How does UMass Amherst transfer credits from other colleges?

UMass Amherst reviews transfer credit course by course, and the credit usually has to come from a regionally accredited college or university with a grade of C or better to transfer.

Courses are most likely to count cleanly if they are academic, college-level classes in subjects UMass regularly teaches, such as English composition, calculus, biology, history, psychology, or economics. Developmental, remedial, vocational, and some highly specialized technical courses usually do not transfer. Even when credit transfers, it may not automatically satisfy a major requirement unless the department accepts it for that purpose.

UMass often uses existing equivalency databases and then departmental review when a course is unclear or has not been evaluated before. That means the title alone is not enough; they may look at the syllabus, course description, credits, and level of the course. Quarter-system classes are typically converted to semester credits, so the number of credits awarded may not match exactly what you earned at the original school.

For planning purposes, think about transfer credit in three buckets: direct course equivalencies, general education credit, and free electives. Direct equivalents help most with majors, Gen Ed credit helps with university requirements, and elective credit still counts toward total graduation credits even if it does not fill a specific category. The most useful courses to keep documentation for are lab sciences, math, writing, foreign language, and core introductory courses that commonly appear in UMass degree plans.