Office of the Registrar

Credit awarded at a previous transfer college or university for AP, IB, Cambridge, CLEP or remedial/developmental courses do not automatically transfer to Christopher Newport. AP, IB, Cambridge, and CLEP scores should be submitted directly to CNU from the Educational Testing Service of the College Board for evaluation. AP, IB, Cambridge, and CLEP scores are evaluated according to university policies in place at the time of the student’s initial matriculation at Christopher Newport.

With the exception of the portfolio accompanying certain AP scores, Christopher Newport does not typically award credit based on the presentation of a student portfolio. As a rule, we do not award undergraduate credit for professional certificates, life experience or work experience.

A maximum of 66 semester hours may be transferred to Christopher Newport from a community college or two-year college. A maximum of 92 semester hours from a four-year college or university may be transferred.

Academic policy requires that 30 of the last 36 semester hours, including the last 12 credit hours within the major field, must be completed in residence at Christopher Newport.

If a student’s transcript from a previous college or university is incomplete (courses without grades or courses listed as “in progress”) at the time of the student’s first advising appointment or registration, you should bring a list of those “in progress” courses to the advising appointment. Students should avoid registering for those “in progress” courses until the entire, official academic transcript has been received and officially evaluated.

CNU degree holders must complete an additional 30 hours in residence to earn a second degree.

A minimum of 45 credit hours must be completed in residence as a degree-seeking student at Christopher Newport.

Due to accreditation requirements, there are additional conditions associated with awarding transfer credit for students with a major housed in the Luter School of Business. In order for coursework to articulate as upper-level courses counting toward any of the business majors, the student must have completed the course at a college or university accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International.

Lower-level courses with clear Christopher Newport equivalents may be evaluated by the director of transfer enrollment without prior approval from the relevant academic department chair. Lower-level course equivalencies about which the director of transfer enrollment is unsure are submitted to the relevant academic department chair for review. Upper-level courses which have not previously been evaluated are submitted to the relevant academic department chair for review.

Currently enrolled undergraduate students who wish to complete courses elsewhere and transfer credit back to Christopher Newport must obtain prior approval. In granting approval, we determine whether a course equivalent currently exists, and if so, perform a degree analysis to determine whether the course equivalent will satisfy a specific requirement for the student, whether the course duplicates credit already earned, and whether the course will count toward the student’s degree progress.

Any undergraduate student transferring to Christopher Newport must provide official academic transcripts of all previously completed collegiate coursework. Transfer admission staff use National Student Clearinghouse data to confirm that transcripts for all previous enrollments have been received. Upon receipt, we evaluate each course on the student’s official academic transcript to determine whether and how much credit will be awarded for the coursework.

Please contact the director of transfer enrollment if you have questions about transfer credit evaluations at (757) 594–7296 or transfer@cnu.edu.

We work closely with academic department chairs to determine Christopher Newport course equivalents for courses completed elsewhere. To determine course equivalents, we review course descriptions and, in some cases, syllabi along with information about the college or university typically outlined in the American Council on Education Guide. Once a course equivalent has been identified, the specifics of that course and the CNU equivalent are recorded in the transfer enrollment database. A review of courses is conducted every three years with ongoing reviews done as updates are made to CNU curricula.

Currently enrolled Christopher Newport students must seek prior approval before enrolling in any classes off campus.

Christopher Newport University has developed articulation agreements for guaranteed admission with the Virginia Community College System (VCCS). Additional information regarding guaranteed admission may be obtained from your community college representative.

Completion of a transfer-oriented (associate of arts, associate of science, or the associate of arts and sciences) degree from a Virginia community college will satisfy CNU lower-level liberal learning core requirements. This does not include other program or graduation prerequisite requirements. Christopher Newport University also requires completion of a 200-level language course or higher in a second language in order to graduate; thus, if this requirement is not fulfilled with completion of the associate’s degree it must be completed at CNU.

If you have been offered admission to CNU and have completed a university parallel program (associate of arts, associate of science, or the associate of arts and sciences) at a VCCS college or Richard Bland College (RBC), you should anticipate the following:

• Courses, with a grade of ‘C’ or better, that have a CNU equivalent will transfer
• Courses completed in the VCCS with a grade of ‘C-’ or lower will not transfer and must be repeated if it is a required course for your major at CNU
• No more than 66 semester hours will transfer to CNU from a two-year college
• To receive junior-level class standing, if you present at least 60 hours of college-level credit (not developmental or remedial course work)
• Completion of all lower-level liberal learning core requirements, excluding graduation requirements, upper-level requirements and concentration / minor / major requirements
• To complete concentration (if applicable), minor and major requirements in effect at the time of the student’s first term of enrollment at CNU
• Transfer credit is not granted for developmental work
• Transfer credit is not granted for orientation courses unless the student has earned the AS, AA or AA&S from the VCCS or RBC
• Two courses with the same principle content cannot both be counted toward the same degree

The cumulative grade point average of each student will be calculated only on work taken at Christopher Newport. Transfer credit accepted from other institutions will be used to reduce the number of credits required for graduation, but it will not enter into the calculation of the grade point average.

Entrance into Christopher Newport majors or fields of study is competitive. Acceptance to the University does not imply admission to these programs. Transfer students and currently enrolled CNU students are treated identically with regard to admission to competitive programs.

Students may request to take a course(s) at a member institution of the Virginia Tidewater Consortium (VTC). Courses taken through the VTC will be recorded with the letter grade earned and will be computed in the grade point average. Participation in the VTC requires additional paperwork and has additional requirements. No more than 11 credit hours may be completed through the Virginia Tidewater Consortium.

When a student enrolled at one VTC home institution cross-registers to a VTC host school, the credit is earned at the home institution and will be posted on the student’s transcript as a resident credit. A VTC institution will not issue a transcript to a cross-registered student whom it hosts. The grading system of the home institutions will apply to cross-registered student. Tuition will be charged by the home institution for a cross-registered course. The cross-registrant must assume all costs (e.g., transportation, books, materials, lab fees, applied music fees). A VTC cross-registration form must be complete and signed by the appropriate people at the host and home institution after approval is granted at the home institution.

Current students may also request to take a course through the Virginia Tidewater Consortium by completing the Request to Take Courses Elsewhere form available through CNU Live. If approval is granted, students will be notified of the approval via email and will need to pick up additional paperwork in the Office of the Registrar at Christopher Newport. It is the student’s responsibility to obtain the appropriate signatures by the VTC representatives at the home and host institutions.

Christopher Newport University and the following institutions are members of the VTC:

• Eastern Shore Community College
• Eastern Virginia Medical School
• Hampton University
• Joint Forces Staff College
• Norfolk State University
• Old Dominion University
• Paul D. Camp Community College
• Regent University
• Thomas Nelson Community College
• Tidewater Community College
• Virginia Wesleyan College

Through the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP), students may earn college credit for knowledge acquired outside the classroom. We process CLEP scores for individuals who are admitted or currently enrolled as degree-seeking students at Christopher Newport. Credit for qualifying CLEP scores is recorded on the student’s permanent record (transcript) as transfer credit. Prior to registering through the College Board’s testing center to take a CLEP exam, the student should thoroughly review the CNU CLEP Guide.

A list of the limited number of exams accepted for credit is included in the guide. The student must obtain prior approval to take the CLEP exam for CNU credit. The student should submit the Request to Take CLEP Exam for CNU Credit Form. After obtaining prior approval and completing the exam, the student should request for the official CLEP scores to be sent directly from the College Board to the Office of the Registrar. Only the credit and the course will appear on the student’s academic transcript.

Students with prior service in the armed forces of the United States may present the Joint Services Transcript or other official credentials for evaluation. We will use the American Council on Education (ACE) Guide to the Evaluation of Educational Experiences in the Armed Services in the review and determination of course equivalents; however, the ACE Guide recommendations will not automatically apply. Although equivalencies to Christopher Newport courses rarely exist, in cases where a comparable course does exist, credit may be awarded to the student and recorded as part of the student’s official academic record.

Students may also earn credit for coursework completed at the Community College of the Air Force. Such coursework is reviewed based on the official credential presented and credit may be awarded depending on the existence of a comparable Christopher Newport course and whether a minimum score equivalent to a grade of ‘C’ or better has been earned.

With the exception of the portfolio accompanying certain Advanced Placement scores, Christopher Newport does not typically award credit based on the presentation of a student portfolio.