Transfer Credit

University Credit

Rules and conditions for approval of transfer credit from other academic institutions are listed in the Stanford University Bulletin under Transfer Credit Policies.

Credit for Prerequisite Requirements of Economics Courses

Economics Department course prerequisites are enforced through Axess. Students who have not taken the prerequisites or equivalent cannot enroll in these courses.

Students who have taken courses equivalent to the prerequisites, either at Stanford or at other academic institutions, may petition for prerequisite course approval.

If an equivalent prerequisite course was taken at Stanford, a Course Substitution Request form for a Stanford course must be submitted to the Director of Undergraduate Study (DUS).
If an equivalent prerequisite course was taken elsewhere, an Econ Transfer Credit Evaluation form must be submitted to the Director of Undergraduate Study.

A separate form submission must be made for each course taken.

Course Transfer Credit for Economics Degree Requirements

General Department Policy

Our Department aims to maintain the highest educational standards. Approval of Transfer Credit from other institutions may be granted only if it can be demonstrated that the course content corresponds to the Stanford course.

At least 55 of the 80 units required for the major must be taken at Stanford in California.

Specific Guidelines

The following guidelines should be consulted before you file your application for credit:

Core Courses

Transfer credit for Economics Core courses will be determined by the analytical content of the course taken elsewhere.

Credit will not be granted for non-calculus-based courses.

Elective Courses

If a student seeks transfer credit for an elective course, they must specify the Stanford course it most closely resembles. This includes using courses listed as field courses as electives.

No outside course will be approved as an elective course if there is no equivalent Stanford course.

Field Courses

All field courses must be taken at Stanford. No transfer credit for a field course will be approved.

Stanford Overseas Studies

Students intending to take Economic courses at Stanford Overseas Campuses, which are not listed in the Bulletin, can file a Transfer Credit Evaluation form for pre-approval with the Economics Department.

A transfer credit evaluation should be done prior to attending the Stanford Overseas Campus.

Most courses and tutorials are developed well in advance. A student planning to take a non-listed course at an overseas campus may obtain detailed information about the course, including a syllabus, and obtain pre-approval for that course before departing.

Information Related to Specific Courses

Transfer credit for ECON 1 is based on the appropriate Micro and Macro material covered in the course. The class must be taught in the same depth as a Stanford course.
Many institutions offer only one Micro course. One-quarter or one-semester courses are typically insufficient to cover the combined material covered in ECON 50 and ECON 51, thus transferring these courses might not be approved.
ECON 102A is taught at a higher analytical level at Stanford than either basic statistics or non-major courses taught at most other statistics departments. If you seek to replace ECON 102A with statistics courses of a more advanced analytical level, you should compare the content of their course with that of ECON 102A. Transferring these courses might not be approved.

Transfer Credit Procedure and Contact Information

Obtain University approval first

Credit for courses taken at other institutions and applied towards the Economics major must first be approved for general University credit by the Registrar's Transfer Credit Evaluation Office in the Registrar's office. Students must arrange for an official transcript to be sent from the school attended.

Students should only apply for department transfer credit approval after University approval has been granted and the course has been completed.

Department credit will be granted if the course is similar in content and depth to Stanford's class

This will be determined by reviewing a course description, syllabus, textbook, and other evidence the student can provide. For this reason, applications must include:

the syllabus of the non-Stanford course
the name of the professor who taught the course
complete information on the textbook(s) used
the Stanford course you believe it parallels

The more information you can provide on a course the better the chances of receiving credit.

Complete the Transfer Credit Evaluation Form

The completed Transfer Credit Evaluation form and required materials should be submitted to Allana Karstetter, Undergraduate SSO.

The application can be submitted at any time during the year. However, Transfer Credit forms are evaluated in the second and seventh weeks of Autumn, Winter, and Spring quarters. Please plan accordingly!