Nicholls' policies for evaluating, awarding, and accepting credit for transfer, experiential learning, advanced placement, and professional certificates are well defined and published annually in the Bulletin [1]. These policies are consistent with the University's mission as a state institution accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

The policy for transfer students from other universities or colleges is as follows:

Transfer Students

Students (in-state and out-of-state) desiring to transfer to Nicholls State University must meet the following minimum admissions criteria:

Additional Criteria

1.	Students must be eligible to return to the institution from which they are transferring.
2.	Students desiring to transfer with the minimum GPA on college level courses, but less than the minimum college level hours earned, must also meet the freshmen admissions criteria in order to be admitted as transfer students.

Nicholls State University may admit students who do not meet all stated admissions requirements in accordance with the Board of Regents Master Plan. Nicholls State University may set aside a limited number of exceptions of the entering transfer class. Admissions decisions will be made considering each applicant's potential for success and will include factors such as special talents and the University's commitment to a demographically diverse student population.

Acceptance of transfer credit is limited to academic credit earned at regionally accredited institutions in the United States or through the appropriate accrediting agency for institutions of higher education abroad. Until further notice, when a student transfers from South Louisiana Community College or Louisiana Delta Community College, the University will examine course equivalency, faculty credentials, and other appropriate indicators of competencies to determine if these courses can be accepted for transfer credit. The University reserves the right to deny credit where such indicators are not present, or to require the student to prove competency by some other means.

General education course credit earned beginning Fall 2003 at L.E. Fletcher Technical Community College will be subject to the same examination and verification used to award transfer credit from previously mentioned community college.

An applicant for admission who has been enrolled in other institutions of higher learning must have a complete and official transcript from each college or university attended, whether or not credit was earned, sent to the Office of Admissions by the registrar of the institutions previously attended.

Any student entering the University from a community or junior college or a junior division is limited in the amount of transfer credit which may be applied toward the baccalaureate degree program, and the approval of the academic dean is required.

"Pursuant to Act 383 of the 2003 Regular Session, each campus shall state, in its catalog and materials disseminated to students or prospective students as part of recruitment, admissions, orientation, and registration procedures, the existence of the Statewide Student Transfer Guide and Articulation System Matrices (Board of Regents' E-matrix). These matrices indicate transfer equivalences of courses among Louisiana's public colleges and universities and may be accessed through the Board of Regents' webpage at www.regents.state.la.us.

Students should also be informed that the listing of courses on the matrices is not all-inclusive. There are courses that articulate between campuses that are not listed on the matrices. Students should be advised to contact the institution's Transfer Student Contact listed on the website if they are unclear as to whether academic credit in general or credit toward meeting degree program requirements at other institutions is transferable."

The policy states that acceptance of transfer credit is limited to academic credit earned at regionally accredited institutions in the United States or through the appropriate accrediting agency for institutions of higher education abroad. Exceptions regarding unaccredited community colleges are also stated and the specific process defined. Nicholls adheres to the Board of Regents' Statewide Student Transfer Guide and Articulation System [2]. The appropriate academic department must approve any other courses not contained in the course equivalency tables before credit can be awarded. External credit is awarded on an individual basis and is dependent on the determination that the presented documentation is valid and relevant.

Experiential learning is not accepted, but a student, once enrolled, has the option of taking competency tests to obtain credit. The Bulletin describes procedures for students to obtain credit by petition [3], correspondence, independent study, extension work [4], advanced placement, and credit examinations [5]. In some specific disciplines, such as some of the Health Sciences programs, faculty members administer competency testing and award credit to students who exhibit evidence of knowledge and skills. Advanced standing may also be granted to credentialed and/or licensed health care professionals enrolled in the Bachelor of Science degree program in Health Sciences [6]. The Department of Nursing adheres to articulation guidelines including LPN-BSN Articulation and RN-BSN Articulation [7].

Faculty, in consultation with the department head and dean, are responsible for insuring that the acceptance of credit is consistent with the mission of the University and that this credit is for the achievement of learning outcomes at the collegiate level and is comparable to the institution's own degree programs. The University assumes responsibility for the academic quality of any course work or credit recorded on the institution's transcripts.

The Bulletin policy states that a student at the graduate level may transfer from a regionally accredited college or university a maximum of one-third of the semester hours of degree program credit, with no grade lower than B, provided that such transfer credit is applicable to the degree program [8]. Both resident and extension credits are acceptable. Transfer credits are subject to the six-year limitation for earning a graduate degree at Nicholls. The student must formally petition his/her academic dean for acceptance of transfer graduate credit. The student's academic dean makes final authorization of transferred credit. Nicholls will not accept credit earned at another institution while under academic or non-academic suspension for transfer. Each program may have transfer policies that are stricter than the University's policy. The Graduate Council oversees the policy. Neither experiential learning nor professional certification may be substituted for graduate work. Advanced placement is not used in graduate studies.