Transfer Credit Evaluation

For new students, your transfer credits will be officially evaluated after you pay your admissions deposit.  You will be notified via email that your evaluation is complete and that you can now access your Degree Works.  Your Degree Works worksheet audit displays how your transfer credit was accepted by SUNY Cortland as well as how your credit fulfills degree requirements in your program.  The audit is a multi-use academic tool that you will use for advisement and to track your academic progress to graduation. 

To access your Degree Works audit:

• Login to your myRedDragon account
• For first time myRedDragon users, get your username
• Degree Works for new students can be found on the Admissions tab in the Academic Profile box

Class History and Transfer Course List

Class History will outline all your accepted transfer courses by term, including the source of the credit (transfer course and transfer college).  The Class History link can be found in the menu at the top of the worksheet.

It is important to review your transfer credit and request additional transcripts from colleges or testing sources for credit that may be missing from your Cortland record. 

Degree Works Worksheet

The header area of your Degree Works worksheet details your class year, degree, major and other academic information.  This is where you can view your total earned transfer credits and transfer degree, if earned.  Please note that your initial credit evaluation may not include your final semester of courses in this total.  Remember to send a final transcript from your previous college that reflects your final grades, and your credit evaluation will be updated. 

Your initial GPA at Cortland will be a 0.0.  While credits transfer, your GPA will be calculated based solely on grades earned in Cortland courses.

Transfer Courses on Degree Works

All accepted, earned transfer courses will appear with a grade of "T" for transfer. The transfer course information will appear below the Cortland course credit. 

If Cortland does not offer an equivalent course to the transfer course you completed, you may be awarded elective credit. It would appear with the corresponding course prefix (e.g. MAT for mathematics courses) with a course number of XX at the appropriate level (e.g. 3XX for a 300 level elective). Liberal Arts elective credit (e.g. LAS 1XX) or General Elective credit (e.g. GEN 2XX) may also be awarded.

Transfer In-Progress Courses 

At time of your initial credit evaluation, you may still be registered in courses at your other college.  We will evaluate your in-progress courses posted to the other college's transcript to give you a sense of how they will transfer to Cortland upon successful completion.  However, the courses will be listed as in-progress and count toward attempted hours, not earned credit.  You will see them on your Degree Works audit with a grade of INPROG.  It is critical that you send an official transcript at the end of your last semester when your grades are posted so that Cortland can officially award you credit.  The grade will then change from INPROG to T, indicating earned credit, and will be added to your record within our transfer credit limits.  

Transfer in-progress courses will only remain posted to your Degree Works audit through your orientation and up to the start of classes.  If an official transcript is not received by the start of the semester, the remaining INPROG courses will be removed from your record and credit will only be re-posted upon receiving the official transcript and review of final grades.  

General Education and Transfer Credit

For students transferring from another SUNY college or university, a designation such as "CGE 102 Met: prior SUNY School" may appear for a specific GE category.  This designation verifies that you completed the general education category at your previous SUNY college. The grade is "M" for "met," and it will appear with 0 credits.  The corresponding course, along with the credits earned, will appear below in the "Additional GE Coursework" area.

General Education Waiver

Beginning fall 2023, transfer students who enter SUNY Cortland with 20 or more credit hours will receive one waiver that will be applied toward meeting the Science, Technology, Values, and Society requirement. The designation “CGE 12X: Cortland GE Category 12 Waiver” will appear.  

To learn more about your Degree Works:

• Overview for Students
• Watch a brief video to understand your Degree Works