Transfer of Credits from Abroad

Credits acquired abroad will be recognized upon request. Applications for the transfer of credits must be submitted as soon as all the necessary documents are complete. Applications are accepted by the international coordinator at any time and then forwarded to the reviewers. The recognition process can take several weeks.

The following applies to the credit transfer:

• Bachelor's degree program: Credits earned in a Bachelor's or equivalent degree program will be transferred if there are no significant differences regarding the content and learning outcomes of classes in Bonn. Students can choose the credits they wish to have transferred. Credits will be transferred as “passed” without grades (PO 2016). The Bachelor's thesis will not be recognized.
• Master's degree program: Credits earned in a Master's or equivalent degree program will be transferred if there are no significant differences regarding the content and learning outcomes of classes in Bonn. Students can choose the credits they wish to have transferred. Credits will be transferred as “passed” without grades (PO 2017). The Master's thesis will not be recognized.

Recognition Rules

1. Only courses that essentially correspond to the Bonn modules in terms of scope, requirements, and content, or that do not differ significantly from them, can be recognized for  compulsory modules of the bachelor's program and for basic modules of the master's program. Courses taken abroad are recognized as an existing Bonn module.
2. Courses from a foreign university that are equivalent in content, scope, and level and fit into one of the areas of specialization or fields of study can also be recognized for the focus fields in the bachelor's program and the advanced modules in the master's program, even if there is no equivalent in the Bonn module guide.
3. This does not apply to the open electives of the bachelor's program: Here, only courses that are also available in Bonn in the open electives can be recognized (see module guide).
4. Only courses that have been completed with official examinations and documented in a transcript of records from the foreign university can be recognized. Equivalent achievements in bachelor's and master's programs are recognized with the credit points of the corresponding Bonn module.
5. In principle, all courses that are equivalent or do not differ significantly are recognized (exception: open electives, see above). If the total number of credits recognized exceeds 180 ECTS or 120 ECTS, the total number of credits earned will be scaled so that the weighting of the individual areas is maintained.
6. Submitted recognition applications cannot be changed (e.g., shortened or reallocated). The results of the recognition process are binding and cannot be influenced by the applicants. This also applies to recognition for modules other than those requested. 

 Preliminary requests

Before starting your study abroad program and before filling out the Learning Agreement, it is advisable to look into the transfer of credits/recognition of courses taken abroad. .

• To submit a prliminary request, you need detailed course descriptions showing the content, the form of examination, the literature used and the credit points awarded locally. The official course descriptions must be as up-to-date as possible; if they are not available in German or English, please include a translation and mark it as (your own) translation.
  Please also indicate to which module and in which field of study the respective course is to be credited. You can find the assignment of the modules to the individual fields of study here.
  Please upload the course descriptions as PDF documents (attention: size limit 2 MB).
  Please use only the online form for your preliminary request.