Academic Credit

Resident Credit

Credit earned in courses offered by Chaminade University in its undergraduate program, on campus and off campus, is considered resident credit for the purpose of meeting the residence requirement for graduation. Credit earned at the University of Dayton or St. Mary’s University as part of the exchange program shall also be accepted as Chaminade resident hours. Credit earned by examination or granted for experiential learning may not be used to fulfill this requirement. At least 30 semester hours of resident credit for the bachelor’s degree and 15 semester hours for the associate degree are required for graduation.

Transfer Credit

Credit courses earned at other colleges or universities, completed with a grade of “C-” or better (GPA of 1.7 to 4.0) (with the exception of students in the School of Nursing), may be applied toward undergraduate degrees at Chaminade University under the following provisions:

1. Up to 90 semester hours of credit may be transferred toward any baccalaureate degree. Up to 45 semester hours of credit may be transferred toward any associates degree. However, only credit necessary for the completion of the degree program, selected by the student, will be accepted for application to the degree.
2. Courses completed with a grade of “CR” or “P” are not transferable.
3. Transfer students who come to Chaminade with an associate or bachelor degree OR who have otherwise completed general education requirements from an accredited institution, that is confirmed by an active academic advisor, will receive a waiver of Chaminade General Education requirements.
4. Courses are appropriate and applicable to the program and degree sought at Chaminade.
5. Courses were not of a remedial, technical, vocation, or professional nature.
6. Credits must be completed at a regionally accredited institution.
7. Courses that were completed within 10 years prior to date of entry to Chaminade. Courses completed more than 10 years before enrollment at Chaminade may be accepted for general education requirements and electives after the student has satisfactorily completed 15 hours at Chaminade for an associate degree or 30 hours at Chaminade for a baccalaureate degree. To satisfy the general education requirements in the sciences, however, transfer credits may not in any case be more than 15 years old. Transfer credits over 10 years old intended to fulfill requirements in the pre-major/major field of concentration must be evaluated by an advisor and/or the Dean of that discipline.
8. Students applying for and/or accepted in the School of Nursing (on or after July 01, 2024), must have previously earned a B- or higher for the pre-major science and math courses ( BI-151/L, BI-152/L, BI-162/L, BI- 216, CH-254/L and MA 100/103) to satisfy the requirement. These transfer credits must also have been taken no more than 5 years prior to the student's enrollment/start term. Should a student have taken any of the pre-major science or math courses multiple times, only the first attempt will be articulated. Students whose transfer credits do not meet the above requirements will need to successfully complete the courses at Chaminade University of Honolulu.

Exceptions to the above policy may be made on a course-by-course basis.

Transfer credit is only accepted for students accepted as classified degree seeking students. Unclassified students may not receive an official evaluation or acceptance of transfer credit. Accepted transfer credits will be posted to the Chaminade transcript with a grade of “TR” to designate that the credits earned are transfer credits. Transfer credits are not used in the calculation of a student’s grade point average at Chaminade.

Credit for successful completion of college level correspondence courses from regionally accredited colleges and universities may be applied to all degrees offered at Chaminade, provided grades of “C” or better were received. Acceptance will be determined on a course-by-course basis. Applications for such credit should be made through the Records Office.

Requests regarding course waivers and/or substitutions, by applicants, with transfer courses for CUH courses, will be requested/processed upon an applicant matriculating to CUH

Transient/Concurrent Registration

Students who intend to take courses at another institution, while actively enrolled at Chaminade University, will need to meet with their faculty and/or professional advisor to complete the Concurrent Registration Request Form, prior to enrolling in the course.

Students in the School of Nursing will need to obtain approval from their Nursing faculty advisor prior to registering for the course(s). Upon appropriate approvals, CUH transfer course equivalencies will be confirmed by the Records Office. Failure to receive approvals and confirmation, prior to registering for a transfer course, does not guarantee course equivalency to CUH. Students in the School of Nursing will need to earn a B- or higher in the course. Course equivalencies can be viewed on Transferology.

Advanced Placement (AP)

Applicants who have completed advanced work in secondary schools and who have taken the Advanced Placement Tests administered by the College Entrance Examination Board and scored three or higher on the test may apply for credit by by submitting official test scores to the Records Office. A maximum of 30 semester hours or credit may be granted. AP equivalencies can be viewed on Transferology.

College-Level Examination (CLEP)

Students may also earn credit toward graduation by successfully completing examinations in the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) provided the subject matter of the examination has not been covered by a previous course. To be considered for credit, examinations must be completed with the American Council on Education (ACE) recommended score of 50 or higher, based on national norms for college sophomore taking the CLEP examinations. CLEP general examinations must be taken in the first year of study. A maximum of 30 semester hours may be granted toward any associate and/or bachelors program at Chaminade.

Credit by Examination

Any student who presents evidence that he/she possesses a thorough grasp of the content of some courses listed in this catalog may apply for credit by examination. Any credits granted will be charged regular tuition. The examination is administered by the faculty and designed to be the scholastic equivalent of the course. It is comprehensive and of longer duration than a final examination. Grading is on a pass/fail basis. Inquiries about credit by examination should be made to the Dean of the School or Division under which the respective course is held. The criteria for approving an application for credit by examination are:
1. The applicant must be a currently registered Chaminade student in good standing.
2. The student may not earn credit by examination for introductory courses when credit has already been received for an advanced course.
3. A student may attempt the examination only once.
4. Until one calendar year has passed, the student may not earn credit by examination for a course previously failed.

Military Credit

Students who are serving or who have served in the armed forces of the United States may be granted college credit for military service school training and evaluated and verified Military Occupational Specialty as recommended by the Center for Adult Learning and Education Credentials (CALEC), American Council on Education. Such credit granted must be relevant to the program of studies chosen and is limited to 30 semester hours.

Police Academy Credits

Students enrolling who are actively employed in law enforcement may receive up to 18 credit hours for their academy instruction based on an examination of the academy curriculum. The curriculum of the HPD academy is approved by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), based on national standards and in consultation with Chaminade faculty. This is not a “life experience” substitution but rather recognition that HPD has courses in their academy curriculum comparable to the following in content and hours of study. There is a time factor of 10 years. Any academy training prior to that time would be dated and unacceptable. Those students who are Honolulu Police Department, Maui Police Department, and Hawaii Police officers will receive credit for the following courses:

Four Lower Level courses
CJ 151 - Criminal Justice Systems
CJ 220 - Criminal Investigation
CJ 223 - Introduction to Law
CJ 270 - Supervision and Management

Two Upper Level courses
CJ 423 - Criminal Law
CJ 432 - Law Enforcement

Life Experiences

Credit for experiential learning through work and life experiences may be granted toward meeting requirements for all undergraduate degrees. Such learning completed since high school must be validated by documentation or examinations. These experiences must be appropriate to the degree and the student’s major program. Technical, vocational, and professional training is not usually acceptable. A student applying for life experience credit must file with the Records Office a portfolio documenting experiential learning. There must be evidence of learning. Evidence may include written or oral examinations, tapes, projects, demonstrations, and performances. Verification of employment and certificates of completion of training should be included where applicable. A personal interview and examination, written or oral, may be required, especially when life experience credit is to be applied to major requirements. In general, life experiences are equated with the learning expected from a formal course in the Chaminade General Catalog. Final approval of credit rests with the Provost. An evaluation fee is charged whether or not credit is eventually granted. Credit granted for life experiences does not become a permanent part of the student’s record until at least 24 semester hours have been earned at Chaminade University. For life experience credit to be applied to general education, pre-major, and major requirements, a validating examination, written or oral, is required. Credit for life experiences is limited to 30 semester hours.