Advanced Standing

Advanced standing for a course already successfully completed elsewhere may be granted on an individual basis to students as either 1) transfer credits, 2) credit by exam, or 3) course exemption. No more than nine (9) credits of coursework will be accepted for Advanced Standing during a student’s tenure at Columbia University School of Nursing. Only courses taken before enrolling at Columbia Nursing will be considered. Course exemption, not transfer credit, may be granted for coursework which has been applied to an earlier degree but is deemed similar to Columbia University School of Nursing course requirements. Advanced Standing requests should be submitted to the Office of Academic Affairs. Contact the Office of Academic Affairs for information.

In order for course(s) taken at another school to be considered for either transfer credit or course exemption, the syllabus for such course, an official transcript with course grade, and a written request must be submitted to the Office of Academic Affairs. The Vice Dean of Academics will review the materials and forward eligible requests to the faculty responsible for the course. Advanced standing is granted at the discretion of the faculty. Requests must be submitted, reviewed, and approved before the end of the add/drop period in order to be eligible for review. 

1) Transfer Credits

• are based on documentation of comparable graduate or doctoral level coursework at an accredited college or university
• are applicable for a course completed within the last five years
• are not applicable for a course taken at another school while enrolled in Columbia Nursing
• are not applicable for a course which has been applied to an earlier degree
• require a grade of B or better in the course
• will not exceed the number of credits for the course offered at Columbia Nursing
• will not exceed the number of credits granted by the outside school
• carry no fee for processing

2) Credit by Exam

• is available for some didactic courses
• is obtained by passing an exam given by Columbia Nursing
• carries a fee of $160 per credit, required at the time of request
• is dependent upon successful completion of the exam with a grade of B or better
• is available at the discretion of the course instructor

3) Course Exemption

• is based on documentation of comparable graduate or doctoral level coursework at an accredited college or university
• is applicable for courses subsumed in an earlier degree
• is applicable for a course completed within the last five years
• requires a grade of B or better in the course
• bears no credit
• exempts the student from the course
• requires that the student take credits equal to the credits of the exempted course
• carry no fee for processing

Exceptions to the above are as follows:

PhD students: coursework taken outside of Columbia University, while enrolled as a student at the School, will be accepted as transfer credit if it is essential to the student’s area of study and similar coursework is not offered within the University.