Credit by Examination

Credit by examination allows UO undergraduate students to earn course credit by successfully completing an exam instead of formally taking a class.  Course registration is not needed.  

Guidelines

  • Students seeking credit by examination must be registered for the term that the exam is given.
  • Credit by examination may be earned only for courses listed in the University of Oregon catalog.
  • Students should first contact the department or their advisor to determine if credit by examination is available.  Below is a list of courses not available for credit by examination.
  • Students must obtain faculty and department approval to schedule an exam, as well as approval of the department head or dean of school.  Please use the Credit by Examination: Department Approval web form.
  • The instructor administering the examination will use the Credit by Examination: Results web form to provide course information and examination results to the Office of the Registrar.
  • Students are billed an examination fee of $25 per credit hour. 

Successful credit by examination credit is shown as transfer credit on the UO student record and may be recorded as a pass (P) or graded (A, B, C, D) consistent with the class options listed. Credit by examination credits do not count toward graduation residency requirements or the requirement to complete 45 credits graded A, B, C, D at the University of Oregon. However, credit by examination credits do count toward the requirement to complete 168 credits graded A, B, C, D, P* from all institutions attended.

Not Available for Credit by Examination

  • Courses numbered 0-99; Field Studies (196); Workshop, Laboratory Projects, or Colloquium (198); Special Studies (199); courses numbered 200, or 399-410
  • “Activity” courses (i.e., courses in which credit is earned through participation in an activity such as PE, Dance, Military Science, etc.)
  • First-year second languages
  • 100-level mathematics courses and MATH 211, 212, 213
  • English composition courses (WR 121, 122, 123)
  • An elementary language course taught in the student’s native language
  • A course that offers a CLEP exam
  • A course that substantially duplicates credit already earned
  • A course that is more elementary in nature than credit already earned
  • A course in which the student is already enrolled for credit
  • A course in which the student has received a grade of A, B, C, D, P, P*, I, X, or Y
  • A course the student has already taken and failed an examination for

Please contact the Office of the Registrar at transfercredits@uoregon.edu if you have additional questions.