Graduate Transfer Credits for Ed.D/Ph.D. programs

[econteacher]

Hi all. So I'm in the early (very early) stages of thinking about Ed.D/Ph.D programs, and am looking for an answer on transfer credits for doctoral programs.

The impetus for this question came from browsing the Curriculum and Teaching Ed.D at Teachers College. It's a 90 point program, and a maximum of 40 can be transferred from graduate study at another institution (link to the details here). Other programs I've looked at are similar, and use similar verbiage.

I have a Master of Arts in Teaching, so I have already earned close to the maximum number of credits to transfer. I am curious if anyone has experience, whether it is with TC in particular or doctoral programs in general, with transferring grad credit. Are institutions pretty relaxed about it, accepting most/all of the credit? Is it a pretty detailed audit that they act stingy with?

Obviously, it's impossible to know for sure, but I just want to have some sense of whether I'd be looking at a manageable 50 or 60 credits of work if institutions are generous, or a more daunting course load of closer to 90 credits if they are stingy.

Thank you all!

[ZeChocMoose]

It really, really depends on the department.

In my current department, you might be lucky and get 1-3 classes to "transfer," but you need to have taken the course within 5 years and then you have to submit a packet of materials that includes the syllabus, an official transcript, and the final assignment for the course.  Usually, a paper - but sometimes an exam.  Then you need to get the professor that teaches the equivalent course to read and review the materials and sign the form that says that the course that you took elsewhere is "equivalent."  (The professor might request additional information to make an assessment - i.e. powerpoint slides, other assignments, etc.)  Then the department chair needs to review everything and sign - then it goes to the dean to review the materials and sign.  So it is a lot of work and this is only for one course!  Anywhere in this chain - you might get told no.  

I got two courses to transfer this way and my master's was in the same discipline.  I could not get the third class to transfer because the professor who teaches the "equivalent" course said no.  The max I heard someone got was four courses to transfer from their master's, but it seemed really difficult because the school considers 4 to be a lot and I haven't heard anyone else achieve this feat.

[econteacher]

Thank you for this! I honestly would have thought the process would be a little more perfunctory. Given that they (in theory) allow up to 40 credits, that seems like quite the audit task.

But I suppose universities aren't in the business of giving away free classes, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised.

 

[Bunny38]

I had multiple (all possible) classes transfer. My adviser reviewed by transcript. It is really a simple process. Your advisor will sit down with you to review your courses.

[goldenangel1]

On 11/14/2016 at 2:03 PM, econteacher said:

Hi all. So I'm in the early (very early) stages of thinking about Ed.D/Ph.D programs, and am looking for an answer on transfer credits for doctoral programs.

The impetus for this question came from browsing the Curriculum and Teaching Ed.D at Teachers College. It's a 90 point program, and a maximum of 40 can be transferred from graduate study at another institution (link to the details here). Other programs I've looked at are similar, and use similar verbiage.

I have a Master of Arts in Teaching, so I have already earned close to the maximum number of credits to transfer. I am curious if anyone has experience, whether it is with TC in particular or doctoral programs in general, with transferring grad credit. Are institutions pretty relaxed about it, accepting most/all of the credit? Is it a pretty detailed audit that they act stingy with?

Obviously, it's impossible to know for sure, but I just want to have some sense of whether I'd be looking at a manageable 50 or 60 credits of work if institutions are generous, or a more daunting course load of closer to 90 credits if they are stingy.

Thank you all!

I think it depends. Not all of the credit will transfer if the program was done at another school. If it was done at TC, then majority of the credits will transfer and if it was in the same department, all the master's credit automatically transfer to the doctoral program. They have to evaluate it and are more strict if it's from another school and program outside of TC, but up to 45 units max can be transferred to a EdD program which is 90 units of required coursework.