Authorized External Credit Policy

Students who are enrolled at Mount Saint Vincent University and would like to take courses at other institutions for credit must obtain formal approval on an Authorized External Courses (AEC) form prior to registering at the host institution.

Download an Authorized External Course form

Authorized External Courses may be approved providing the following conditions are met:

1. Student must be registered in courses at the Mount; exceptional cases will be considered on an individual basis;
2. Student is in good academic standing and has successfully completed 3.0 units of course work at the Mount;
3. Student has not exceeded the allowable number of transfer credits of 50 percent of any undergraduate credential;
4. Course at the host institution is acceptable for transfer to the student’s academic program.

The following are conditions under which AEC requests are not normally granted:

1. Student is not registered in a diploma, certificate or degree program at the Mount;
2. Credit does not meet program and/or major requirements at the Mount;
3. Student is not in good academic standing at the Mount;
4. Student has been academically dismissed from the Mount;
5. Credit was taken at another institution without prior approval of the AEC;
6. Course is offered at the Mount during the session being requested except in the following situations:

• Schedule conflict that can not be resolved;
• Course at the Mount is full;
• Course at the Mount is not offered through Distance Learning;
• Taking the course at the Mount would cause undue hardship.

A grade of “P” (pass) will be assigned to all AEC credits, except for credits taken while in an approved formal exchange program, which may transfer in an alpha format and will be considered in the the Mount GPA based on program requirements. If the host institution’s grading scheme is in numeric format, marks will transfer in as “P”, which holds a neutral GPA value.

Note: Students wishing to drop an authorized external course (AEC) after it has been approved will need to provide a transcript or letter from the host institution as proof of having not taken the course.

Minimum the Mount Credit Requirements:
50 percent of the coursework required for any undergraduate credential at the Mount.
For more detailed information please refer to the undergraduate academic calendar.