Transfer Friendly Curriculum

The University of Southern Maine is committed to the success of our large and diverse transfer population by awarding credit for students’ prior learning while helping them successfully make the transition to our upper level Core requirements.

Questions about transfer admissions?

Contact 207-780-5670 or 1-800-800-4876 or admitusm@maine.edu.

To send your USM credits to another school, follow the instructions on the Office of Registration & Scheduling Services – Transcript Request page.

How Your Credits Will Transfer

For information about how your credits will transfer to meet USM’s Core, contact our Office of Transfer Affairs at transferaffairsusm@maine.edu.

You can also see how your credits from another school will apply to USM Core requirements via the Transfer Student Portal.

  1. Select Transfer Tools.
  2. Select ‘Course-by-Course Equivalency Chart.’
  3. Select ‘Transfer courses or test credit to the Univ. of Maine System.’
  4. Select University of Southern Maine from the menu.
  5. Click on the letter that corresponds to the first letter of the institution from which you are transferring credit (e.g., “S” for Southern Maine Community College).
  6. Find the transfer-from institution on the list and click on it.  A list will come up with  courses and their transfer equivalence to USM courses and requirements. Core equivalents are listed in the far right column.  If you click on the heading of this column the courses listed will sort by Core requirement.

Maine Community College Transfer Equivalencies

CMCC-USM Core Transfer Courses
EMCC-USM Core Transfer Courses
KVCC-USM Core Transfer Courses
NMCC-USM Core Transfer Courses
SMCC-USM Core Transfer Courses
WCCC-USM Core Transfer Courses
YCCC-USM Core Transfer Courses

Block Transfer

UMS-MCCS Block Transfer Process

To facilitate transfer from the Maine Community College System, a general education transfer block is in effect beginning fall 2016. Students complete with a grade of C minus or better a block of at least 35 credit hours of specified general education requirements at any Maine Community College and satisfy a corresponding block on any UMS Campus. For students with a verified completed general education block, USM requires no additional general education coursework, except the capstone and any specific Core courses required by the student’s major. Students seeking participation in the UMS-MCCS General Education Transfer block should complete a Verfication of Block Completion Form and submit it to the registrar at their Maine Community College.

UMS Block Transfer Process

To facilitate transfer within the University of Maine System, a general education transfer block is in effect beginning fall 2015. Students complete with a grade of C minus or better a block of at least 35 credit hours of specified general education requirements on any University of Maine System campus, and satisfy a corresponding block on any other UMS campus. Up to 10 additional credits may be required by the receiving campus. For students with a verified completed block, USM requires no additional credits, except the capstone and any specific courses required by the student’s major. Students transferring TO USM should complete the Transfer to USM General Education Block Verification Form. Students transferring FROM USM to another system campus should complete the Transfer FROM USM General Education Block Verification Form.

Core Waiver for the Associate of Arts in Liberal Studies/Liberal Arts

With the exception of the capstone, and any other particular USM Core courses specifically required by the student’s major, USM Core requirements are waived for students with a completed Associate of Arts degree in Liberal Studies/Liberal Arts from a regionally accredited community or other college. This policy does not apply to any other associate degrees. This policy is effective for students admitted spring 2015 and after or who complete their Associate of Arts degree in 2015 or after. The policy is not retroactive.

Core Waiver for Prior Bachelor’s Degree

Students who have already earned one baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution and are undertaking work for a second baccalaureate degree are not required to satisfy Core curriculum requirements. International transfer students with a prior degree whose native language is not English will be required to take ESL 100 or ENG 100 unless they have taken the equivalent of ENG 100 at a US institution.

MASS Transfer Waiver

With the exception of the Capstone, USM Core requirements are waived for students who have completed the MassTransfer Gen Ed Foundation. The waiver applies whether or not eligible students have completed an associate degree. 

Degree Completion

To support degree completion for advanced transfer and returning students, the University offers a degree completion option through our Integrative Professional Studies majors (Health Sciences IPS, Leadership and Organizational Studies IPS, Social and Behavioral Sciences IPS, Tourism and Hospitality IPS). Eligible students complete a streamlined set of Core requirements. This option is only available to transfer students with 75 or more transfer credits who matriculate into an officially designated degree completion major. Returning USM students with 75 or more previous credits are only eligible if they have not been enrolled at USM for at least two years. Continuing students are not eligible, and students matriculated in other majors that are not officially designated degree completion programs are not eligible. See Degree Completion Core Requirements for more information.