Course equivalency is the term used in
higher education
Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after comple ...
describing how a
course offered by one
college
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...
or
university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
relates to a course offered by another. If a course is viewed as equal or more challenging in subject and course material than the course offered by the receiving college or university, the course can be noted as an equivalent course. A course equivalency can be unilateral, meaning it is deemed equivalent by the receiver. Or, it could be bilateral, meaning both sender and receiver acknowledge their acceptance of each other's course as equivalent. The methods and measures used to determine course equivalency vary by institution, state, region and country.
Background
College transfer College transfer is the anticipated movement students consider between education providers and the related institutional processes supporting those secondary and post-secondary learners who actually do move with completed coursework or training that ...
often requires the determination and evaluation of prior course learning. Receiving institutions usually maintain course equivalency tables listing how courses equate by sender institution. Unless the receiving institution maintains an online public reference to the course equivalency tables, students have difficulty ascertaining transferability of their credit experiences. As a result, student transitions from sender to receiver can be very problematic. This has led a number of states to initiate legislate reforms, regulations and mandates to augment the tracking of course equivalencies. A variety of statistics, studies, and initiatives have been documented (see References).
The most common course attributes evaluated to determine course equivalency are description, academic
credits, accreditation, type of instructor, method of
instruction, level of instruction,
learning outcomes, grade scale and grade earned, pre-requisites, co-requisites and
textbook
A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textbook ...
. This is not an exclusive list of course attributes. Generally,
faculty perform the determination of course equivalencies. Course equivalency decisions can often be appealed by presenting evidence to an academic department.
See also
*
College transfer College transfer is the anticipated movement students consider between education providers and the related institutional processes supporting those secondary and post-secondary learners who actually do move with completed coursework or training that ...
*
Articulation (education) Articulation, or more specifically course articulation, is the process of comparing the content of courses that are transferred between postsecondary institutions such as TAFE institutes, colleges or universities. In other words, course articulat ...
*
Career college
A vocational school is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary or post-secondary education designed to provide vocational education or technical skills required to complete the tasks ...
*
Community college
A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior se ...
*
Junior college
*
University
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
*
List of colleges and universities
This is a list of lists of universities and colleges.
Subject of study
* Aerospace engineering
* Agriculture
* Art schools
* Business
* Chiropractic
* Engineering
* Forestry
* Law
* Maritime studies
* Medicine
* Music
* Nanotechnology
* Osteopa ...
References
{{reflist
Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). (2000). A Statement to the Community: Transfer and the Public Interest. Available at https://web.archive.org/web/20121030030718/http://www.chea.org/pdf/transfer_state_02.pdf.
National Center for Education Statistics. (2005) The Road Less Traveled? Students Who Enroll in Multiple Institutions. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/2005157.pdf.
External links
Transferology Course Equivalency Lookup
Didactics
Academic transfer