Requests for advanced standing or transfer credit must be submitted to the Assistant Registrar for Online and Graduate Studies, Records@agts.edu, with official transcripts and course descriptions when applying for admission. (See specific degree programs for more information.)
All course credits (including transfer, advanced standing, and CPE units) must be taken within a 10-year period of finishing an AGTS master’s degree.
Advanced Standing. Advanced standing is interpreted as those courses brought in at the beginning of the degree program. Life experience does not qualify for advanced standing. (See specific degree programs for more information.) Eligible courses must have earned a minimum grade of B and must have been taken within 10 years of completion of the AGTS degree.
Transfer Credit. Transfer credit may be granted for approved courses completed at accredited graduate institutions other than AGTS. Again, the transfer credit may not be older than 10 years of the AGTS master’s degree completion.
Credits taken at an international institution are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. If approved, courses must be consistent with and validated by established institutional guidelines.
Concurrent enrollment in other graduate institutions for the purpose of transferring credits into the AGTS program must be approved in advance by the Assistant Registrar for Online and Graduate Studies and/or the Dean.
Cumulative transfer credits may not exceed one-half of the required credits for any master degree. (See Residency Requirement.)
Courses accepted for transfer credit are expected to be equivalent to the course descriptions in the AGTS catalog and to appropriately fit the degree program being pursued.
The minimum grade is B from accredited schools (B from non-accredited schools if approved by the Seminary).
Shared Credit. Shared credit may be granted for a master’s degree completed at AGTS to be applied toward another Master degree at the Seminary. Credit shared may not exceed more than half of the credits required in the new degree. (For example, no more than 39 credits can be applied from a MA to the MDiv program (39 credits is half of the 78-credit MDiv program). Again, the shared credit may not be older than 10 years of your second AGTS degree completion.
Transfer Toward Doctor of Ministry. Up to six of the doctoral transfer credits may be accepted from ATS/CHEA accredited institutions or those recognized by an approved foreign accrediting body. Students must have earned a minimum grade of “B”.
Transfer Toward Doctor of Applied Intercultural Studies and Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies. Up to eight of the doctoral transfer credits may be accepted from ATS/CHEA accredited institutions or those recognized by an approved foreign accrediting body. Students must have earned a minimum grade “B”. If a person holds an earned doctorate in a related field (e.g. Doctor of Ministry), a maximum of 12 credits may be transferred to the PhD.
Transfer Toward PhD in Biblical Interpretation and Theology. Up to eight of the doctoral transfer credits may be accepted from ATS/CHEA accredited institutions or those recognized by an approved foreign accrediting body if the student has an earned doctorate in a related field (e.g. Doctor of Ministry), or an advanced degree beyond the MDiv such as the MPhil, STM, MTh or ThM. Students must have earned a minimum grade of “B”.
Transfer Credits and Advanced Standing Limitations. In preparing for graduation, the student must satisfy the residency requirement. The combined total credits received for transfer credit, Advanced Standing (if applicable) and credit earned through distance learning courses or directed research cannot exceed the limitations imposed by the residency requirement (see Residency Requirement).
Transfer of Credits to Other Institutions. Accredited seminaries and graduate schools generally reciprocate in the transfer of credits that satisfy requirements of their respective degree programs. Students should remember, however, that transfer of credit is always at the discretion of the receiving institution. It is the student's responsibility to confirm whether or not credits will be accepted by another institution of the student's choice.
The transferability of credits earned at AGTS is at the complete discretion of the institution to which a student plans to transfer the credits. Acceptance of the degree earned at AGTS is also at the complete discretion of the institution of the institution a student seeks to transfer to. If the credits/degrees earned at AGTS are not accepted at the institution to which a student seeks to transfer them, some or all of the coursework may have to be repeated. For this reason, a student should make certain that attendance at AGTS will meet his or her educational goals. This may include contacting the institution to which a student may want to transfer to after attending AGTS to determine if the AGTS credits/degrees will transfer.
Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). AGTS will accept up to 2 CPE units for a maximum of 6 credit hours (1 CPE unit for 3 credit hours) provided the CPE units were not used to fulfill the requirements of any other graduate or doctoral degree. The institution and credit must be recognized by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc. accreditation commission. To request transfer credit, official transcripts must be received by the Assistant Registrar for Online and Graduate Studies before consideration for credit will be given.