Academic Requirements

To graduate with a Bachelor of Art degree from Transylvania University, you must fulfill the following requirements:

  • Completion of 36 course units*, including 18 units in residence at Transylvania.
  • Each class you take falls into one of the following categories:
    • General education (GE) course
    • Primary course in the major 
      Must have minimum grade of C-
    • Allied course in the major 
      May be used to satisfy GE requirements; minimum grade of D-; not required of all majors
    • Elective 
      Often second major/minor courses fall here
  • 2.000 minimum cumulative grade-point average (GPA)
  • Completion of general education requirements
  • Completion of at least one major

Questions? 
Contact the Transylvania registrar at (859) 233- 8116or registrar@transy.edu.

*The basic curricular measure at Transylvania is the course unit. One unit is considered to be equivalent to four semester hours.

General Education Requirements

Transylvania believes that all students, no matter what career or vocation they choose, benefit from liberal education; and so the college encourages the free search for knowledge and understanding drawn from the natural and social sciences, the humanities and the arts. By so doing, the college strives to empower students to develop lifelong habits of learning and intelligent, respectful discussion. Therefore, students must fulfill requirements in five general areas:

Intro to Critical Skills
3.75 – 6.75 units		Approaches to Learning
4 units		Cultural Traditions
2 units		Upper-level Liberal Arts
4 units: 2 + 2 pattern		Writing Intensive Courses
2 units
Health & Wellness 
(1 unit)

FYS Seminars  
(FYS 1004 and FYS 1104 = 2 units)

Mathematics 
(1 unit)

Foreign Language 
(2-3 units)
See foreign language section below for details		Humanities 
(1 unit)

Fine Arts 
(1 unit)

Natural Sciences 
(1 unit)

Social Sciences 
(1 unit)		Non-Western 
(1 unit)

Western   
(1 unit)		Set = 2 courses with same prefix (BIO, CHEM, etc.) 

Upper Level: Set 1 
(2 units) 
Outside primary major 

Upper Level: Set 2   
(2 units)
Outside division of primary major		Courses may also satisfy requirements in Cultural Traditions or Upper Level Liberal Arts and electives outside the primary major pattern

Note: The university catalog indicates which courses fulfill the General Education requirements.  For applicable courses, the course description is followed by a GE code aligning the course with one or more academic areas listed above.

Course load

  • The typical course load is 4–4.75 units in fall/winter terms and 1–1.5 units in May term.
  • The academic load for first-year students is normally 4 units for the first fall term with all students enrolled in  FYS-1004 First Year Seminar (1 unit) and 3 additional 1 unit courses. 
  • After the first year, the academic load should be 4 units in fall and winter term and 1 unit in May term. A candidate for an undergraduate degree must earn a total of 36 units, which averages out to 9 units each year.

Language and mathematics proficiency

We strongly recommend taking a mathematics and/or foreign language class your first fall term. Skills in mathematics and language study may deteriorate if you do not continue work in them immediately.

Foreign language placement

First-year students are typically placed in the following language classes based on high school experience:

1 unit in high school = enrolled in 1014 (Level I)
2–3 units in high school = enrolled in 1024 (Level II)
4 units in high school = enrolled in 1034 (Level III)

  • Students who completed 2 or more years in high school who choose to continue their study in that language at Transylvania must complete through 1034.
  • Students with fewer than 2 years of high school study of the language in high school who choose to continue their study in that language at Transylvania must complete through 1024.
  • Students studying a new language must complete through 1024.
  • Placement testing in foreign languages will take place during First Engagements to determine what level of work the student should pursue. Placement test results will be available prior to the finalization of Fall schedules.  Students may access their placement results on Student Planning under Test Summary.

Advanced Placement (AP) credit

  • Scores of 4 or 5 are required. Click here for AP exam equivalency information.
  • Official score reports should be sent during the summer prior to enrollment in order for registration prerequisites and credits to be awarded. Students are responsible for contacting the College Board to request official score reports. Official score reports must be sent directly to the Transylvania University registrar. It is critical that official scores be processed by the registrar’s office prior to fall registration to avoid problems related to missing prerequisites. Scores reported on high school transcripts or on student score reports are not acceptable.
  • Once we have received the official score reports, AP credit earned is posted on Student Planning under Test Summary.
  • Transylvania’s four-digit college code number is 1808.

A Level Exam credit

  • Each A Level exam passed with a grade of A*, A or B will be awarded one (1) unit of general elective credit.

International Baccalaureate (IB) credit

  • Scores of 6 or 7 are required on standard-level examinations and scores of 5, 6, or 7 are required on higher-level examinations. Click here for more information. 
  • Official IB reports should be sent during the summer prior to enrollment in order for registration prerequisites and credits to be awarded. Students are responsible for contacting the IB testing authority to request official score reports. Official score reports must be sent directly to the Transylvania University registrar. It is critical that official scores be processed by the registrar’s office prior to fall registration to avoid problems related to missing prerequisites. Scores reported on high school transcripts or on student score reports are not acceptable.
  • Students who complete the International Baccalaureate diploma with a score of 30 or above will be granted one unit of course credit.
  • Once we have received the official score reports, IB credit earned is posted on Student Planning under Test Summary.

 Dual enrollment/transfer credit

  • Courses taken elsewhere though dual enrollment programs in high school or at a regionally accredited college or university will be considered for transfer. 
  • The credit must be consistent with the academic objectives of Transylvania. A grade of C- (1.67) or higher is required. 
  • Transylvania uses a course unit system and 1 unit is equivalent to 4 semester hours. Courses taken in a semester hour system will transfer as follows: 4 semester hours = 1 unit; 3 semester hours = .75 unit; 2 semester hours = .5 unit; 1 semester hour = .25 unit.
  • Students must have an official transcript sent from the college or university sent directly to the Transylvania University registrar. 
  • Courses taken by correspondence as well as GE Upper Level Liberal Arts and Writing Intensive courses are ordinarily not transferable. 
  • The use of transfer courses to satisfy major/minor requirements is determined by the program director of that area. 
  • Transfer grades will not affect the calculation of the cumulative grade point average.
  • To see how the credits might transfer to Transylvania’s unit system, please consult our Transfer Evaluation System (TES). Direct questions regarding transfer credits to the registrar’s office.
  • In order for transfer credit to be awarded, the student must have their official transcript sent from the college/university directly to Transylvania University.
  • Once we have received a student’s official transcript from the college/university, the credits can accessed by the student on their Self-Service under Transfer Summary.

Limits on external credits (transfer, AP, etc.)

  • No more than 18 of the 36 units required for the Transylvania degree may be earned elsewhere or by any other means than through courses offered at Transylvania.
  • Eight of the last nine units must be taken in residence at Transylvania.