Transfer Credit and Laddered Credit

Transfer Credit

1. Graduate students who have earned credits outside their current master's program (e.g., from a different university, in a different UBC master's program, as an undergraduate, or as an unclassified or Access Studies student) may transfer up to 12 credits or up to 40% of the total number of credits needed for completion of their current program (whichever is more), provided that:
   1. the courses were not used to satisfy the requirements of another credential;
   2. the courses were not used as a basis for admission to the graduate degree program;
   3. at least a B standing (UBC 74%) was obtained in courses considered for transfer;
   4. the courses considered for transfer credit have been taken within five years of commencement of the current degree program.
2. The 12-credit (40%) transfer credit restriction applies to students in UBC-approved Exchange Agreements established by the UBC Go Global Office.
3. Requests for transfer credit must be accompanied by a memorandum from the home graduate program addressed to the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. The memorandum must provide an academic justification for allowing the transfer credit on a course by course basis.

Laddered Credit

1. In cases where UBC graduate certificate programs or graduate diploma programs have been approved to ladder into a specifically affiliated UBC master's degree, courses taken to satisfy the requirements of a UBC graduate certificate or graduate diploma may, with program approval, be applied as “laddered credits” to the affiliated master's program, even if the certificate or diploma has been or will be awarded, provided that:
   1. The graduate certificate or diploma admission criteria are the same as the master's degree admission criteria. Note that students in a graduate certificate or diploma program will need to apply and be accepted to the master's program.
   2. The graduate certificate or diploma offers the same courses that comprise part of the master's course requirements.
   3. The passing grade for the graduate certificate or diploma program is the same as for the master's program.
   4. The laddered credits are from courses approved by the UBC Senate and have been taken within five years of commencement of the master’s program.
2. Laddered credits do not count towards the 12 credit (40%) transfer credit restriction. However, a combination of laddered and transferred credits may comprise no more than 27 (for a 30-credit program¹) or 90% of the total credits required for the master's degree, and transfer credits may not exceed 12 (40%).

¹ No more than 6 credits at the undergraduate level (300-400 level) may apply to the requirements of a master’s program. See Program of Study.