Transfer Credit for newly admitted students

Please note that courses from BC colleges have already been evaluated in detail and will not be reviewed based on course outlines submitted by students. We award credit for these courses as described in the BC Transfer Guide.

Our Admissions team will assess your transfer credit once you have been offered admission to SFU.

For courses that transfer to SFU as 1XX or 2XX, you have been awarded general transfer credit in a specific subject area. In order to determine whether these courses are equivalent to an SFU course, you can submit detailed course outlines for further evaluation. 

These course outlines should include:

• a statement of course objective(s)
• the duration/number of weeks (excluding final exam period)
• hours per week of lecture (laboratory/tutorial/seminar/studio work) and the hours per week of required open laboratory work or open studio work
• the method of evaluation and grading
• the textbook(s) used
• the amount of credit/units earned

For a further transfer credit evaluation (outside of courses noted on the BC Transfer Guide) please complete a transfer credit appeal.

See more information in the Academic Calendar.

Please read these details before submitting the WQB Evaluation Form.

Active students are not permitted to take courses elsewhere for transfer credit towards completion of their SFU program without permission. Students must obtain a Letter of Permission in order to receive transfer credit for external coursework. Please see this page for further information.

Yes, one full year of transfer credit (30 units) is granted for a completed IB Diploma. Transfer credit is awarded for all standard level and higher level subjects passed with a grade of 4 or higher. We will award transfer credit based on predicted grades initially and will confirm this credit upon the receipt of your final IB diploma scores from the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO).  

Students in a partial IB program: transfer credit will be granted for higher level courses completed with a grade of 5 or higher. Transfer credit is not awarded for standard level courses.

See more information about IB transfer credit.

Transfer credit will be awarded for official AP exam results with a score of 4 or 5.

chevron-right See more information about AP transfer credit.

To receive transfer credit for AP exams official test scores need to be sent directly to SFU from the College Board.

Our Admissions team will remove the credit awarded for IB/AP/A-level results upon request if you have not yet enrolled in the equivalent course at SFU. Please contact us with your SFU student number: create an account and submit it via Ask a Question on the Future Students site.

If you have already enrolled in or completed the SFU equivalent course, this will need to be addressed on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us as above.

We will not add this credit back to your record after we remove it.

Note that this policy only applies to AP, IB, and A-level credit. It does not apply to transfer credit from post-secondary institutions.

Please speak with an Academic Advisor if you are considering repeating a course that you already have credit for. They can explain SFU's course repeat rules.

This is normally a result of having met the university literacy requirement and/or the quantitative requirement multiple times.  It will not negatively affect your credit or enrollment at SFU.

Also note that FANX99 and FALX99 designations for a transfer course will not have any credit associated with it. You will see a credit value of (0.0) on your advising transcript.

Credit completed as part of your initial degree is not eligible to be transferred to SFU. Instead, you should talk to your Academic Advisor about course exemptions.

If you completed courses subsequent to your degree that you would like to be transferred to SFU, you must first speak with an Academic Advisor to discuss your academic history and formally gain admission to a Second Degree program. Academic Advisors can contact SFU Admissions with a recommendation of courses for transfer credit, up to a maximum of 30 credits.

First talk to an academic advisor about which courses are most helpful for your specific program. Then contact Admissions via Ask a Question on our Future Students site, and include your SFU student number. You will need to detail exactly which courses you would like to be reduced to zero credits and which courses you would like added to your 60-credit total.