Regulation on credit transfer from previous studies

I. In general

Students at the University of Iceland School of Engineering and Natural Sciences who have previously completed comparable and equivalent university courses, whether at the University of Iceland or another institution, may apply to have credits transferred to their current programme at a School of Engineering and Natural Sciences faculty.
There is a specific form to apply for credit transfer.

Applications for credit transfer are processed at three points over the calendar year.

Applications received by 10 August are generally processed by 10 September.
Applications received by 1 December are generally processed by 21 January.
Applications received by 1 April are generally processed by 10 May.

II. Applications

In order for a credit transfer application to be processed, applicants must:

State which programme they intend to complete at the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences.
State from which previously completed courses they would like to transfer credit. Include the course titles, the number of credits (ECTS) and the cycle of higher education, i.e. whether they were part of an undergraduate or graduate programme.
State which courses on their current programme they believe are equivalent to the previously completed courses, or whether they wish to have the previous courses counted as electives.
If the previous courses were completed outside the University of Iceland, applicants must submit a stamped and signed academic transcript and course descriptions from the university in question. Signed digital files should be sent to nemvon@hi.is. Evaluators may request further information if necessary.
Applicants are responsible for ensuring that all the above information is included in the application.

III. Processing of applications
The Student Services Office at the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences receives applications and sends them to be evaluated.

Each faculty is responsible for credit transfer in partnership with the School educational manager. In the case of undergraduate studies, the head of faculty/department and teaching staff in the relevant subject are responsible for evaluating applications. In the case of graduate studies, the faculty graduate study committee is responsible for evaluating applications; the committee shall consult the student's administrative supervisor.

Evaluators at each faculty shall process applications in consideration of the criteria outlined in Section IV of this regulation.

A course that was completed at the University of Iceland and is transferred will appear on the student's current academic transcript with the grade achieved. Courses transferred from other universities will appear without grades.

The Student Services Office at the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences will formally process the findings of the evaluation.

After an application has been fully processed, the student will be notified of the results at their UI email address. A copy is also sent to the head of department as well as the administrative supervisor in the case of graduate students.

Student Registration will also receive an email outlining the results of the evaluation and will be responsible for updating the student's academic transcript accordingly.

IV. Criteria for credit transfer
Courses other than recognised higher education courses will generally not be evaluated for credit at the University of Iceland.

Generally, students starting a Master's programme at the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences will only be able to have credit transferred for completed Master's courses. However, it may be possible to transfer credit from undergraduate courses that have not already been used towards a degree, within the framework set by the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences rules on Master's studies.

It is not possible to transfer credit from a thesis project.

A maximum of half the credits required to complete the student's current degree programme may be transferred.

If a student has completed an undergraduate degree at the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences and chooses to do another undergraduate degree which substantially overlaps with the first degree, a maximum of 120 credits may be transferred from the first programme to the current programme.

If a student has completed a Master's degree and chooses to do another Master's degree which substantially overlaps with the first degree, a maximum of 30 credits may be transferred from the first programme to the current programme.

Credits from a different cycle of higher education will not be transferred if they have previously been used towards a degree.

Credit will be transferred where previously completed courses are judged to be equivalent to entire and comparable courses in the current programme at the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences, even where the courses are not interchangeable in all respects.

In cases where previously completed courses differ significantly from whole and comparable courses at the School, more than one course taken together may be deemed the equivalent of one course at the School.

A previously completed course may not be evaluated for more credits than it was originally worth.

Credit will not be transferred for courses that were completed 10 or more years ago. However, it is permissible to deviate from this rule if:

A. The course was extensive and comprehensive.
B. The course material and/or subject matter has not been updated.
C. The student has significant professional experience in the field.

Approved at a meeting of the board of the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences, 7 June 2023