TRANSFER CREDIT

Rice students who seek economics transfer credit for courses taken 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. 

Economics majors can apply no more than three transfer courses toward the Rice economics degree. Additional transfer courses may count toward university graduation requirements, but not economics degree 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 taken elsewhere can merit university transfer credit, but the economics department alone determines whether courses taken 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 

Students who have received a grade of at least B- in an approved introductory microeconomics course at a four-year college (not online) will be awarded ECON 211 transfer credit. (Note: for college courses taken by high school students, it must first be established that a common grading scale was employed for all students in the course presented for Economics 211 transfer credit.) 

Additionally, students who have: 

•  scored 4 or 5 on the AP microeconomics examination

or

•  earned an International Baccalaureate diploma and scored 6 or 7 on the higher-level economics examination  

or 

•  received a grade of at least B- in an introductory microeconomics course at a two-year college (not online)  

will be awarded ECON 111 transfer credit. (This credit can be applied toward the total credit hours required for graduation, but it cannot not provide Group 2 distribution credit, and it cannot be counted toward the Rice economics degree.) Students with ECON 111 credit will be permitted to take the Economics 211 qualifying examination. For those students who achieve a score of 60% or better on the qualifying exam, the ECON 111 credit will be replaced by ECON 211 credit. (This credit will provide Group 2 distribution credit, and can be counted toward the Rice economics degree.) Please note that the Economics 211 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 211 credit only by achieving a passing grade in a section of Economics 211 taught at Rice University. 

The Economics 211 qualifying examination can be scheduled through the Economics Department office in Baker Hall 255, extension 3340. For useful review material, please consult the following examinations from ECON 211 for 2007 and  2008  .

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. 

Introductory Microeconomics 

Students achieving a minimum grade of B– in an approved course will be permitted to take the Economics 211 qualifying examination. Economics 211 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 211 qualifying examination may be taken only once. Students who fail this examination will be able to earn 211 credit only by achieving a passing grade in a section of Economics 211 taught at Rice University. 

The Economics 211 qualifying examination can be scheduled through the Economics Department office in Baker Hall 255, extension 3340. For useful review material, please consult the following examinations from ECON 211 for 2007 and  2008  .

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 370 and 375). Students wishing to pursue this possibility should contact the economics department’s Director of Undergraduate Studies 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 receive such guidance, students should contact the economics department’s Director of Undergraduate Studies and 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.