Transfer Requirements

Transfer Criteria

Students who attended a college or university after graduating from high school should apply for admission as a transfer applicant and meet the following requirements:

  • Minimum 24 hours of transferable college-level coursework (complete or in progress).
  • Minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA for all college-level coursework attempted.

Please note:

  • Meeting the minimum admission requirements does not guarantee admission nor does it guarantee admission into your academic program of interest.
  • Course work successfully completed at institutionally accredited colleges, technical institutes, or universities will be considered for transfer credit.
  • Offers of admission are extended on the basis of a competitive review process and are subject to enrollment limits.
  • Only courses taken at an institutionally accredited college or university, where a grade of C- or higher was earned, are eligible for transfer.

How Credits Transfer

We know that determining whether and how your credits will transfer is an important factor in your transfer decision. Visit the ECU Credit Connector to see how your credits may transfer to your ECU degree.

ECU Credit Connector >

The Honors College for Transfer Students

The Honors College at East Carolina University accepts 10 transfer students into the college each year as Centennial Fellows. Each transfer Honors College student will receive a scholarship valued at $1,250 per semester for five semesters, among other benefits.

If you wish to be considered for admission into the Honors College, you must first meet our minimum eligibility criteria to receive an invitation to apply:

  • Apply to ECU no later than February 14, 2025. A completed application includes transcripts from all institutions attended.
  • Meet the following minimum criteria:
    • 24 credit hours completed post-high school
    • 3.5 cumulative GPA from all institutions
    • Last institution attended must be a N.C. Community College
    • Entering in fall term as a campus-based student

Honors College for Transfer Students >

Supplemental Notices

Placement Credit

East Carolina University grants course credit for CLEP, DANTES, Advanced Placement, and International Baccalaureate exams. See the corresponding course list here.

Students with Foreign Credit

Students with foreign credit: All official documents must be in English. You must provide evaluation of official documents from an accredited agency. View the list of accredited agencies. All credits received from a foreign institution will be transferred as departmental electives unless you provide us with course descriptions. Course descriptions should be translated to English.

Graduates of Cooperative Innovative High Schools (Early College)

Beginning with the 2017 admissions cycle, graduates from North Carolina Cooperative Innovative High Schools have an important decision to make when seeking admission to East Carolina University. According to House Bill 97 Section 11.16. (a) “any student who graduated from a cooperative innovative high school program with an associate degree and who applies for admission to the constituent institution has the option of being considered for admission as a freshman or as a transfer student.” You can see if your early college qualifies by reviewing the list of Cooperative Innovative High School Programs (PDF).

If you meet the criteria listed above, please consider the following information when selecting which applicant status you would like to be evaluated for in the admissions process.

Important Note: Cooperative Innovative Graduates will still be submitting a freshman application, but will be given prompts to select how the applicant would prefer to be evaluated: Early College Option – Freshman or Early College Option – Transfer.

  • Freshman criteria includes an evaluation of all high school coursework, test scores, as well as your college coursework. We will weigh both as we make an admission decision.
  • Transfer criteria includes an evaluation of all college coursework; however, we still require applicants to submit high school transcripts and test scores.
  • Regardless of what criteria you select, you will still be bound by the freshman residency requirements as well as be required to attend all freshman orientation activities.

If you have any questions about which applicant status to select, please call our office at 252-328-6640 before submitting your application.

Professional Licensure Disclosure Statement

All ECU academic programs prepare students to sit for applicable licensure in North Carolina.  In order to comply with U.S. Department of Education regulations regarding distance education and professional licensure, ECU is required to make the following disclosure with respect to professional licensure outside the state of North Carolina.  ECU cannot confirm whether a particular program meets requirements for professional licensure outside of the State of North Carolina.  Please contact applicable licensure board(s) in any state you may want to pursue licensure prior to beginning the academic program in order to determine whether the program meets licensure requirements. It is the student’s responsibility to confirm program eligibility for licensure in any state outside North Carolina.

Important Note to Out-of-State Online Students

Admission of applicants outside the State of North Carolina to an online degree, certificate, or individual online course offered by East Carolina University is dependent on ECU’s ability to secure authorization from the applicant’s state of residence, if such authorization is required. Click here to read the full notice.