Credit Towards Your Degree

woman at a computer

Along with courses and other studies that you take at Empire State College, you can accrue credit towards your degree by transfer of credits earned at another school. At the bachelor's and associate degree level, it is also possible to accrue credit by assessment of prior learning from work and life experience. Both types of credits can only be applied to your degree at Empire State College if they are appropriate for the design of your new degree program.

Transfer Credits

Bachelor's and Associate Degrees

You may transfer up to 96 credits from regionally accredited colleges into a bachelor’s degree program at Empire State College. For the associate degree, you may transfer up to 40 credits. Grades of “D” and “F” cannot be accepted.

Master's Degrees

You may transfer up to 9 credits into the M.A. and M.B.A. program, and up to 3 credits into the M.A.T. program. The credits must be at the graduate level with a grade of “B” or better, from a regionally accredited college or university, and no more than 7 years old at the time of your admission to the graduate program at Empire State College.

Assessment of Prior Learning

In order to take advantage of an assessment of your credits, you must be accepted into the college and enrolled in a degree program. Credit of this kind is mainly for students pursuing bachelor's and associate degrees. At the master's level, credit for prior learning is only possible in the MBA in Healthcare Leadership or MA in Adult Learning programs.

Undergraduate students may earn credit for college-level learning gained from work and life experience. You may have college-level learning from training programs at work, a real estate license, military training, certification in fields such as early childhood or chemical dependency counseling, or artistic pursuits such as paintings, sculpture or music. You may also be awarded credit for successful completion of many standardized exams.

Undergraduate credit for college-level learning from work and life experience is determined in two ways:

  • You may be awarded credits for courses at your place of employment, at a computer training center, a proprietary business school, etc., or if you hold a NYS or national license or credential (e.g., a real estate license, insurance license, EMT or pilot’s license). This prior learning may already have been evaluated to determine if it is college level by Empire State College or a national organization.
  • You (with guidance from your mentor) request an evaluation of prior learning that includes a learning description and supporting documentation. An expert in the field for which you are requesting credit will evaluate your learning through the materials that you submit and an interview, determine if the learning is college level and recommend the number of credits.

Prior assessment overview: