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Credit transfer and credit for experience

At Athabasca University, your previous education counts. Recognition of prior learning could mean taking fewer courses to get your degree, saving you time and money.

You may be able to get transfer credit up to 50% or more of your Athabasca University undergraduate degree!

You must be enrolled in an AU program before your previous experiences can be evaluated. However, you can start the process by requesting an evaluation right when you apply. A one-time fee will apply. Use our Transfer Credit Assessment Tool below to understand how your knowledge could be credited to your AU program.

Assess my transfer credits

What are my transfer credit options?

Credit for previous education

We offer many choices to assist you in receiving credit for previous post-secondary courses or completed certificates, diplomas, or degrees. You may be eligible for transfer credit toward up to 50% or more of your Athabasca University undergraduate degree.

Learn more about getting credit for previous experience

Challenge for credit

If you already have knowledge on a subject and may find a course repetitive, you can take advantage of our challenge for credit option. There is a non-refundable challenge for credit fee, and you have one opportunity to challenge a course. Most undergraduate courses above the 100 (preparatory) level offer this option, while graduate courses do not.

Learn how to challenge a course

Outbound transfer credit

You can easily take our undergraduate courses to fit into a program at another institution. First, you must become a non-program (visiting) student at AU.

Please note that AU cannot advise which courses will transfer to another institution's program. The decision to accept courses for transferability solely rests with the home institution.

Learn more about transferring AU credit to another school

Foreign transcript evaluations

If you have credentials from an institution outside Canada or the United States and want Athabasca University to evaluate them for transfer credit, you must follow a slightly different assessment process.

Learn more about foreign transcript evaluations

How long will my evaluation take?

Once we have received all required documentation, there is a brief waiting period to receive the results of your transfer credit assessment. The current transfer processing time for Canadian and American credits is 4 weeks. You may register for courses while you wait for your evaluation results.

Once your evaluation is complete, we will notify you of which degree requirement credits you have been awarded and how they apply to your study program.

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