Transfer Credit FAQs

Any student who earned credits from another university or college prior to starting at Trent University can be considered a transfer student.

Log into myTrent and look for the Transfer Credits icon under Academics. You will see the credits you earned at other institutions on the left, and what they equate to at Trent on the right.   

• Applicants to Trent University who have previously attended a post-secondary institution are automatically evaluated for transfer credits – there is no extra fee or application.
• In accordance with our transfer credit policy, our Admissions team will assign any eligible credits based on an Articulation Agreement (transfer pathway), and/or review if there are matches to your credits in our Transfer Credit Database.
• Keep an eye on your Trent email and check the Transfer Credits icon in myTrent to review your transfer credits. There may be a chance to submit course syllabi to our Admissions team for further assessment. See the next question and answer below for more details.

Contact transfercredits@trentu.ca if you have questions about your transfer credit assessment.

As part of the admissions process, you may receive an email asking you to provide a course syllabus (syllabi for plural). The syllabi can be uploaded using the Transfer Credit Course Syllabi Submission form found under the Academics tab of your myTrent portal.

When Trent receives your course syllabi, they are reviewed by the relevant department for a possible Trent equivalent. The results of that evaluation are posted to your academic record. Please note that this process can take several weeks.

When your transfer credit evaluation has been completed, the "Notifications" section of your MyTrent portal will inform you of this. If you have any questions about this process or your assessment please contact transfercredits@trentu.ca.

A maximum of 10 transfer credits can be applied towards an honours degree. A maximum of 7.5 transfer credits can be applied towards a general degree. Specific degree requirements may mean that not all transfer credits awarded are applicable to a degree program. See the Transfer Credit Policy for more details. 

There are 3 types of transfer credits a student can earn.  

• Assigned credits are used when there is a Trent University equivalent.
• Unassigned Departmental Credits: An unassigned departmental credit is granted when the course materials from another university or college are comparable with the subject material in a discipline at Trent University for which there is not an equivalent course (e.g. Political Studies YR1: Unassigned)
• Unassigned General Credits are used for courses which are judged to be transferable but do not fulfill specific departmental requirements. Unassigned General Credits are expressed in terms of arts elective or science elective courses (e.g. Science YR3: Unassigned or Arts YR2: Unassigned). YR1 is equivalent to a 1000-level course. 

In many cases, Unassigned Credits can count towards elective requirements. In some cases Unassigned Department Credits can count towards program requirements. An Academic Advisor can help make sense of this.

A grade of “P” (pass) is assigned to all transfer credits. Once you start at Trent, your grade average will only be calculated from classes completed while here. 

You don’t need to do anything to activate the transfer credits. In many cases, the transfer credits can be applied to either your program or your degree requirements, or both.

Check out the next question below to see some examples of how transfer credits can count towards program or degree requirements.

In most cases, your transfer credits can be applied to program or elective requirements, or both.  

Check out the example videos below to see how transfer credits can fit into a student's program and degree requirements, and how they determine what is left to take.

Use our Searchable Pathways Tool to explore how your current or past studies align with Trent’s degree programs, or delve into our extensive college transfer agreements. Students who are part of a transfer pathway automatically have their credits assigned by our Admissions team. The student does not need to request this.

Every institution is unique and each has its own process and policy around transfer credits. If you have questions about transferring Trent credits to another institution, please contact that institution for more information.