Policies for Course Credits and Exemption Examinations

A maximum of 32 semester hours may be obtained through the transfer of non-classroom-based credit.
Some students are able to earn advanced college credit in certain subjects. This may be secured in any of five ways:

1. Advanced Placement (AP) — At the time of admission, first-year students may submit scores from an AP examination conducted by the College Board. While the minimum acceptable score is 3 or 4, depending on the test, the amount of credit awarded for higher scores varies. Detailed information is available from the registrar’s office. Students may not receive both AP credit and a high school exemption for the same core requirement.
2. International Baccalaureate (IB) — Course credit will be given to students who receive a grade of 5 or higher on Higher-level classes.
3. Departmental Examinations — Some departments offer departmental examinations for some courses. If a department deems it appropriate, regularly enrolled students may meet a course requirement and receive regular academic credit by examination. Only one exam per department may be taken unless prior approval is given by the registrar. Such tests must be taken in lieu of registration for the course and may not be used as repeated courses. Students wishing to take departmental examinations may obtain forms from the registrar’s office, the forms are then completed by the departments, indicating the grade received after the student takes the exam. For information on fees associated with these exams, see the financial information pages. The student’s performance on the examinations will be recorded on the student’s record.
4. Non-Traditional Methods — Calvin students may obtain transfer credit from on-line and correspondence courses that have been previously approved by the registrar’s office.

Furthermore, students who have completed appropriate courses in high school may be exempted from certain university course requirements. This is possible in world language. Details about these exemptions are listed with the core curriculum. Consult the registrar’s office for more information about the ways high school courses satisfy university requirements.