Transfer Credit

Courses can fit into one of three categories:

• Courses that do not transfer at all
• Courses that transfer, but are not needed for your degree
• Courses that transfer and count toward your degree

If a course transfers, it can fall into one of two categories

• Courses that directly transfer to an equivalent UTPA course (and may or may not be needed for the degree)
• Courses that are not exactly equivalent, but receive generic credit (and may or may not be needed for the degree)

Evaluation Process

• When you apply to UTPA, you will be asked to have transcripts of all your previous work sent directly to UTPA
• The Registrar's Office will make an initial assessment. Courses that are identical to a UTPA course will receive a regular UTPA course number; others will receive a generic number with a zero in the second digit, for example, "ELEE 3000" or "ELEE 3001".
• You can then request the EE Department to examine all the transfer credit to see what courses can count toward the degree. We can then issue a "Course Substitution Form" which will notify the Registrar's Office of the substitutions.

Things That Don't Transfer At All

Although final decisions are made by the Registrar'a Office, you are unlikely to receive any UTPA transcript credit for the following:

• Non-college (e.g. high school) course work (but see Foreign Language below)
• Job experience
• Certificates for military training; master or journeyman electrician or technician
• Credit from vocational schools that are not accredited as a college or university

Things That Transfer and Count - General

The following will almost certainly transfer and count, if taken at an accredited institution:

• 6 hours of college-level English (composition and rhetoric)
• 3 hours of English literature
• 6 hours of US and Texas government or political science.
• 6 hours of US history
• 3 hours of Art Appreciation, Music Appreciation, or similar courses. Performance courses where you learn to play an instrument, create art work, learn to dance, etc do not count toward the EE degree.
• 12 hours of Calculus (Calculus I, Calculus II, Calculus III), but not Business Calculus.
• 3 hours of Differential Equations
• 3 hours of calculus based Probability and Statistics. Normally courses without a calculus prerequisite will not count.
• 8 hours of calculus based Physics with lab. These courses often have titles such as "University Physics" or "Physics for Science and Engineering". Normally courses without a calculus prerequisite will not count.
• 3 hours of Social Science. We prefer that students take Economics as their social science but will consider substitutions for transfer students who were required/advised to take a different social science at their prior instutition.
• 3 hours of Professional Ethics, taken from a liberal arts department. Normally courses taken from an engineering department will not count. We will consider general Ethics courses for transfer students who were required/advised to take a general Ethics at their prior instutition.
• 3 hours of Chemistry or 3 hours of Engineering Mechanics or combined Statics and Dynamics. If you took both Statics and Dynamics you will satisfy the requirement, but with extra hours.
• 3 hours of Computer Programming. The course must at least cover basic syntax, input/output, conditional statements, loops, and arrays. C++ is preferred but we will substitute courses in other high-level languages. General computer applications type courses (where students learn to use word processors, spreadsheets, or learn computer repair) will not count toward the degree.

Things That Transfer and Count - Engineering

We will attempt, wherever possible, to give you credit for all electrical engineering courses taken as part of an ABET-accredited Engineering program. (Note that Engineering Technology and Electronics Technology are not considered the same as Engineering). If you took an extra electrical engineering course that is not required at UTPA, we will generally count it as one of your technical electives.

The Introduction to Electrical Engineering course at UTPA is 1 credit hour. Some other institutions have 2 or 3 credit Intro courses; these will satisfy our requirements but you will have extra hours.

It is required that you take a substantial number of electrical engineering courses at UTPA to receive a degree from this institution. Normally at least 24 hours of ELEE courses, including Senior Design, must be taken at UTPA.

Things That Don't Count, But You May Need Anyway

Incoming engineering students are assumed to be eligible for Calculus and college level English, and exempt from UNIV 1301 Learning Frameworks, and these courses do not appear on the degree plan. However, it is very common for students to not be ready for Calculus and to need preparatory work. If your previous institution asked you to take the following courses, you probably would need them at UTPA as well.

• Math courses prior to Calculus (for example, College Algebra, Trigonometry or Pre-Calculus)
• Remedial courses in Reading or Writing
• Study skills or freshman experience courses

Engineering Technology Courses

Due to ABET accreditation requirements that distinguish Engineering from Engineering Technology, most Engineering Techology courses will not count toward the degree. The following exceptions are made:

• Regular engineering courses that are also taken by technology students.
• Challenge Tests - we cannot directly transfer technology transfer courses; however, we will allow students with appropriate preparation to take challenge exams in the following subjects:
  • Circuits I
  • Digital I
  • Microprocessors Students passing the examinations will be granted a substitution (not transfer) of their technology course for the UTPA requirement.
• Lab Waiver - we will waive the requirements for ELEE 2120 (Circuits I lab) and ELEE 2130 ( Digital I lab) for students who took a digital course with lab and a circuits course with lab as part of a technology program.

Foreign Language

Foreign Language course credit is not part of the EE degree plan; however, UTPA does require students to demonstrate foreign language proficiency. This can be accomplished through examination or high school courses; however, if you do not have these you may need to take up to 6 hours of foreign language to demonstrate proficiency.