Transfer of Credits

Advanced standing for a course already successfully completed elsewhere may be granted on an individual basis to students as either 1) transfer credits, 2) credit by exam, or 3) course exemption. No more than nine credits of coursework will be accepted for Advanced Standing. Of these nine (9) credits, a maximum of six (6) may be transfer credits. Only courses taken before enrolling at the School of Nursing will be considered. Course exemption, not transfer credit, may be granted for coursework which has been applied to an earlier degree but is deemed similar to Columbia University School of Nursing course requirements.

In order for course(s) taken at another school to be considered for either transfer credit or course exemption, the syllabus for such course, an official transcript with course grade, and a written request must be submitted to the Office of Student Services. This request must be submitted during the first semester the student is enrolled at the School of Nursing. The Associate Dean of Student Affairs will review the materials and forward eligible requests to the faculty responsible for the course. Advanced standing is granted at the discretion of the faculty.

Transfer Credits

are based on documentation of comparable graduate or doctoral level coursework at an accredited college or university
will not exceed six credits of coursework
are applicable for a course completed within the last five years
are not applicable for a course taken at another school while enrolled in SON
are not applicable for a course which has been applied to an earlier degree
require a grade of B or better in the course
will not exceed the number of credits for the course offered at the SON
will not exceed the number of credits granted by the outside school
carry no fee for processing

Credit by Exam

is available for some didactic courses
is obtained by passing an exam given by SON
carries a fee of $125 per credit, required at the time of request
is dependent upon successful completion of the exam with a grade of B or better
is available at the discretion of the course instructor

Course Exemption

is based on documentation of comparable graduate or doctoral level coursework at an accredited college or university
is applicable for courses subsumed in an earlier degree
is applicable for a course completed within the last five years
requires a grade of B or better in the course
bears no credit
exempts the student from the course
requires that the student take credits equal to the credits of the exempted course
carry no fee for processing

Exceptions to the above are as follows:

MS completion program: 15 credits by exam for national certification in the specialty may be awarded.

PhD/ DNSc students: coursework taken outside of Columbia University, while enrolled as a student at the School, will be accepted as transfer credit if it is essential to the student’s area of study and similar coursework is not offered within the University.

Joint degree students in the MS/MPH program: Students that take P6530, Issues and Approaches to Health Policy and Management at Mailman School of Public Health are exempt from SON core course N6920, Health and Social Policy: The Context for Practice and Research. See the Office of Student Services for further information.

The above excerpt is taken from the SON Student Handbook.