Transfer Admission and Re-Admission Guidelines

Read more about transfer guidelines in our Course Catalog.

Requirements for Transfer Admission

William Jewell College welcomes undergraduate transfer students from properly accredited two- and four-year colleges. Students should be aware that degree requirements vary from institution to institution; thus, they should examine the academic program requirements at William Jewell early in the college experience in order to arrange the most efficient course articulation. A transfer student is defined by William Jewell as a person who, after having been graduated from high school, has completed at least one course at a post-secondary institution and who seeks to earn a degree from William Jewell College.

William Jewell College seeks candidates for admission who can demonstrate outstanding performance in core academic courses in English, math, science, and social sciences. Candidates for transfer admission who have completed fewer than 12 total credit hours from properly accredited institutions since finishing high school will be evaluated on performance in college-level coursework and performance in the core academic courses completed in high school. Official ACT results or official SAT results can be submitted for review for the purposes of admission and academic scholarship consideration. Eligibility for some academic majors requires the submission of a standardized test score. William Jewell’s ACT code is 2394; our SAT code is 6941.

Application Procedure for Transfer Admission

Candidates for transfer admission are required to submit the following:

  1. A completed Application for Admission and Scholarship: jewell.edu/apply.
  2. Official transcripts from each college at which the student was enrolled in courses, attended classes or received financial aid, even if credit was not awarded.
  3. If fewer than 12 total credit hours from properly accredited institutions have been earned since finishing high school, applicants must supply the College with an official final high school transcript.

Before beginning classes at William Jewell, transfer students must submit official final transcripts from all post-secondary institutions at which they have been enrolled in courses or received financial aid, even if credit was not awarded. (If all such transcripts are found not to have been submitted, enrollment at William Jewell beyond one semester will not be permitted.)

Guidelines for Transfer of Credits

The following guidelines and policies apply to undergraduate transfer of credit to William Jewell College:

  • Credit will be considered for transfer to William Jewell College, and for potential use toward a degree from William Jewell College, only for courses that are consistent with the curriculum of the College and on which the student has earned grades of C- or higher.
  • Generally, credit for undergraduate courses that are technical or vocational in nature, that are based upon participation in intercollegiate athletics or that are otherwise inconsistent with the liberal arts curriculum of William Jewell College will not be accepted in transfer. Credit for courses that are judged to be remedial will not be accepted.
  • Courses that cannot be used toward a degree at the original institution will not normally be accepted in transfer to William Jewell. Credit granted by another institution on the basis of an examination or through advanced standing will not be accepted in transfer to William Jewell.
  • The policy on granting credit after assessment of learning gained outside a traditional academic environment appears in a separate section below. William Jewell will not accept credit in transfer that is based on another institution’s assessment of prior learning outside a traditional academic environment.
  • A course for which only a “passing” or “satisfactory” grade is recorded by another institution is not normally considered for transfer, unless the corresponding class at William Jewell is also graded on a pass/fail basis for all students.
  • A maximum of four hours of physical education wellness/fitness/activity courses will be accepted in transfer.
  • Courses that are determined to result in duplication of credit will not be accepted in transfer. Other courses whose credit cannot be applied toward a bachelor’s degree from William Jewell will normally not be accepted in transfer.
  • The final determination concerning whether credit is transferable is made by the College Registrar, who may consult with faculty members having expertise in the appropriate areas. The student may provide additional materials (descriptions, syllabi, assignments, etc.) from courses whose transferability is questioned.
  • A minimum of 45 semester hours, aside from any courses that are graded pass/fail, must be completed in residence at William Jewell, including at least 16 hours (with a grade of C– or better) in any major and at least 9 hours (with a grade of C– or better) in any minor, by any student who intends to earn a degree from the College. Credits earned through an assessment of prior learning or through any sort of examination are not considered hours in residence.
  • Transfer students with fewer than 26 transferable college credit hours that have been earned since finishing high school will be expected to complete William Jewell’s Core Curriculum in its entirety through William Jewell courses. Exceptions are made for 100-level CTI courses, aside from CTI 100 and CTI 150.
  • Early College courses, those which are taught by college faculty on a college campus and which are completed before a student is graduated from high school, are allowed to be employed to meet requirements of Level-2 of the Core Curriculum as specified in the section that follows.
  • Transfer students with 26 or more transferable hours that have been earned since finishing high school are covered by rules explained in the section that follows.
  • Since William Jewell operates on a semester basis, credit hours earned at an institution that is on a quarter system will be multiplied by two-thirds before they are recorded on a William Jewell transcript.

Level-2 Core Curriculum Guidelines for Transfers

Transfer students with 26 or more transferable hours that have been earned since finishing high school are allowed to follow rules for meeting the requirements for Level-2 of the Core Curriculum that are outlined below. The rules apply only at the time of the first enrollment at William Jewell. Credit awarded by William Jewell on the basis of examinations (e.g., AP and IB credit) does not count toward the 26 hours.

Culture and Traditions
Transfer equivalents (one of the following):

  • Two courses from different disciplines within the humanities showing a total of at least four credit hours. [Basic skills courses, such as English composition or public speaking cannot be included. Generally, courses focusing on performance (music lessons or music ensembles or studio art) cannot be used here. Foreign languages are covered by a different core requirement.]
  • One course of at least three credit hours with an explicit and sophisticated orientation towards interdisciplinarity in the humanities.

Sacred and Secular
Transfer equivalents (one of the following):

  • Two courses showing a total of at least four credits that engage the academic study of religion, with at least one course substantially engaging cultural, social, or ethical issues from a religious perspective.
  • One course of at least three credits that engages the academic study of religion with an explicit and sophisticated orientation towards interdisciplinarity.

[Courses that study ministerial topics such as preaching or counseling will not satisfy this requirement.]

Science, Technology, and the Human Experience
Transfer equivalents (one of the following):

  • One laboratory science course and one advanced mathematics course (calculus II or above)
  • Two science courses with one being physical and the other a life science.  One of the courses must be a laboratory science.
  • One course of at least four credit hours with an explicit and sophisticated orientation towards interdisciplinarity in the sciences.  Such a course must have a laboratory component.

Power and Justice
Transfer equivalents (one of the following):

  • Two courses from different disciplines within the social sciences showing a total of at least four credit hours. [Lower-level PSY courses are considered to be social sciences.]
  • One course of at least three credit hours with an explicit and sophisticated orientation towards interdisciplinarity in the social sciences.

Requirements for Returning to Jewell

William Jewell students who have been away from the College for only one or two semesters without enrolling in courses elsewhere must contact the Office of Admission concerning reactivation of their records as they return to the College.

Students who have been away more than two semesters, or who have enrolled elsewhere during their time away, are required to apply for re-admission to the College. This can be accomplished by completing the Application for Admission and Scholarship online (jewell.edu/apply) and supplying official copies of transcripts from all post-secondary institutions at which the student being re-admitted has been enrolled in courses or has received financial aid, even if credit was not awarded. Students are strongly encouraged to file a FAFSA in order to attempt to qualify for available financial aid.

Before they begin classes at William Jewell, re-admitted students must submit official copies of final transcripts from all post-secondary institutions at which they have been enrolled during their absence from William Jewell or received financial aid, even if credit was not awarded. (If all such transcripts are found not to have been submitted, enrollment at William Jewell beyond one additional semester will not be permitted.)

A student who is re-admitted to Jewell, even if credit has been earned elsewhere, is not categorized as a transfer student. Rules that govern the use of credit earned elsewhere by transfer students to meet CTI requirements cannot be expected to apply to the credit earned while away from Jewell. However, a student who has matriculated at Jewell and who subsequently leaves Jewell and is a full-time student at other institutions for at least three semesters (not counting work done overseas or in the summer) before returning to Jewell will be allowed, at the time of re-admission to Jewell, to substitute transfer work for CTI courses according to the rules for transfer students.

A student who returns after an absence of one or more semesters without having an approved leave of absence from William Jewell should expect to be required to change to the requirements set forth in the catalog in effect at the time of rejoining the College.