Credit Evaluations are performed by reviewing course descriptions at the institution where the course was completed and comparing them to the UW-Madison curriculum.
Elective credits are awarded when UW-Madison does not offer a similar course. Elective credits can satisfy breadth, level and degree requirements.
If you believe one of your transfer courses warrants a syllabus review, you may submit this request for it to be re-considered. The syllabus you provide will be reviewed, along with the course catalog information of the course at the transfer institution. This information will be compared to learning outcomes and content of UW-Madison courses, and to its criteria for course designations (i.e. General Education or breadth area), to determine whether a change should be made to the credit posted.
We strongly encourage you to have a conversation with your Academic Advisor before submitting the form to discuss how the reevaluation might impact your academic plan.
Please note that it can take up to 4 to 6 weeks to receive a decision on your request from the time the request was submitted and reevaluation decisions are final. If you would like multiple courses reevaluated you must fill out the form for each individual course.
Form instructions:
- If you encounter the error screen “Thank you for your interest in this survey. Unfortunately, you are not authorized to access this survey.” please refer to the following information regarding browser compatibility. Additionally, you may need to clear out your browser cookies/data cache before trying to access the form again.
- Your Campus ID is the 10-digit number beginning with “90…”
- You must submit a university/college level syllabus. The syllabus cannot be from an AP course, College in the High School, Advanced College Program, or similar, that is specifically for high school students.
- You must provide a detailed syllabus in one PDF format. Syllabus should include a list of topics covered, required textbooks, and an assignment calendar.
- If the original syllabus is not in English, please provide the original language and an English translation in the same document. (small PDF can help with merging documents)
- All student-submitted syllabi are subject to verification by the external institution, must represent the actual coursework and learning outcomes completed at the external institution and may not be modified, altered or revised by the student. Students who submit course syllabi that are forged or falsified may be investigated for and subject to sanctions under UW-Madison’s Academic Misconduct policy.
- The request must be submitted within 1 week from the time you begin the form or it will be deleted from the system and you will need to start over
- If you are submitting a request for multiple incoming courses to be equivalent to a single UW-Madison course, please submit requests for each original course and include information in the Additional Information field regarding your request.
If you started a request within the past 7 days, please use this link to complete the request. The request must be submitted within 1 week from the time you begin the form or it will be deleted. Any new requests will need to be submitted using the Complete the form button located above.
Please direct questions to crediteval@registrar.wisc.edu and include your Campus ID number and the date your submitted your request in question.
Syllabus Requirements:
- Must be from the term the course was taken.
- Must be College/University level – not a high school dual enrollment syllabus.
- Should include learning outcomes, list of weekly topics, required textbooks, and an assignment calendars.
- Syllabi from international institutions must be in the original language and must be accompanied by an English translation that is literal, complete, word-for-word, and in the same format as the original.
- Examples of acceptable and unacceptable syllabi:
FAQs
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I already submitted my course for re-evaluation, and I didn't like the result. Can I submit it again to a different department?
No, when you submit a re-evaluation request, the syllabus is forwarded to the appropriate department(s), and faculty review the syllabus to determine if the class has a direct equivalent at UW-Madison. If they determine the syllabus should be reviewed by a different department, it will be forwarded to the appropriate department. Further, faculty will make its determination of how a course should transfer for *any* student who transfers it, based on the information in the syllabus and any additional information provided with your request—not based on what you request or “need.”
I don't have a syllabus. Can I still submit a re-evaluation form?
No. If you are not able to get a syllabus for a class, it is unlikely your reevaluation request will be approved because faculty will have no new information to support a change.
I submitted my form and the only course description I have. I got an email from CES asking for a more detailed syllabus. What happens if I can't get a detailed course syllabus?
Incomplete syllabi do not provide enough information to result in a positive re-evaluation. The more information the faculty have when reviewing syllabi, the likelier it is you will receive a positive outcome. If we have requested a more detailed syllabus and you do not submit it, no change will be made to your transfer credit evaluation on the basis of that request.
All my transfer courses came back as electives, so they don't count for anything. Do I need to submit a form for every course?
First, electives can satisfy many degree requirements. Before you submit a re-evaluation request, please speak with your academic advisor about if the currently-transferred electives satisfy degree requirements. Second, you must submit a separate form for each course that needs to be re-evaluated. However, please do not submit re-evaluations for every course that transfers in as an elective. For example, unless you are an Art History major, 3 credits of ART HIST X16 electives are as helpful as a direct equivalent to ART HIST 355. In this case, there is no need to submit a re-evaluation of the Art History course. Finally, please note that if you submit unnecessary re-evaluations, they will likely slow down the results of your necessary re-evaluations. Therefore, it is prudent to submit re-evaluation requests only if/when your academic advisor suggests re-evaluation of a course may help satisfy a degree or major requirement that the currently-transferred elective doesn’t.