College-level Credit Policies

• PLU awards 30 semester hours of credit for completion of the IB Diploma
• These 30 credits satisfy specific General Education Requirements: Fine Arts, Literature, Philosophy (if higher level Philosophy is included in the IB Diploma), 2 Social Sciences, Natural Science/Computer Science/Mathematics, Science and Scientific Method, and Mathematical Reasoning.
• IB diploma students are not obligated to complete the Freshman Experience Program requirements, but they must complete the University Writing Requirement as outlined in the University Catalog, as well as the Gen Eds not listed above.
• Students who do not receive the full IB Diploma are granted 4 semester hours of credit for each higher-level examination with a grade of 4 or higher. Credit awarded in this manner will be matched to the appropriate Gen Ed Elements from the requirements listed above.

In order to transfer Running Start credits to PLU:

• Courses must be from an accredited Washington community college.
  • Only 100-level or above courses will transfer credit.
• Students must submit an official college transcript.
• Grades in Running Start courses must be a C- or higher.

If a student earns an AA-DTA or AS-T degree through Running Start, that student will be granted junior class standing and will be considered a first-year student with advanced standing*.

For further information, please visit our webpage for Running Start students.

• A maximum of 30 semester hours may be granted for completion of Cambridge International Examinations.
• Students must earn a passing grade (C or better) to earn credit.
• No credit will be awarded for AS-Level or O-Level exams.

• Students who have completed other college courses while in high school may be awarded credit at PLU. The courses must be listed in the official college catalog, be a part of the regular college curriculum of a regionally accredited college or university, and post a grade of a C- or higher.

• Students are permitted, within limits, to obtain credit by examination in lieu of regular enrollment in a class.
• No more than 30 hours may be counted toward graduation from the CLEP examination or any other examination.
• For information on obtaining credit by examination, see the official PLU catalog.