Transfer Credit

Background

In keeping with the policy on transfer credit, the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC) welcomes credit transfer from other post-secondary institutions and other organizations where course or program equivalencies have been established.

Responsibility                  

Transfer credit requests are submitted and processed through the Registrar’s office, working in conjunction with the program area.

Procedures

• Students applying for transcript assessment are required to complete and submit the Request for Transfer Credit form and arrange for the submission of supporting documents (official transcripts).
• Completed Request for Transfer Credit forms may be submitted to JIBC electronically, by mail, or by fax. Forms are available on the JIBC website and from Student Services.
• If application for transcript assessment is being made for courses taken outside BC, a course syllabus or calendar description from the institution may be required. Course syllabuses or calendar descriptions in a language other than English or French must be translated to English at the student’s expense.
• Students submitting documents from institutions outside Canada may be required to have their documents evaluated by an accredited international credential evaluation service such as www.bcit.ca/ices.
• Assessment of transcripts does not commence until application is complete.
• Students accepted into JIBC programs are required to meet the residency requirement as per Policy 3306, Program Completion and Credentials.

Types of Transfer

Transfer credit can be recognized in several different ways, as follows:

• Direct assigned credit (for courses that are deemed equivalent to JIBC course).
• Unassigned credit (for courses that are related in content to curriculum taught within the discipline but for which there is no equivalent JIBC course).
• Block transfer credit for credentials for program-specific clusters of courses*. (Credit granted may be different from the amount of credit available on a course-by-course basis).

Note: *Students receiving block-transfer may still be required to complete additional bridging courses to satisfy lower level degree requirements or to satisfy prerequisites for upper level course requirements or to satisfy a residency requirement.

Limitations

• This procedure applies only to credit transferred from public institutions.  Credit transferred from private learning institutions will be dealt with on an institution-to-institution basis.
• JIBC will not grant more credit than what is earned at the home institution.
• JIBC will not grant credit to any course that is offered on a non-credit basis at the home institution.
• Students who wish to "ladder" a certificate or diploma into a 3- or 4-year degree program will be eligible to transfer credit but must also satisfy JIBC residency requirements for all credentials.
• Courses or credentials that were taken more than 10 years ago are not eligible for transfer credit. They may be eligible for prior learning assessment and recognition. 
• No credit will be granted for courses completed at the secondary school level (the equivalent in British Columbia is considered to be the first 12 years of formal education beyond kindergarten). This includes overseas secondary school equivalents such as the UK system of "A", "O" and "AS" levels. Relevant Advanced Placement (AP) courses may be accepted.
• Credit for individual student assessments will be evaluated from source documents only (i.e., official transcripts sent directly from the issuing institution). JIBC will not transfer credit that appears as transferred credit from another institution.
• Students who present transcripts from outside of Canada or the USA must have their transcripts evaluated by the International Credential Evaluation Service (ICES) or other approved credential evaluation service (students must request a detailed/comprehensive assessment). A copy of the original transcript (photocopy is acceptable) must also be provided to JIBC.
• In order for a course to be eligible for consideration of transfer credit the student must have passed and gained credit at the home institution. Note, some programs require more than a minimum grade for the course to be used toward a JIBC credential.
• No ENGL credit will be granted for those students who have studied the English language in a country where English is not the official language. This would be considered English as a second language (ESL) study. Credit is possible where the studies are of English literature or are clearly not ESL study.

Related Policies and Procedures

• 3202 Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition Policy
• 3212 Transfer Credit Policy
• 3306 Program Completion and Credentials Policy

Documents and Forms

• Request for Transfer Credit Form