College Credit

Lawrence grants credit to transfer students as well as incoming first-year students who have successfully completed college-level coursework at an accredited college or university. Students also may receive credit for Advanced Placement (AP) tests, International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma or IB tests, and General Certificate of Education (GCE) Advanced Level (A Level) exams.

Credits from examinations (Advanced Placement [AP], International Baccalaureate [IB], or A-levels) may be used to fulfill diversity or competency requirements. Credits may not be used to fulfill distribution requirements. Coursework from other institutions may not be used to fulfill the writing or speaking competency requirement.

If you have completed any exams for college credit, please arrange for your test results to be sent to the Office of Admissions.

Lawrence typically awards credit for scores of 4 or 5. For more detail—way more detail—please click the link below for a PDF for more details about what sort of credit you will receive for specific scores on your exams.

AP Credit grid (July 2020).pdf

Note: Lawrence University will honor scores earned on the shortened, at-home versions described on the AP Central page of the College Board's website.

Lawrence awards credit  for International Baccalaureate (IB) examinations—with scores of 5, 6, or 7—in subject areas applicable to our liberal arts curriculum. For students who have earned an IB diploma, Lawrence offers 6 units of credit (essentially the equivalent of one full course) for each higher-level exam with scores of 5 or higher, and 3 units of credit for each standard-level exam. For students who have not earned an IB diploma, but have completed individual IB exams, Lawrence offers 6 units of credit for each higher-level examination. In either case—full diploma or individual examinations—Lawrence will award up to 48 units (approx. 8 courses, or just one short of a full year) of credit.

You'll find more information about our IB policy (including a list of the IB courses that apply to our liberal arts curriculum) in our course catalog in the section devoted to "Academic Procedures and Regulations." (It's more interesting than it sounds.)

Note: We are exploring options for students whose IB exams have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Lawrence awards credit for GCE A Level examinations only from original certificates. Upon evaluation up to 6 units are awarded for a “C” or better. Students may contact the appropriate Lawrence department for additional credit. No more than 48 units will be awarded.

If you have completed any college-level courses prior to enrolling at Lawrence, please arrange for your official college transcript(s) and course descriptions to be sent to our office as soon as possible. If the college-level course was taught in your high school and it appears on your high school transcript, we will still need to receive the official college transcript in order for our registrar to evaluate the course for credit at Lawrence.