Petition to Enroll at Another Institution (PEAI) Frequently Asked Questions

The Office of the Registrar will evaluate your courses to fulfill both core requirements and elective credit. Your Major or Minor Department Chair will decide whether the courses you plan to take will count towards your Major or Minor requirements. You will ultimately need the approval from your Major Department Chair and your Academic Dean to transfer any courses back to USF. Please be mindful of the university policy.

The minimum credit requirement to fulfill core is 2.5 credits.

You can only take pass/fail options for elective credits. All core, major, minor credit must be taken for letter grades.

Examples of remedial courses: Developmental Reading/Writing, Basic Grammar skills, Arithmetic, Plane Geometry, Beginning/Intermediate Algebra

Examples Vocational Skills: Typing/Keyboarding, Welding, Woodworking, Automotive Technology, Filing, Shorthand, Dictation/Transcription – only transferable if on the assist.org web-page – come in as elective credit.

No matter their source, level, or designation. no credit will transfer for remedial math or English (e.g. no English below English 1A or its equivalent, no math below College Algebra). Additionally, credit will not be granted for English writing courses taken at an institution located in a primarily non-English speaking country.

Sponsored Study Abroad Programs: Your grades will be calculated into your USF GPA and those credits will apply towards the minimum 60 credits (graded A through F, not including Pass/Fail or Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory coursework) needed to be completed at USF in order to be eligible for University Honors.

External Study Abroad Programs: Your grades will not be calculated into your USF GPA, nor will the earned credits be applied towards the minimum 60 applicable credits needed to be eligible for University Honors. 

Please see the complete University Honors Policy.

You will need to submit your PEAI form to the Office of the Registrar for evaluation, including course descriptions/syllabi for the desired course/s. You will then need signatures of approval from both your Major Department Chair and Academic Dean before taking the course/s. Please be mindful of the university policy.

The University of San Francisco evaluates and transfers credit from post-secondary institutions in the United States that are accredited, or candidates of accreditation, by the regional accrediting associations.

If you are approved to take courses for a specific semester and you do not end up taking the classes you will need to fill out a new PEAI form for that new semester go through of the process of receiving all approvals.

Quarter credit is translated into semester credit by multiplying the amount of the quarter credit by .67.

• 1 quarter credit = .67 semester credit
• 2 quarter credits = 1.34 semester credits
• 3 quarter credits = 2.01 semester credits
• 4 quarter credits = 2.68 semester credits

Grades below a D will not transfer back to USF.

Online course will not be approved to fulfill the Language requirement, Public Speaking (Core-A1) or the Applied or Laboratory Science (Core-B2) requirement.

The PEAI form will go to the Center for Global Education (CGE) first for their signature of approval, please including course descriptions/syllabi for the desired course/s. Course descriptions or syllabi must be translated in English. Then your PEAI form will go to the Office of the Registrar for evaluation, then your PEAI form will go to your Major Department Chair and Academic Dean for their signature of approval.  You must have all approvals before taking the course/s.

Sponsored Study Abroad Programs: Your grades will be calculated into your USF GPA and will show up on your USF Transcript.

External Study Abroad Programs: Your grades will not be calculated into your USF GPA, but will transfer back to count for your Major, Minor, Core, and elective credit which you have been approved for. Credit will not be given to courses with grades below a D.

You will need to fill out a new PEAI form when you return. You will need the form evaluated and receive all approvals before the courses can be added to your record. If you have questions whether a course is transferable or will count towards core you can contact us at: transfercredit@usfca.edu.

All courses will be entered as elective or to fulfill core (if approved). Major and minor credit is applied to your record by your major/minor department. You will to contact them in order to have the courses applied to your major or minor. Your major/minor department will submit substitutions for the courses.

USF transfers in the credits/grades as they appear on the official transcript received from the Host Institution. If there are any discrepancies, it is your responsibility to resolve the issues with the host institution directly. If you resolve these issues, the Registrar Office will need to receive an updated official transcript before we can update your academic record.