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:
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 creditsYour 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 UniversityEnrolment 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.
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 exceptionsGood 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 todayTransfer 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 coursesVisiting 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 studentGet information about AU
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Updated June 07, 2023 by Digital & Web Operations (web_services@athabascau.ca)