Biola University Transfer Codes

Biola University, in its mission of, “Biblically centered education, scholarship and service — equipping men and women in mind and character to impact the world for the Lord Jesus Christ,” commits to serving transfer students. To accomplish this, the University has developed coding schemes to honor transfer students' prior academic work. The sections below provide context and examples of what transfer course codes you will see throughout our systems like the Transfer Equivalency Service (TES) tool, Degree Audit, Planner, and transcript.

Some courses are evaluated as non-direct equivalent for a variety of reasons that include: (1) Biola does not offer an equivalent course, (2) not enough information in the course description to make a direct-equivalency determination, (3) difference in course leveling (i.e. lower division versus upper division), and (4) institutional policies regarding courses available to transfer for new transfer students and enrolled students.

Although these codes represent that the classes are not directly equivalent to the Biola course, the classes are treated as if they are equivalencies on Degree Audit and Prerequisite Checking because they clear enough content/learning outcomes.

L codes (beginning with an L)

These are lower division classes taken at the transfer institution that are not equivalent but meet content/learning outcomes to a Biola course. The “L” represents the level of the course at the transfer institution and to indicate it does not meet upper division course requirements here at Biola.

Example:

U codes (beginning with a U)

These are upper division classes taken at the transfer institution that are not equivalent but meet Biola course learning outcomes and course requirements (e.g. see below). The U represents the level of the course at the transfer institution. These classes will count towards upper division requirements.

Example:

These codes are for electives. They are not equivalent to a specific Biola course.

T codes (beginning with a T)

These courses are not equivalent to any Biola course (Generic codes). They will show up under General Electives on Degree Audit (e.g. PSYC T100, T200). These classes will not meet prerequisite requirements.

Example:

X codes (beginning with an X)

These courses are not equivalent to any specific Biola course, however, they are accepted to meet major or minor elective requirements. They are also accepted to meet prerequisite requirements. See below for example:

UNIV codes (subject code of UNIV) 

These courses will show up under General Electives on Degree Audit.

They are not accepted towards meeting prerequisite requirements. These represent subjects not offered at Biola.

Example:

These transfer course number codes are used for non-direct equivalent courses that fulfill (through learning outcomes and content) the requirements of Biola University’s Core/GE requirements. These courses are designated by a “C” at the beginning of the course numbers and followed by a two-character designation (e.g. PSYCH C1V; C = Core; 1V = Behavioral Science Core Requirement). These designated transfer courses are available for new students and currently enrolled students. Below are the codes you may find on the Transfer Equivalency Service (TES) tool, Degree Audit, or Planner.

These codes are specific to incoming new transfer students. As noted in the Undergraduate Transfer Policy section, if a course taken at a transferring institution meets that institution's General Education (GE) requirement the course will transfer into a comparable GE required course at Biola University. Exceptions include Bible, upper-division, ENGL 313, and major-specific requirements. These courses are designated with the subject code, “NEW” and the corresponding course number (e.g. N1A for Fine Arts requirement - see key above) to indicate the specific Biola GE requirement it fulfills. Note, courses designated with the “NEW” subject code are not available for transfer for current or previously enrolled students.

Example:

“NEW N1A” represents a course taken at another university that fulfills the Fine Arts Biola GE/Core requirement under the new student transfer policy.