The Credit Evaluation Process

As a prospective or new transfer student in Pirate Nation, you may be curious how your credits are evaluated. This page explains ECU’s credit evaluation process, complete with links to assist you in learning more about your transfer credits.

First, it’s helpful to learn some new terminology. 

You will hear terms like transfer evaluation and transfer articulation used interchangeably, but it is helpful to know which is which:

  • Transfer evaluation refers to the process of the Office of the Registrar evaluating an official transcript to see what transferable credit can be awarded to a student’s account.
  • Transfer articulation refers to the process of an individual college, department, or school reviewing another institution’s course to determine if is equivalent to an ECU course.

         In other words, the Office of the Registrar performs a transfer evaluation for each student

based on the established college, department, and school transfer articulations.

 

So, how do these processes get started? What do I need to know? Keep reading below!

Step One: You submit all official transcripts to ECU.

    • Official transcripts are sent from your previous school directly to ECU in a sealed envelope, or through a secure electronic submission.
    • Transcripts that have been faxed, are marked unofficial, or come from you (instead of your school) cannot be used for credit evaluation.
    • If you are a new student (applying, admitted, or still in your first semester at ECU), you should send your official transcripts directly to Admissions, either through admissions@ecu.edu or transfer@ecu.edu or by mail to the Office of Admissions, Mail Stop 517, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858-4353.
    • If you are a current student (in your second semester or beyond), you should send your official transcripts directly to the Office of the Registrar, either through crediteval@ecu.edu or by mail to the Office of the Registrar, Mail Stop 518, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858-4353.
      • The Office of the Registrar receives daily reports from Admissions with new transcripts.

Step Two: The Office of the Registrar is notified of a new transcript for evaluation.

    • The Office of the Registrar has 2-3 staff members who work with transfer credit evaluations.
    • These staff are responsible for evaluating all of the incoming transfer credit.
    • With such a large caseload, these staff are officially given two weeks to complete your transcript evaluation.
      • They usually complete evaluations much faster, but during peak admission, advising, and/or registration times, it may take up to the full two weeks to see your credit evaluation. Please be patient; they are working as fast as possible!
    • You do not need to contact them unless you have not received your credit evaluation within the allotted two weeks.
      • If it has been over two weeks, and you do not have an official credit evaluation, you should email crediteval@ecu.edu or contact your Academic Advisor.

Step Three: The Office of the Registrar inputs your transfer credit.

    • The staff inputs your transfer credit into the system.
    • They only responsible for the input of credit; they cannot make new articulations.
    • For courses that are not already articulated, you will receive a 1XXX or 2XXX “elective” for that course.
    • To have that course be evaluated for a direct articulation, you will be required to send a course syllabus to the department to have the course reviewed for equivalency.
      • If you would like for any 1XXX or 2XXX course to be reviewed for specific credit, please work with your advisor or send your course syllabus directly to crediteval@ecu.edu.

Step Four: Your official Credit Evaluation is available to view through Pirate Port.

    • Log into PiratePort using your Pirate ID.
      • Your Pirate ID includes your last name, first initial (and additional letters if needed), and the year you were admitted to ECU.
        • Example: James Doe admitted in 2023 would be doeja23. Because “J” is a common initial, there was already a doej23, and an additional letter was added for James Doe.
      • To activate your Pirate ID, visit the ITCS website.
    • Select the “Student Self Service” tile.
    • Select “Student Profile.”
    • Select “Academic Transcript.”
    • Select “Advising” as transcript type.
      • The advising transcript will show you how your transfer credit was evaluated.
      • To see how your evaluated transfer credit applies to your major, you should view your Degree Works audit.
      • Your Academic Advisor can also review this information with you and assist in any request for reevaluation of transfer credit.

 

If you have questions about your transfer evaluation, you can email crediteval@ecu.edu, or you can speak with your Academic Advisor.