Meagan Loyd

Transferring course credit causes frustration for many students who worry time and effort will be lost. Restrictive policies for general education requirements and inconsistent rules dictate which courses will be credited.

For Sydney Patrick, transferring to the University of Oklahoma from an all-girls school wasn’t the hardest part of her transition nor was rushing a sorority as a sophomore. It was transferring her credit hours to OU.

Patrick took Women in the Law, an education course, a ceramics course, two religious studies courses, History of Fashion, a film course, a statistic course, and an additional art course. She completed 36 hours and only nine credit hours counted toward OU required courses.

According to the office of General Education, OU requires 40 credit hours of general education courses for graduation with topics that vary from symbolic and oral communication to natural science.

With a lack of general education and consistencies between courses, Patrick will graduate as a fifth-year senior.

“I understand that there has to be a set of rules and guidelines for course requirements and graduating. But, what I found interesting was that my classes were so much harder at Hollins,” Patrick said. “It just seems like OU is focused more on checking the boxes and making money than preparing students for the real world.”

Examining Transfer Credits Across the Nation General Education Requirements