Graduate Student Transfer Credit

Students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering may apply for transfer credit for graduate-level courses taken at Tufts or at other institutions. (Certificate students may not transfer in courses taken outside of Tufts.) It is recommended that you apply for transfer credit at the beginning of your graduate program. You can request transfer of credit in SIS.

You may transfer a maximum of two courses* (one for MFA candidates) to fulfill requirements for a graduate degree, subject to the following conditions:

• You must have a grade of B- or better (you cannot transfer courses taken as pass/fail)
• The course must not have been counted toward another degree.
• ​It must be a graduate-level course at a properly accredited institution.
• You must have taken the course within the past five years

These are minimum requirements for credits transferred. Departments have the right to impose additional criteria.

*Students previously enrolled in a Tufts certificate program may petition to transfer all courses required for the certificate. Courses taken as a Tufts undergraduate must be formally reserved for graduate credit.

In all cases, courses to be transferred must be submitted as a request for transfer credit in SIS, approved by your academic department, and then by Student Services who will confirm the course(s) meet all eligibility requirements above to posted on your graduate transcript.

Doctoral candidates may not transfer courses counted toward a master’s degree to your doctoral program. However, individual departments may, at their discretion, accept these courses in order to reduce the number of courses required for your doctoral degree.

You will not be allowed to graduate until your transfer credits have been formally approved. It is your responsibility to get approval of credit transfers before submitting your application for graduation.

Once the course has been approved and you’ve completed the course, have a sealed, official transcript sent to Tufts Registrar’s office from the other institution.

• To send by mail: Office of the Registrar, Attn: Transfer of Credit, Dowling Hall, Tufts University, 419 Boston Ave, Medford, MA 02155.
• ​To send electronically to studentservices@tufts.edu: We will only accept official transcripts sent electronically via a verified vendors.
• Once Tufts receives the transcript, you will receive an email that the transcript has been received.
• ​Once your course has been approved and we have the transcript, we can post courses to your Tufts transcript. Requests that are incomplete or otherwise don’t match the transcript can slow down the process.  
• ​Once the course has been added to your transcript, you will receive another email and your courses will appear on your transcript.

• Log On to SIS