Transfer Credit Policies

College of Chiropractic Transfer Policy

The institution where you completed your transfer coursework must be accredited and recognized by the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) and the U.S. Department of Education. Transfer credit from other doctoral health programs will be considered, provided the previous institution is regionally or professionally accredited at the graduate or professional level and course work is applicable to the Doctor of Chiropractic degree.

The transfer policy requires that a letter from the registrar at the previous chiropractic institution indicating that a student is in good academic standing and would be eligible to continue studies at that institution, is provided. Students not in good academic standing will not be considered for admission as a transfer student to Northwestern Health Sciences University; however, admission as a new student will still be considered according to the regular admission policies.

Courses are eligible for transfer to Northwestern if they are not used as prerequisite courses, they are current within 5 years of the date of enrollment at Northwestern, and a grade of C or better has been earned. Transfer courses must have similar course content, title, length or objective, and correspond to courses within Northwestern’s chiropractic curriculum. The College of Chiropractic at Northwestern Health Sciences University will determine comparability.

All courses submitted for transfer must be evaluated and approved prior to the student’s enrollment.

A transfer student must complete a minimum of five trimesters of resident study at Northwestern prior to graduation.

Excessive student loan debt may be a factor in the student’s ability to transfer. The Financial Aid Office will set upper limits of previous indebtedness.

Transfer policies are subject to change. Contact the Office of Admissions for current information.

Advanced Placement Exams (competency exams)

An advanced placement exam (competency exam) can give a student credit for a Northwestern course based on work completed. The decision to offer a competency exam is based on the faculty and dean of the appropriate department.

Applicants may sit for competency examinations if:

Official transcripts show work in the subject area in addition to that required for admission and taken in upper-division courses.
Meet all of Northwestern Health Science University’s College of Chiropractic prerequisites in place at the time of application.
Contact information is provided in the application for at least two faculty members at the chiropractic institution(s) previously attended who can provide completed online recommendation forms.

Massage Therapy Program Transfer Credit Policy

The College will consider requests for transfer credit based on the following criteria:

An official transcript must accompany any request for transfer credit;
The institution where the coursework was completed must be accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education;
The course(s) completed at the other institution must have similar objectives and be of similar content and length as the course(s) being substituted within the Massage Therapy program. A course catalog and/or syllabus may be required to demonstrate course content;
Students must have earned a C or better in any course being considered for transfer;
Any coursework submitted for transfer must have been completed within five years of the date that a transfer application is submitted to the University;
A maximum of 21 credits will be transferred per student in the certificate program and 30 credits per student in the Associate of Applied Science degree program;
The College reserves the right to offer transfer credit to students who demonstrate proficiency in course material based on submission of a portfolio demonstrating competency in the objectives of the course;
Requests for transfer credit will only be considered prior to matriculation into the Massage Therapy programs;
The final decision regarding transfer credit rests with the Dean of the College of Health and Wellness.

Master of Acupuncture/Chinese Medicine Transfer Policy

Courses may transfer to Northwestern if you have received grades of C or better. Transfer courses must have similar course content, name, length or objective, and correspond to courses within our acupuncture and Chinese medicine curriculum. The Program Director will determine comparability.

All courses submitted to transfer must be applied for and posted to your Northwestern academic record no later than one year from matriculation.

A transfer student must complete at least the last three trimesters (one academic year) in order to graduate from Northwestern. Excessive student loan debt may be a factor in the student’s ability to transfer. The Financial Aid Office will set upper limits of previous indebtedness.

Master of Acupuncture/Chinese Medicine Transfer Credit

At the discretion of the Program Director, credit may be granted for equivalent courses taken and passed in another program. Considerations may include the institution offering the courses, the course description and/or syllabus for each course, the length of time since completing the course, and life experience. The student may be required to pass a challenge exam. Students have four options to complete graduation requirements without taking every required course: Transfer Credit for equivalent courses, Transfer Credit for life experience, Waivers of Requirement, and/or CLEP Credits.

Transfer credit will only be granted for the maximum number of hours available from Northwestern-equivalent courses. For example, a 180-hour course in anatomy and physiology from another program will only be worth 135 hours at Northwestern, if the equivalent Northwestern course is 135 hours.

For Equivalent Courses

To be considered for transfer credits, courses must be equivalent to those offered at Northwestern based on an evaluation of the student’s official transcript by the program’s academic administration. A syllabus or other detailed course description and a copy of the catalog from the original institution may be required. Normally, the course must be an academic course from an accredited institution at the bachelor’s degree level or better and passed within the past five years (occasionally, a course may need to have been passed within a shorter time frame) with a grade of C or better. A grade of C- is not acceptable if the awarding college states that the numerical equivalent is less than 2.0 (when A is 4.0). Accreditation must be from an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. A transfer student from another acupuncture program must complete at least the last three full-time trimesters of resident study in the Northwestern program prior to graduation.

Equivalent Course/Life Experience

Transfer credit may be given to a student who has taken an equivalent course (which meets the above referenced standards) prior to the past five years, if life work or experience has enabled the student to use the skills learned in that course within the past five years. For example, current licensed health care providers would typically receive credit for most Western biomedicine courses taken more than five years ago, based on their life experience within the past five years.

Waivers of Requirement

Occasionally, a waiver of requirement may be granted in lieu of a required course or course sequence. Credit will be given according to the above noted guidelines for maximum credit/hours allowed. Normally, a waiver of requirement is based on educational or professional experience that may not be able to be documented to the extent required for transfer credit. A challenge exam may be required of the student to demonstrate competency in the subject involved.

CLEP Credits (College Level Examination Program)

A maximum of 30 semester CLEP credits can be transferred into the program. These credits must first be transferred to another undergraduate degree-granting institution and appear on the student’s respective transcript before these CLEP credits can be considered for transfer into the program.

Transfer policies are subject to change. Contact the Office of Admissions for current information.