Northwest accepts transfer credit from accredited colleges and universities.  The process is simple:

• Students should have an official transcript sent from their previous college or university to Northwest. The transcript must be official, and that means it must come directly from the previous school to NWC.
• The Registrar's office will evaluate the transcript and determine how courses being transferred in match up with NWC courses. This is important for determining how these courses meet NWC's general education requirements.
• Grades do not transfer in-only the courses and credits.
• Transferring in concurrent enrollment credits earned from colleges other than Northwest also follows this procedure.

Once the transcripts arrive at Northwest, they are evaluated.  Courses in which a student has earned a D- or higher will transfer in, provided the student has a cumulative GPA over 2.0.  If the student's cumulative GPA is lower than a 2.0, only those courses with a C- or higher will be transferred in.

Additionally, Northwest only transfers in those courses which will help a student meet the requirements of the degree the student is seeking.  For example, Northwest does not transfer in welding courses for a student seeking a nursing degree.  There are a number of technical reasons relating to financial aid eligibility for this, and we recommend students who have questions about course transfer visit with someone in the Registrar's office.

Most students think of transferring credits in at the start of their NWC careers, but courses may also be transferred back to NWC after a student has left.  While this may sound strange, it serves a very useful purpose.  The second All Graduation Requirement specifies a student must "Take 15 of the last 30 credits to be applied toward the degree from Northwest."

First, some background: The College has this rule to insure that someone who has a degree from NWC has taken at least a semester's worth of classes from Northwest. It's designed to prevent a situation where someone transfers in 63 credits, takes one credit from Northwest, and receives an NWC degree.

However, more often than not, a different situation occurs. A student has taken most of his or her coursework at Northwest and then comes up three or six credits short for graduation. It may be a real hardship to stay at Northwest for an extra semester just to earn a couple of credits.

In situations like this, up to 15 credits earned at another institution may be transferred back to Northwest, provided the credits are earned in the semester following the student's departure from Northwest. This allows a student to officially graduate from the college. Note: this works best if a student has already taken a Capstone course from Northwest.  Capstone courses need to be taken at Northwest.