Skip to main content
  • Athabasca University
  • Admissions
  • Transfer credit
  • How AU works
    • Previous Menu
    • How AU works
    • Flexible and open
    • Credit for experience
    • First year online
    • Studying at AU
      • Previous Menu
      • Studying at AU
      • What to expect at AU
      • Student support at AU
      • Scheduling and timelines
    • Getting started
  • Programs and courses
  • Admissions
    • Previous Menu
    • Admissions
    • What's your student profile?
    • Admission requirements
    • International student guidelines
    • Transfer credit
    • Key dates and deadlines
    • Tuition, fees, and financial aid
    • How to apply and register
    • Apply now
  • Current students
    • Previous Menu
    • Current students
    • New students
    • Course offerings
    • myAU and Student Record
    • Course procedures
    • Transcripts and grades
    • Appeals
    • Current learner support
    • Help and support
    • Stores
    • Exams
    • Mental Health and Wellness
  • About AU
    • Previous Menu
    • About AU
    • At a glance
    • Senior leadership team
    • Academic faculties and centres
    • Collaboration and partnerships
      • Previous Menu
      • Collaboration and partnerships
      • Canadian Forces
    • Accreditation
      • Previous Menu
      • Accreditation
      • Student consumer information
    • Governance
    • History
    • Coat of arms
    • Media relations
    • Employee information
    • Offices
      • Previous Menu
      • Administrative offices and depts.
      • Materials Management
    • Mission and mandate
    • Make a donation

Transfer credit

Get advanced credit toward your degree

At Athabasca University, your previous education and experience count! We don’t want to teach you what you already know, so we offer the option of getting credit for your prior learning. That could mean taking fewer courses to get your degree, saving you valuable time and money.

You must be enrolled in an AU program before your transfer or advanced credit can be evaluated. However, you can start the process by requesting an evaluation right when you apply. Find out which kind of knowledge recognition applies to you below:

  • Credit for previous education
  • Credit for work & life experiences
  • Challenge for credit
  • Get credit at your school from studying at AU

Get credit for prior education

We have many options to help you get credit for your previous post-secondary experience, including individual course assessment, block transfer, post-diploma, or second degrees. First, you should check if your previous education is within the correct time limits to be considered for transfer credits. After that, our transfer credit assessment tool can show you how your previous courses might transfer even if you did not complete a diploma or degree.

Assess my transfer credits

Your courses aren't listed? Don't worry. You may still be eligible for transfer credit on an individual basis.

An evaluation of your prior post-secondary courses or programs will take place after you have applied to a program, submitted all the required documents and paid the one-time, non-refundable evaluation fee.

If you are already an active AU unclassified or visiting student and wish to become a program student and have an evaluation completed, you can do this by logging in to myAU and selecting "Change of Program." Then select your program and complete the process, indicating that you want your transfer credit evaluated. After you request the evaluation, you will need to pay a one-time, non-refundable evaluation fee and arrange to have official transcripts from each institution you formerly attended sent directly to:

Athabasca University
Enrolment Services
Office of the Registrar
1 University Drive
Athabasca, AB T9S 3A3

Current credit evaluation processing time: 4 weeks after all documents are received. However, depending on individual circumstances and capacity it can take up to 12 weeks to complete your evaluation.

You can receive credit for your post-secondary coursework even if you didn’t finish a diploma or degree. Use our Transfer Credit Assessment Tool below to understand how your previously gained knowledge could be credited to your AU program. And don’t worry if you can’t find your courses on the list: we will assess your credits individually.

Assess my transfer credits

If you already hold a post-secondary diploma or credentials related to your area of study, the ability to transfer credits toward your AU program can be a significant advantage for you. This could give you up to 3 years of credit toward your AU degree and save you time and money.

Depending on your program, you may even be eligible for block transfer credit which would award you credits for a full block of courses from your previous institution rather than on a course-by-course evaluation basis.

Assess my transfer credits

If you have an existing undergraduate degree, your previous courses can be considered for credit toward up to 50% of your AU degree requirements. All you need to do is follow the transfer credit evaluation process to be considered.

However, you can’t get a second undergraduate degree in the same field as your previous degree (or in a related field). If you already hold a BA, you may be able to get a second BA if you major in a different area. Find out more about AU’s Second Undergraduate Degree Policy.

If you have credentials from an institution outside of Canada or the United States and would like AU to consider them for transfer credit, your assessment process differs from the standard evaluation process. The assessment for foreign credentials must be done by an international assessment agency – for example, the International Qualifications Assessment Service (IQAS).

AU requires a description of coursework evaluation from IQAS. We only accept detailed course-by-course assessments accompanied by copies of all foreign transcripts used in the assessment to AU.

Learn more about foreign transcript evaluations

Get credit for work & life experience

Lessons learned outside the classroom are relevant and valued at Athabasca University. Why spend time and money to study something you already know when Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) can let you focus on new learning?

A successful PLAR assessment will award you credit toward your AU undergraduate degree or certificate. This means:

  • fewer courses to take
  • cost savings in course fees

To get the most benefit from your past experience, an assigned mentor will provide essential guidance throughout the development of your PLAR portfolio.

Do you want to know if PLAR is an option for you? Please make sure to read through the following assessment details carefully:

How does PLAR work?

Challenge a course for credit

Everyone comes to Athabasca University with different life and educational experiences. This is why many of our courses have a challenge for credit option. Challenging a course for credit allows you to skip a course by proving that you already understand the course content.

Please note: Graduate courses cannot be challenged for credit.

What courses can I challenge for credit?

Most undergraduate courses above the 100 (preparatory) level have a challenge for credit option. There are, however, some specific circumstances where you can’t challenge an undergraduate course for credit, even if that option is usually available. To find out if a particular course offers challenge for credit, please see the information box at the top of the course page.

View challenge for credit exceptions

Good to know:

  • There is a non-refundable challenge for credit fee.
  • You must get approval to challenge a course from the faculty member (or designate) who is responsible for the course.
  • Courses successfully challenged for credit will not count toward your residency requirement (the total number of AU credits that must be taken within your program).
  • You have only one opportunity to challenge a course. If you don’t complete or fail a challenge, you must register for the course and pass to get credit.

Do you have more questions about how to challenge a course? Please find more information in our Undergraduate Calendar

Submit your challenge for credit form today

Transfer AU credit to another institution

Many Canadian post-secondaries have transfer agreements with Athabasca University that grant credit for most of our courses. However, we can’t guarantee acceptance of your AU credit. The institution you’re applying to decides to accept transfer courses, and you should contact them with any questions or concerns.

Learn more about transferring AU courses

Visiting students

If you’re enrolled in a program at another university and want to take an AU course for one of your program requirements, you'll need to enrol as a non-program student. Once you become a student, you can begin registering for courses immediately.

We encourage you to get a letter of permission from your school to ensure your AU credits will transfer to your program. This is for your peace of mind only – you don’t need to send us this letter.

Once you've completed your AU course, you will also need to send an AU transcript to your school. You can do this online through myAU.

Apply as a visiting student

Get information about AU

We have information to share with you!

Updated June 07, 2023 by Digital & Web Operations (web_services@athabascau.ca)

Main Site
https://www.athabascau.ca/ 473e432d0a2a3e94614b8a687f999c3d