Transfer Credit Guidelines

Students who wish to receive transfer credit for History courses taken elsewhere should adhere to the following departmental guidelines.

Students should submit all required materials through the MATES system. Please follow this link to log in: https://mates.miami.edu/

UM History will award credit for AP, IB, Dual Enrollment, and Cambridge A-levels courses based on the university’s guidelines. Please also make certain to submit your official scores for AP courses through the MATES system. For an explanation of university standards, please follow this link: https://admissions.miami.edu/undergraduate/application-process/credit-information/index.html

For all other courses, including in-person, hybrid, and online offerings, students should upload a copy of the course syllabus for the specific semester they enrolled in the class to MATES. The syllabus should provide a clear and detailed description of the assignments, especially the writing and/or research component of the class. It should also include the instructor’s full name and contact information, the course schedule, and the reading list. We will return requests that include only a short course description drawn from a college bulletin or a generic syllabus used for all sections of a given course.

To meet our standards of equivalence, a history course must include a significant writing and/or research component. This might take the form of a group project, book review, research paper, primary source analysis, or even in-depth analytical essays in bluebook examinations. Courses that include only discussion board posts or informal journal entries do not meet our standards and will not receive credit. Please also note that multiple choice, true/false, and short answer tests do not meet our standards. We will evaluate digital projects on a case-by-case basis, but in general we will accept this kind of work for lower- and intermediate-level classes provided that it requires the use of primary sources and the production of a final research product. Students are encouraged to upload a copy of their written work or research project along with the course syllabus to the MATES system to facilitate our evaluation process. PDF or Word format are both acceptable.

Students who take a history course without a clear curricular equivalent at UM will receive transfer credit under a designation such as HIS 193 or 293. Examples might include World History since 1500, A History of Babylon, or a History of Modern Ukraine. Please note that this kind of transfer credit request must also meet our minimal writing and research standards. Students will not receive credit for courses taught at a remedial level under either this rubric or the generic TRN 100T number.

Please submit your materials through MATES at least four to six weeks ahead of the next academic term. Do not wait until the week before a term to request transfer credits because this will very likely delay your registration for UM courses in Canelink.

We will send transfer credit requests back to students through the MATES system if they do not adhere to these guidelines. We will include an explanation, a list of missing materials, and a link to our departmental guidelines. If a student resubmits the same materials a second time without following our instructions, we will decline their request.

Students with questions about the transfer credit process should first consult the MATES website (https://mates.miami.edu/) or phone a MATES coordinator at (305) 284-2211. For specific questions about departmental guidelines in History, they may write during the fall 2025 term to Prof. Stephen R. Halsey at s.halsey@miami.edu or during the spring 2026 term to Prof. Michael Bernath at mbernath@miami.edu.