Transfer and Advanced Standing

TRANSFER AND ADVANCED STANDING TERMINOLOGY

1. Transfer: The use of this term at Northeastern Seminary follows generally accepted practice. It describes the process of transferring graduate credits earned elsewhere and applying them to the student’s program at Northeastern. Except for courses taken at Roberts Wesleyan College, course credits transfer without the grades.
2. Advanced Standing without Credit: This practice at Northeastern Seminary follows guidelines established by the faculty in accordance with ATS standards. The terminology “without credit” describes the waiver of a specified course requirement in the Seminary curriculum based on undergraduate studies in the same area of study.
3. Advanced Standing with Credit: This practice at Northeastern Seminary follows guidelines established by the faculty in accordance with ATS standards. The terminology “with credit” describes a process by which students may be granted advanced standing in a graduate program at the Seminary, based on evaluation of their competence by testing as described below.

General Transfer Policies

Students who have prior graduate credit should take initiative upon enrollment to have transcripts evaluated to determine whether credit can be applied to their Northeastern Seminary program.

1. Transfer credits will not be accepted as a substitute for, or waiver of, the Northeastern Core curriculum and capstone requirements (RES 690NE, MIN 691NE, MIN 790NE). Rarely will Personal Spiritual Formation courses already completed at another seminary be transferred into a Northeastern program; previously taken courses must be exactly equivalent to PSF 611NE and 612NE to be transferable.
2. Only credits eligible for graduate credit in the institution where they were taken will be considered for transfer
3. Only the graduate credit earned within 10 years of a Northeastern degree conferral may be applied toward degree requirements
4. Only the graduate credits earned at an institution accredited by a recognized accrediting body will be considered for transfer
5. Graduate credits earned at an ATS-accredited seminary/graduate school with a grade of C+ or higher (2.3 on a scale of 4.0) or a non-ATS-accredited seminary/graduate school with a grade of B or higher (3.0 on a scale of 4.0) will be eligible for transfer consideration
6. Only the graduate credits earned at an ATS seminary/graduate school of theology may be applied against the required Ministry (MIN) courses at Northeastern
7. Graduate credits earned at a non-ATS seminary/graduate school will be accepted as transfer only in meeting designated “elective” credits in the relevant Northeastern degree program
8. Transfer credits for the M.A. electives will be limited to 11 credits and must be ministry related
9. Transfer credit for the M.Div. electives will be limited to 15 credits and must be ministry related
10. Once evaluated and approved by the director of field education, a student may transfer one unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) for six credits (M.Div.) or three credits (M.A.) of field education. An M.A. student may use the additional three credits from one unit of CPE towards the elective credits. An M.Div. student may apply a second unit of CPE toward six credits of electives. Students pursuing the M.A. in Theology and Social Justice or M.A. in Transformational Leadership may not use CPE units toward their field education requirements, but they may be counted as free electives. In rare hardship cases, a petition may be considered for M.Div. students wishing to transfer additional CPE credits toward field education requirements. Students planning to apply for chaplaincy certification through the military or through the Association of Professional Chaplains should determine whether utilizing CPE credit toward the degree will prevent the CPE credits from counting toward certification.
11. No more than two-thirds of the credits required for a Northeastern degree may be granted on the basis of transfer credits, subject to the limitations noted above
12. Credit from a previously earned graduate degree may be considered for transfer, but not more than half of the credits required for the previously earned degree may be transferred into an Northeastern program. Such credits will be accepted as a substitution for, and waiver of, specific Northeastern courses only on the basis of equivalency as determined by the vice president and dean’s office.

Application for Advanced Standing without Credit

Accepted applicants and students may apply to the vice president and dean’s office for advanced standing without credit per the following stipulations:

1. To qualify for consideration, the course(s) must meet the following conditions:
   1. The undergraduate course appears to replicate a specific course requirement in the M.Div. curriculum
   2. It has a transcript listing at the 300 level or higher
   3. The recorded grade is B (3.0 on a 4.0 scale) or higher
2. Advanced standing without credit will be limited to a maximum of twelve credits in the M.Div. program. In special cases, students in the M.A. in Theology and Social Justice and M.A. in Transformational Leadership programs may petition for advanced standing without credit for selected non-elective courses. (Note: Advanced standing without credit does not apply to the M.A.—Theological Studies curriculum.)
3. All students enrolling for a degree at Northeastern must take the full Core curriculum as outlined in their degree program. No substitutions or waivers will be considered for these particular courses.

Application for Advanced Standing with Credit

Accepted applicants and students may apply to the vice president and dean’s office for advanced standing with credit for coursework taken as an undergraduate or from an unaccredited graduate program under the following conditions:

1. Except in certain articulated agreements, advanced standing credit will not be granted as a substitute for, or waiver of, the Northeastern Core curriculum, field education (MIN 731—734NE), and capstone requirements (RES 690NE, MIN 691NE, MIN 790NE)
2. Advanced standing with credit will be limited to one-fourth of the total credits required for the degree, subject to the limitations of number one above
3. A separate exam will be given for each course
4. An exam credit posting charge of $25/credit hour will be applied to the student’s account when credit for passed exams is added to the student’s Seminary transcript
5. All exams will be given and graded by professors who have expertise in the areas tested
6. The exams are evaluated as pass (80% or higher) or fail
7. Students are encouraged to take all advanced standing exams before completing the Core curriculum

Biblical Language Proficiency

The Northeastern Seminary biblical language proficiency requirement may be met by one of the following means:

• Successfully completing a 3-credit Northeastern course: HEB 510NE-Biblical Hebrew or GRK 510NE-Biblical Greek
• Passing the Northeastern year one Advanced Standing exam in either Greek or Hebrew with at least 80% to receive three Greek or Hebrew graduate credits

Advanced Standing without credit does not fulfill the biblical language proficiency requirement.