A transfer student is someone who has started post-secondary studies at one college or university and then chooses to move to a different college or university. If you have completed secondary school and studied one or more subjects at the college or university level (whether based within the United States or not) and now want to come to SDSU, then you are a transfer student. Transfer students secondary records must be submitted and reviewed, but only be used to determine admissibility if you have earned less than 24 semester credit hours. A 2.0 GPA (on a 4.0 scale) is required to be eligible for transfer to SDSU.
SDSU welcomes international transfer students who are prepared to face the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities offered by a top-quality land-grand university. We offer an affordable education at a top-ranked research university and will work with you to transfer your previous school's credits to SDSU.
Transfer of Credit
International students transferring from a college or university within the United States:
As part of the admission process, you must request official transcripts be sent directly from your home institution to SDSU. Transcripts delivered by the applicant are not considered official. The international office will send the documents to the Records and Registration Office to be evaluated. This evaluation will determine the number of credits that will transfer to SDSU and the class standing of the incoming student.
If you would like an idea of how the courses you have taken at a U.S. College or University, please use our transfer equivalency calculator.
International students transferring from a college or university outside of the United States:
Coursework completed at post-secondary institutions outside of the U.S. must be submitted for a course-by-course evaluation. South Dakota State University considers evaluations from World Education Services (WES) to be more accurate than other evaluation services. If you would like to have an idea about how many credits may transfer BEFORE you arrive in the U.S., you must provide SDSU with a course-by-course evaluation from WES. We also recommend requesting the WES International Credential Advantage (ICAP) package, as that includes an official copy of your transcript. If you do not select that option, you must request that official post-secondary transcripts be sent to SDSU directly from your previous institution(s).
The cost of the evaluation is paid by the student. This process should be started as soon as the student receives a visa. Due to the differences in the educational systems around the world, South Dakota State University reserves the right to require you to take the necessary courses to meet the requirements of your desired program. The sooner you complete the credit evaluation process, the better we will be able to provide you with accurate, academic advising for you to fulfill your degree requirements at SDSU.