After all transcripts have been received, the Office of the Registrar prepares an initial transfer credit report, indicating which courses are accepted in general transfer by CU Denver. Students will receive this report along with their admission decision. At this time, students are encouraged to contact their academic advisor, who will determine how transferred credit applies to specific degree requirements, sometimes using automated systems and with assistance from academic departments. Academic units make all final decisions regarding application of transfer credit to degree requirements. Transfer credit evaluations are valid only for degree programs offered entirely at CU Denver.

Courses are accepted in initial transfer and applied to graduation requirements at CU Denver at the same academic level as on the transcript from the sending institution. Transfer courses with similar content to CU Denver courses (but are listed on the transcript at a different level) may be substituted upon approval from the academic unit. Such courses, however, apply to overall requirements at the level listed by the sending institution unless an exception is granted. Only undergraduate courses are considered in transfer. Though unofficial transcripts may be used for admissions decisioning and initial transfer credit review, official transcripts must be submitted to the Office of Admissions for validation before the census date of a student’s first term. Failure to do so will result in a registration hold and could impact your ability to graduate.

School/College Specific Policy

College of Arts & Media

College of Arts & Media (CAM) degree programs involve carefully structured sequences of course work, designed to build student knowledge, skills and dispositions toward academic, artistic and professional outcomes. Students interested in transferring to pursue a CAM degree should contact CAM advising in advance at CAMadvising@ucdenver.edu to plan out their transfer credits and subsequent University of Colorado Denver course work. As part of this discussion, CAM advisors can help students determine the best semester in which to transfer, taking into consideration each student’s desired timeline toward graduation and program requirements.

College of Engineering, Design and Computing

Transfer students should make an advising appointment as soon as possible after being admitted to the college.

Students must contact the department to which they’ve been admitted to schedule an appointment with a faculty advisor.

To expedite the advising process, please bring a copy of your transcripts from all institutions you have attended, copies of course descriptions for any courses you wish to have considered for transfer and, if possible, a syllabus for each of those courses. Only courses with a grade of C- or better will be considered for transfer credit. Pass/fail courses, internship courses, research-related courses and special topics courses will not be considered for transfer credit.

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Additional information regarding the applicability of College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) discipline transfer courses, including the transfer course evaluation process can be found in the CLAS Policy section of the catalog under Transfer Credit Information.

gtPathways Curriculum

The Colorado Department of Higher Education oversees the Guaranteed Transfer (gtPathways) program, which provides for guaranteed transfer, and more importantly, guaranteed application of credit toward lower-division general education credit requirements at Colorado public institutions of higher education. All gtPathways approved courses undergo statewide faculty review, and all lower division CU Denver Core courses are gtPathways approved. Please see the list of Core courses for their gtPathways content area.

Statewide Transfer Articulation Agreements

In compliance with Colorado’s Statewide Transfer Policy, students may transfer credit from a Colorado community college on a course-by-course basis or by completing an associate of arts (AA) or associate of science (AS) degree. Students who complete an AA/AS degree may be guaranteed full transfer of the associate degree (60 credits maximum).

The guaranteed transfer program applies only to students who began Colorado community college studies in fall 2003 or later and who meet the following requirements:

• Complete an AA/AS degree, which includes 31 credits of state-guaranteed general education courses
• Earn credit only at Colorado community colleges within the last 10 years
• Earn a grade of C- or better in each course

Statewide articulation agreements are in place governing transfer of students from Colorado community colleges:  Transfer Degrees | Higher Education (colorado.gov) 

Transfer advising plans for Colorado community college students are available from the Office of Admissions and at www.ucdenver.edu/admissions. In addition, an admissions representative can assist students with planning a transfer program of study. Representatives regularly visit Colorado community colleges. Call the Office of Admissions at 303-315-2601 or email admissions@ucdenver.edu for additional information.

School/College Specific Policy

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, DESIGN AND COMPUTING

The College of Engineering, Design and Computing has formal transfer agreements with all Colorado community colleges, including the following Denver metro-area community colleges:

Arapahoe Community College (Littleton) 303-797-4222
Community College of Aurora 303-360-4700
Community College of Denver 303-556-2600
Front Range Community College (Westminster) 303-404-5000
Red Rocks Community College (Lakewood) 303-914-6600

Students interested in transferring should contact the engineering department to which they plan to transfer and the respective community college counseling office at the phone number indicated above.

Transferability of Modified Grades

The University of Colorado Denver will be accommodating the following grading modifications to traditional transfer admissions and enrollment in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These modified processes apply to existing undergraduate and prospective students across CU Denver and from institutions across Colorado and beyond.

Transfer credit – Transfer students from an institution other than CU Denver and CU Denver students transferring to another CU Denver program through Intra-University Transfer (IUT), who took classes in Spring and beyond, must meet the following modified requirements to have courses transferred with credit:

• Non-letter grades (P, P+, S, etc.) appearing on a student transcript from an institution outside CU Denver starting Spring 2020 and beyond will be accepted and applied to degree and/or CU Denver core, if the non-letter grade is defined as a C- or better.
• Any course with a non-letter grade that lacks an equivalence to a traditional letter grade will be handled by the CU Denver Office of the Registrar on a case-by-case basis.

Adjusted major/minor/certificate criteria for College of Arts and Media (CAM) – Transfer students from an institution other than CU Denver and CU Denver students transferring to CAM by an IUT, who took classes with modified grading in Spring 2020 and beyond, must meet the following requirements for course transferability in progression towards CAM major, minor, or certificate programs:

• For students applying with IUT credits toward transfer, lettered or modified grades representing a D- or higher (P/P+/S, etc.) will be applied as transferable toward a CAM major, minor or certificate requirement.
• For students applying from an institution other than CU Denver, lettered or modified grades representing a C- or higher (P+/S, etc.) will be applied as transferable toward a CAM major, minor or certificate requirement.
• Any course with a non-letter grade that lacks an equivalence to a traditional letter grade will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

**Transferability of courses per the CAM grade modifications identified above will only be applicable toward CAM degrees, majors, minors, and certificates. Courses below the C- threshold will not be IUT transferrable towards other degrees and programs at CU Denver**

Degree entrance criteria for transfer students – Transfer students from an institution other than CU Denver and CU Denver students transferring to another CU Denver program through IUT, will still be expected to meet college/school admissions requirements for direct admit into their program of choice.

• CU Denver will only accept the cumulative GPA, as calculated and documented by the students sending institution and reported on the students submitted transcript(s).
• For current CU Denver students who opted into Spring and/or Summer 2020 P/P+/NP grades, original letter grades will not be used to calculate cumulative transfer GPA.
• In the occurrence that an institution other than CU Denver allows for appeals to non-letter grades (P/P+/S, etc.), resulting in an impact to the student’s cumulative transfer GPA, the student must contact CU Denver’s Office of the Registrar (registrar@ucdenver.edu) and re-submit any official transcript with the revised cumulative GPA. CU Denver’s Office of the Registrar will re-evaluate degree admissibility on a case-by-case basis. A new transcript showing a higher GPA will not automatically be considered for degree/admissions admissibility.
• If a CU Denver student elects to change their grade to a P+/P/NP in any course, they will be unable to appeal a reversal of their request once processed, and will only be able to transfer credits and cumulative GPA as documented on their transcript.

Adjusted degree entrance criteria for College of Engineering, Design and Computing (CEDC) – Transfer students from an institution other than CU Denver and CU Denver students transferring to CEDC by an IUT, who took classes in Spring 2020 or beyond, must meet the following requirements to enter into a CEDC major.

• For all CEDC degrees EXCEPT the Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science and the Bachelor of Science in Construction Management:
  • Min 2.5 cumulative GPA. For current CU Denver students who opted into Spring and/or 2020 P+/P/NP grades and non-letter grades will not be used to calculate cumulative GPA.
  • C- or better or P+/S or equivalent grade in Calculus I and Calculus based Physics I with corresponding lab.
  • Non-letter grades (P/P+/S, etc.) appearing on a student transcript from an institution outside CU Denver in Spring 2020 or later in Calculus I and Calculus based Physics I, will be accepted if the non-letter grade is defined as a C- or better.
  • Any course with a non-letter grade that lacks an equivalence to a traditional letter grade will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
• For the Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science and the Bachelor of Science in Construction Management degrees:
  • Min 2.5 cumulative GPA. For current CU Denver students who opted into Spring and/or Summer 2020, P+/P/NP grades and non-letter grades will not be used to calculate overall GPA.
  • Completion of at least one of the following math courses with a grade of C- or better or P+/S or equivalent grade: College Algebra, College Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, Calculus I, or Calculus II.
  • Non-letter grades (P/P+/S, etc.) appearing on a student transcript from an institution outside CU Denver in Spring 2020 and beyond, in College Algebra, College Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, Calculus I, or Calculus II, will be accepted if the non-letter grade is defined as a C- or better.
  • Any course with a non-letter grade that lacks an equivalence to a traditional letter grade will be handled on a case-by-case basis.