undergraduates may enroll in graduate-level courses (numbered 5000 and above) only with the permission of the instructor and after completion of any prerequisites. There are no CLAS restrictions on the number of graduate-level credit hours taken by undergraduates.

Graduate courses offered by CLAS and taken by an undergraduate are counted as undergraduate credit for the degree and are applied to the CLAS residence requirement. Graduate credit earned as an undergraduate cannot be used as credit toward a graduate degree.

CLAS academic policies for undergraduate students apply to graduate courses taken by undergraduates. If you have questions, please contact CLAS Undergraduate Programs.