TRANSFER CREDIT

Rice students who seek economics transfer credit for courses completed at other institutions should read the following outline of procedures carefully. These procedures apply to economics majors and non-majors alike. There are no exceptions to these procedures. Failure to follow these procedures can lead to denial of transfer credit. 

No more than three transfer courses can be counted for the Rice economics major. Additional transfer courses may count toward university graduation requirements, but not economics major requirements. AP credits and credits awarded to transfer students for courses taken before admission to Rice are not counted against the three allowed courses, but all students must complete more than half of their upper-level major work at Rice.

Note: the registrar determines whether courses completed elsewhere can merit university transfer credit, but the economics department alone determines whether courses completed elsewhere can merit economics transfer credit. Approval of university "TRAN" credit by the registrar indicates nothing about "ECON" transfer credit approval. The latter can be awarded only with the signature of the economics department’s Director of Undergraduate Studies. It is the policy of the registrar’s office to reject any transfer credit request lacking this signature. Transfer credit may be denied retroactively if a transfer credit request is somehow processed without the required signature.

Please note: the following rules for transfer credit depend critically on whether a candidate course was taken before or after the student's admission to Rice. 

COURSES TAKEN PRIOR TO RICE ADMISSION 

Introductory Microeconomics (ECON 201) Transfer Credit

Students matriculating in Fall 2011 or later: 

Students who have scored a 4 or 5 on the AP Microeconomics examination, earned an International Baccalaureate diploma and scored 6 or 7 on the higher-level economics examination, or received a grade of at least a B- in an approved introductory microeconomics course taken at a two- year college (not online) will be awarded ECON 111 credit.  This credit can be applied toward the total university credit hours required for graduation, but it cannot provide Group 2 distribution credit and cannot be counted towards the Rice economics major. This credit cannot be “upgraded” to ECON 201 credit.

Students who have received a grade of at least B- in an approved introductory microeconomics course taken at a four-year college (not online) and who seek ECON 201 transfer credit should contact Elizabeth Powell (eapowell@rice.edu).

Students who matriculated prior to Fall 2011:

Students holding ECON 111 credit who wish to earn ECON 201 credit via the ECON 201 qualifying examination should contact Elizabeth Powell(eapowell@rice.edu) for details. For those students who achieve a score of 60% or better on the qualifying exam, the ECON 111 credit will be replaced by ECON 201 credit. (Unlike ECON 111 credit, ECON 201 credit will provide Group 2 distribution credit, and can be counted toward the Rice economics major.) Please note that the Economics 201 qualifying examination may be taken only once. Students who fail this examination will retain their ECON 111 credit, but will be able to earn ECON 201 credit only by achieving a passing grade in a section of Economics 201 taught at Rice University. 

Students who have received a grade of at least B- in an approved introductory microeconomics course taken at a four-year college (not online) and who seek ECON 201 transfer credit should contact Elizabeth Powell (eapowell@rice.edu).

Other Courses 

Other courses presented for transfer credit will be handled on a case-by-case basis and will be considered only for course grades of B- or higher. Transfer credit decisions made by other universities will not automatically be honored and will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
 

COURSES TAKEN AFTER ADMISSION TO RICE

Please note: the following rules apply to courses taken during the summer preceding matriculation as well as courses taken after matriculation. 

Credit will be awarded only for courses approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. A minimum grade of B- will be required for any course to be considered.  Transfer credit is not awarded for online courses.

Introductory Microeconomics 

Students achieving a minimum grade of B- in an approved course will be permitted to take the Economics 201 qualifying examination. Economics 201 transfer credit will then be awarded to those students who achieve a score of 60% or better on this exam. Please note that the Economics 201 qualifying examination may be taken only once. Students who fail this examination will be able to earn 201 credit only by achieving a passing grade in a section of Economics 201 taught at Rice University. 

For details or scheduling of the Economics 201 qualifying examination please contact Elizabeth Powell (eapowell@rice.edu).

Intermediate Microeconomics and Intermediate Macroeconomics 

Generally, transfer credit will not be granted for intermediate microeconomics and intermediate macroeconomics. Occasional exceptions may be made for regular-semester courses that are demonstrably equal or superior to their Rice counterparts (Economics 301 and 303). For guidance please contact Elizabeth Powell (eapowell@rice.edu) before enrolling in an intermediate microeconomics or macroeconomics course at another institution.

Other Courses 

Other courses presented for transfer credit will be handled on a case-by-case basis and will be considered only for course grades of B- or higher. 

The economics department does not pre-approve courses for transfer credit. Official approval of transfer credit is awarded only after a review of all available completed course materials upon the student’s return to Rice. The economics department will offer guidance to students regarding the likelihood that proposed courses would merit approval. To arrange for such guidance, students should contact Elizabeth Powell (eapowell@rice.edu). Students should be prepared to submit all course information possible. Ideally, this information would include a course syllabus, sample assignments and exams, and contact information for the instructor. In some cases a course web page may suffice. 

Official transfer credit will be awarded when it is established that the course actually taken by the student is comparable in topical coverage and methodology to (i) courses currently offered by the Rice economics department or (ii) courses the Rice economics department would like to offer if sufficient resources were available. Please note the following especially: courses that focus on various aspects of some economy or some economic policy will not necessarily merit economics transfer credit. Subject matter alone is not determinative. To merit economics transfer credit, a course must be comparable to upper-level Rice economics courses in methodology and analytical rigor. If a proposed course does not meet this test, it should probably be considered for transfer credit from another department. 

A word of warning: courses that fall short of their descriptions in actual content may not be approved for transfer credit. This risk is borne by the student, but it can be minimized by timely consultation with the undergraduate studies director if a student begins to doubt that a course will meet the required standard. 

As should be evident from this outline of procedures, the economics department views the determination of transfer credit very seriously. Although we want to help students achieve the transfer credit they seek, we cannot let this desire take precedence over our responsibility to ensure the integrity and equity of our standards for each and every student.