Transfer Credits

Incoming Transfer Students

Incoming transfer students are eligible for up to 15 credits upon matriculation at Dartmouth, and must submit paperwork and have it approved before the end of their first term on campus. These courses include SPAN 1, 2, 3 and other upper division courses. Ideally the paperwork (syllabi, grades, course work when applicable) should be submitted to the Registrar’s Office by the end of the summer before matriculation. Once submitted, the Registrar’s Office then prepares a document that goes to the individual departments for approval. These transfer credits can be granted for equivalent courses (courses similar in content, hours etc. to Dartmouth courses), or non-equivalent courses (courses that are not quite the same as Dartmouth courses, but courses that merit a credit).

The designated person/s in the department (chair, major/minor advisor and/or the Language Program Director) will make a final decision as to which courses can be awarded transfer credit, and will send the approved and signed documents back to the Registrar’s Office as soon as they are approved. The chair signs off on all transfer credit.

Matriculated Dartmouth students

Incoming first-year and already matriculated Dartmouth students are not eligible for transfer credits for courses numbering 1, 2, or 3, which means that they cannot fulfill their language requirement with transfer credits taken before or after they matriculate. They can ask to take a qualifying exam (oral interview and written composition, or the internal placement exam with the Language Program Director or a qualified member of the department) in order to determine their language placement after taking language courses at another university or abroad, but they will not receive credit for SPAN 1, 2, or 3 taken at other institutions. The chair signs off on all transfer credit for courses above SPAN 3.

Intermediate Courses Taken Before Matriculating at Dartmouth

Paperwork (syllabi, grades, course work when applicable) should be submitted to the Registrar’s Office by the end of the first term on campus. Once submitted, the Registrar’s Office will prepare a document that goes to the Spanish and Portuguese department for approval. Transfer credits may be granted for equivalent courses (courses similar in content, hours etc. to Dartmouth courses), or non-equivalent courses (courses that are not quite the same as Dartmouth courses, but courses that merit a credit). The chair signs off on all transfer credit.

Intermediate Courses Taken Elsewhere After Matriculating

Paperwork (syllabi, course descriptions) should be submitted to the Registrar’s Office the term before the student will be off campus. Once submitted, the Registrar’s Office will prepare a document that goes to the Spanish and Portuguese department for pre-approval. Students must bring back course work (syllabi, work submitted for the courses, transcripts with grades). Transfer credits may be granted for equivalent courses (courses similar in content, hours etc. to Dartmouth courses), or non-equivalent courses (courses that are not quite the same as Dartmouth courses, but courses that merit a credit). The chair signs off on all transfer credit.

LSA Equivalent Courses and Higher-level Language Courses

Paperwork (syllabi, course descriptions) should be submitted to the Registrar’s Office the term before the student will be off campus. Once submitted, the Registrar’s Office will prepare a document that goes to the Spanish and Portuguese department for pre-approval. Students must bring back course work (syllabi, work submitted for the courses, transcripts with grades). Transfer credits may be granted for equivalent courses (courses similar in content, hours etc. to Dartmouth courses), or non-equivalent courses (courses that are not quite the same as Dartmouth courses, but courses that merit a credit). The chair signs off on all transfer credit.

Contact person at the Registrar’s Office is Bethanne Tillotson.

CASA Program Courses

Students interested in studying Spanish abroad may apply to go on our Department-based LSAs, LSA+s and FSPs and/or look into the CASA (Consortium for Advanced Studies Abroad) programs.

Currently LALACS sponsors the CASA program in Havana, Cuba.

REQUIREMENTS

The main requirement to go on this program upon acceptance is fluency in Spanish. Non-native speakers must have completed Spanish 20 or the equivalent. Heritage speakers of Spanish who are unsure of their competence in the language should contact the Minor/Major advisor.

All Spanish minors can request up to 1 (one) credit towards the minor for a course taken only in Casa de las Américas through CASA.

All Spanish majors can request up to 2 (two) credits towards the major for two courses taken in Casa de las Américas in Havana through CASA. (Note the department will only honor courses taken in Casa de las Américas, not Universidad de la Habana).

Please refer to this website to see the list of courses in Casa de las Américas that will guarantee credit in Spanish.

Upon completion of the CASA program, students can request their Spanish credit(s) by emailing our major/minor advisor with copy to the chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, indicating the following information:

  1. Name and last name of student
  2. Dartmouth ID
  3. Number of Spanish credits requested (1 for minor/ 2 for major) 
  4. Title(s) of course(s) specifying name of professor