College transfer credits made easy

There are many types of credit transfers that might apply! For prior coursework, our evaluators will look at the type of degree-granting institution you attended. They’ll look for things like the institution’s accreditation status and degree-level offerings (the institution must offer associate degrees or higher).

Other credit transfers might result from past military training (e.g., American Council on Education) credit recommendations.

Credit you earned through a national testing program may also be transferable, depending on your grades/scores. These include: 


• College Level Examination Program (CLEP®)
• Excelsior College Exams
• Berlitz® Language Evaluations
• National League of Nursing exams (NLN)
• Advanced Placement examinations (AP)
• Defense Language Proficiency Tests (DLPT)
• DSST® exams

Finally, trainings, industry certifications and other things you’ve learned at work — or in life — may count as credit toward your degree. Our Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) department can help you assess potential credits. All you have to do is complete a Prior Learning Assessment once you’re admitted to University of Phoenix.

For more information, download our Academic Catalog.

You might be able to apply military training for college credit. We will request your Joint Service Transcript (JST) for you and evaluate your military experience using credit recommendations from the American Council for Education (ACE).

The good news is that college credits typically do not expire, and we’ll work with you to make sure you get all the credit you deserve. However, completed credits may not always apply to specific courses needed for a particular program, and institutional policy limitations may limit the number of credits that can be applied. It is recommended that all transcripts be reviewed to see what credits may be applied for potential credit to your program. An enrollment representative can help you get started on a preliminary transfer credit evaluation.

The University must receive official transcripts, mark sheets and documents that are originals from the issuing institution. Documents from Canada or the United States and its territories must be submitted in a sealed envelope or via an approved electronic method directly to University of Phoenix. All transcripts that state “issued to the student” are not considered official and will not be used for official evaluation.

Once we receive all your official transcripts and you have met all admissions criteria, your transfer credits will be evaluated. This process, from transcript order to transcript evaluation, typically takes approximately 30 days to complete.

That said, we’ll offer you an unofficial preliminary transfer credit evaluation within 5-7 days so you’ll get an early understanding of what may be eligible for transfer.

Transfer credits are any college-level courses completed with an acceptable grade, which is typically a C- or better, but may vary between program and program levels. Transfer credits come from a degree-granting, accredited institution and are applied to your desired University of Phoenix program.

Please note that your credits are transferred, but your grades are not. At University of Phoenix, your GPA will be determined by the credits earned with us.

You don’t pay to transfer college credits. In most cases, we can request your official transcripts from prior institutions for you, at no cost to you, saving you time and money. In some cases, institutions may require you to make the request directly.

Rest assured, if you’ve attended college outside of the U.S., we have a comprehensive process in place to evaluate your credits. We do look to see that the institution is recognized/authorized by the country’s Ministry of Education. University of Phoenix will accept copies of academic records issued from international institutions with no time-of-issue limitations. If official academic records are received directly from the institution in a sealed envelope, no verification will be required.

Yes! We have relationships with community colleges across the country that make transferring credit to University of Phoenix easier for you. Check out our transfer guides to see if your transfer credits from community college may transfer into a specific program. If you have your associate degree our 3+1 Transfer Pathway lets you transfer 87 credits, the equivalent of three years, through our community college transfer program.