Say that you have already earned units in your previous undergraduate program in your previous university/college. Will you be able to credit these courses to your Associate in Arts degree?
The answer is, it depends on the credits you have earned, and there is a process that you have to go through to find this out. This is called "Transfer of Credit" or TOC. This process is a bit time consuming (for you and for us here at the Faculty Office), but it would be worth a try to get some units credited to your AA program.
You are allowed to apply for TOC within the first 3 terms of your acceptance to the AA program. This will let us know at the outset which courses you do not need to enroll from AA anymore. Please be guided by the following UPOU policies:
- For UP transferees - Courses credited should not exceed 50% of the total number of units required for the UPOU program (for AA, this means 36 units or 12 courses).
- For non-UP transferees - The courses to be credited should have been taken within five years from the time of the application of TOC. Courses credited should not exceed 50% of the total number of units required for the UPOU program (for AA, this means 36 units or 12 courses) . The student must take and pass a validation exam for every course for which transfer of credit is being sought. The Validation Exams usually looks like a Finals Exam for the course that you wish to have credited.
- Non-academic Courses such as NSTP (of all types, such as CWTS, ROTC, or LTS) and PE courses are automatically approved for TOC. These units are not included in the 50% unit and 5-year cap.
In order to transfer units you have already earned, do follow these instructions:
NOTE: If you entered the AA program before 2018, the period for you to apply for Transfer of Credit has already lapsed (Sorry!). If you believe that you deserve special consideration, then email the program chair at aa-program-chair@upou.edu.ph with the subject line: Lapsed TOC Application. Special consideration usually only extends to crediting Non-Academic courses.
1. Ready your transcript from your previous college/university. Photocopy your transcript. Make sure the photocopy is very clear.
2. Apply for TOC using the official channels.
- For more information on how to apply for TOC, kindly refer to this link: UPOU Application for Transfer of Credits : University of the Philippines Open University
- Fill out the Application Form and send to the FED Faculty Office (fed@upou.edu.ph) and FED Faculty Secretary Support Staff (fed-fsecsupport@upou.edu.ph) along with your Transcript. At this point, it is the Faculty Office that takes care of the process.
- There is no fee for TOC.
3. The Faculty Office will route your application form through the PC, the Faculty Secretary, and the Faculty Dean. Because TOC applications need to be studied in some detail by the offices involved, this may take some time. The Faculty Office will then advise you of the courses that have been approved for Transfer of Credit or if you still need to take the Validation Exam for these courses. They will also apprise you of the schedule of Validation Exams. This should be during the Finals period of the current term or not long thereafter.
(If you are applying for credits to a number of courses, your Validation Exam schedule may be staggered, you do not have to take all the exams in one sitting.)
There is a small fee for Validation Exams.
4. Take the Validation Exams, if applicable. Wait for results. The results of the Validation Exam shall be sent to you by the Faculty Office. Credited units will automatically appear in your Student Portal records courtesy of the OUR.
We do our best to help you finish the AA Program by recognizing the effort you have previously taken to learn course content. In the case that you do not pass the Validation Exams, be assured that the UPOU AA courses will give you a fresh outlook on the course topics, and it will be very much worth your additional time and effort in re-exploring familiar ground.
Goodluck and Go for it!