PURPOSE: To identify the means, requirements, restrictions, and processes that pertain to the awarding of advanced standing credit at Trident Technical College.

1. TYPES OF CREDIT
   
   Students may fulfill up to 75% of program requirements through advanced standing credit. Students may earn credit in any of the following ways:
   
   
   1. COLLEGE TRANSFER CREDIT.
      Students may receive credit for college-level classes in which they earned a grade of C- or higher from approved, regionally accredited post secondary institutions. TTC does not transfer credit for remedial courses. TTC considers courses with a grade of "P" (passing) for transfer credit upon receipt of official notification that a "P" grade is equivalent to a C- or higher. Students must submit official transcripts before TTC can grant credit, and TTC automatically evaluates the transcripts of all new students who have declared a major. Returning students must request transcript evaluation. Students do not earn quality points for transferred courses.
      
      
   2. ADVANCED PLACEMENT.
      Students may receive TTC credit for scores of 3, 4, or 5 on selected Advanced Placement Examinations.
      
      
   3. INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE.
      Students may receive TTC credit for scores of 4 or higher on selected International Baccalaureate Examinations.
      
      
   4. TECH PREP.
      Certain courses taken in high schools in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties may qualify for advanced standing credit. To receive credit, students must have earned a grade of 85 or higher in these courses and have enrolled at TTC in a related program of study within 15 months following high school graduation. Students must also make sure that the high school forwards the official high school transcripts attached to a Student Articulation Record form. Academic department advisors, in turn, must verify that the student has met all Tech Prep admission requirements before awarding credit. Other requirements may apply; the student should consult with the appropriate academic advisor.
      
      
   5. ACT-PEP/REGENTS COLLEGE EXAMINATIONS.
      TTC may grant credit for selected college-level examinations.
      
      
   6. CLEP.
      TTC grants credit for selected College Level Examination Program (CLEP) General and Subject Examinations. The awarding of CLEP credit at TTC is subject to the following:
      
      
      • The college grants up to 16 semester credit hours (but no more than one-fourth of total hours required to complete curriculum) of CLEP credit. TTC grants General Examination credit only in humanities, social sciences and history.
        Students must verify that the TTC Admissions and Records office has official CLEP score reports on file prior to the start of the semester during which they request to be granted CLEP credit.
        Students may retest six months after the original test date. TTC will not grant CLEP credit for a course previously attempted (including withdrawals).
        
        
   7. DANTES.
      TTC may award credit for selected college-level exams completed with satisfactory scores from the Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES). Official score reports must be on file in the Admissions and Records office prior to granting credit.
      
      
   8. MILITARY.
      TTC may award credit for selected formal military coursework and training. TTC uses the credit recommendations of the American Council on Education’s Guide for the Evaluation of Educational Experiences in the Armed Services to evaluate both military classroom and experiential training.
      
      
   9. PONSI.
      TTC awards credit for formal business and industry training based on recommendations contained in the National Guide to Educational Credit for Training Programs. The American Council on Education’s Program on Noncollegiate Sponsored Instruction (ACE/PONSI) produces this guide. Applications for advanced credits are available in the Admissions and Records Office.
      
      
   10. EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING.
       Refer to TTC Procedure 16-1-9, "Credit Through Experiential Learning."
       
       
2. ACCREDITATION
   
   TTC is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (1866 Southern Lane, Decatur Georgia 30033-4097: Telephone number 404-679-4501) to award degrees, diplomas and certificates. TTC recognizes coursework completed from an approved, regionally accredited post secondary institution recognized by the United States Department of Education. The Vice President for Academic Services will make any exception to this guideline on a case-to-case basis.
   
   TTC recognizes the following accrediting bodies for transfer:
   
   EH:
   New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Commission on Institutions of Higher Education
   
   EV:
   New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Commission on Vocation, Technical and Career Institutions
   
   M:
   Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, Commission on Higher Education
   
   NH:
   North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Institutions of Higher Education
   
   NW:
   Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, Commission on Colleges
   
   SC:
   Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
   
   WC:
   Western Association of Schools and Colleges, Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities
   
   WJ:
   Western Association of Schools and Colleges, Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges
   
   ACE:
   American Council on Education, Guide for Educational Experience for Service Schools
   
   ACE/PONSI:
   American Council on Education’s Program on Noncollegiate Sponsored Instruction
   
3. REQUIRED ADMISSIONS DOCUMENTS
   
   
   1. TTC Admissions Application must be on file.
      
      
   2. Students must submit official college transcripts from each college attended.
      
      
   3. Active duty military or veterans must submit official copies of DD295, Naval Service Record page 4, and/or DD214, Community College of the Air Force transcript, or an Army/American Council of Education Registry Transcript.
      
      
   4. Official score reports for Advanced Placement, CLEP, ACT PEP/REGENTS, DANTES, and IB examinations (if applicable).
      
4. ADVANCED STANDING PROCESS
   
   College Transfer
   
   
   1. Upon receipt of official documentation, the Advanced Standing Coordinator will automatically award transfer credits listed in TTC’s transfer equivalency database. If a student has taken a course at an approved external college but that course is not in the database, the Transfer Coordinator enters that course on the Student Information System’s transfer credit maintenance screen as "PENDING," which means that the course is awaiting review. The Advanced Standing Coordinator then forwards the appropriate documentation to the academic evaluator, who, in turn, decides whether or not TTC will award credit. TTC may award both equivalent and non-equivalent course credits.
      
      
   2. Military/PONSI
      Upon receipt of the military documentation listed in section III-C, above, the Advanced Standing Coordinator enters appropriate documents on screen 141 under numerical code (000001) and then sends the documents to TTC’s military advisor for evaluation and recommendations. The military advisor, in turn, forwards the documentation and recommendations to the appropriate faculty member, who determines whether or not to award credit. The faculty member then returns all paperwork to the military advisor, who records the results of the evaluations and then forwards all documentation to the Advanced Standing Coordinator.
      
      
   3. Other Credit
      For AP, CLEP, ACT-PEP/REGENTS, DANTES and IB examinations, the Advanced Standing Coordinator automatically awards credit upon receipt of qualifying score reports.
      
      For TECH PREP credit, the advanced standing coordinator awards credit upon receiving from the division dean a completed Advanced Standing form with appropriate documentation. (The Articulation Manual for Technical Advanced Placement outlines detailed TECH PREP procedures.)
      
      
   4. Appeals
      A student may request a re-evaluation of transfer credit not awarded by submitting a course syllabus and/or other pertinent documentation to the appropriate academic department head, whose decision is final.
      
      
   5. Notification
      The Admissions and Records office will notify students by mail, in a timely manner, of their advanced standing requests.
      
5. GRADING
   
   TTC does not compute transfer hours or grades in the student’s grade point average (GPA). Therefore, the college accepts all transfer students in good standing, without regard to records of disciplinary or academic standing at the previous institution(s). TTC transcripts will show the transfer credit awarded.
   
   
6. LIMITATIONS
   
   TTC requires that all transfer students meet the following graduation residency standards:
   
   
   1. The student must complete a minimum of 25 percent of the total hours required by the program at TTC.
      
      
   2. Students pursuing a diploma or an associate degree through either the SOCNAV Program or the Home Program must comply with the terms of those contracts.