Students at Southwest Tennessee Community College include adults who have previous work or military experience applicable to a degree program. Therefore, Southwest Tennessee Community College offers several programs designed to give an adult student "advanced standing" in a specific associate degree program. The maximum number of alternative credits acceptable towards the student’s academic program is equivalent to two-thirds of the program credit hour requirement. The two-thirds equivalent includes credit hours accepted in transfer from other institutions of higher education (see Transfer Credit). Alternative credit programs are described below.
Students who successfully complete the Advanced Placement Examination may receive credit for required or elective courses in their programs of study in the subject areas of biology, chemistry, English, history, mathematics, and physics. No fees will be charged for awarding this credit.
Credit may be granted for any military service school or for any USAFI/DANTES Subject Standardized Test that has been satisfactorily completed and determined to have a Southwest Tennessee Community College equivalent needed in the students academic program of study.
Veterans having 12 months continuous service are exempt from taking a physical education activity course and will receive two semester hours of credit in lieu of the physical education course. To receive this credit, veterans are to contact the Veteran’s Counselor in Room B-225 at the Union Avenue Campus or the Veteran’s Counselor in the Farris Building, Room 2040, on the Macon Cove Campus.
Any student who is enrolled and in good standing may, by passing a challenge examination, earn credit for some courses offered by Southwest.
A. Some laboratory, clinical, and performance courses require long-term
evaluation of competence and cannot, therefore, be challenged for credit
by exam.
B. A student will be allowed only one attempt per course to pass a
challenge exam.
C. Challenge examinations are developed and graded by faculty assigned to
do so by the head of the department offering the course.
D. Students who pass challenge examinations receive a grade of
"ES." A student who fails the examination will receive a grade
of "EU." The course may be challenged by examination only
once.
A. A student may apply for a challenge examination at any time after he or
she has registered for the course but not later than the last official day
to drop a course.
B. A student wishing to attempt a challenge examination must:
1. Have the endorsement of his or her academic advisor and pay a $15 fee.
2. Submit to the Department Head a completed Petition for Credit by Examination form.
C. Once approved, the challenge examination
will be scheduled by the Department Head at a time mutually convenient to
the student and the department faculty.
D. Students may not accumulate through challenge examinations more than
two-thirds of the total credits required for graduation nor more than
two-thirds of the total hours required for a particular major or
concentration course.
Equivalent college credit may be awarded to a student who has earned an acceptable score on either the general or subject examinations of the College Level Examination Program (CLEP). The awarding of CLEP credit is subject to the following conditions and limitations: 1) credit awarded through CLEP examinations by other institutions must meet the minimum standards set forth for Southwest Tennessee Community College students to be acceptable for transfer, and 2) the course equivalencies, number of Semester Credit Hours awarded, and minimum scores required for each subject and general CLEP examinations can be found here.
Southwest Tennessee Community College believes that students should be able to receive credit for college-level learning that has taken place outside of college or university classrooms before students enroll in the College. The learning may have taken place on jobs or in other life situations. This credit is awarded when students explain and document in a portfolio that they have already learned in life what particular courses at the College are designed to teach. Students should contact the department chair of his or her major for the policies and procedures for experiential learning credit. Conditions and restrictions:
A student who exhibits the capability of mastering the content of a given course by self-study and who meets the normal prerequisite requirements can request independent study. The student must obtain approval of both the advisor and the department chair. Independent study is also subject to the availability of faculty. Students may not pursue courses in which they have received a grade, or earned credit in an equivalent or more advanced standing course. The independent study may be for one school calendar semester or six months. Only grades of "A," "B," "C," "F" and "W" will be assigned to independent study. The student should first contact his or her academic advisor.
Southwest is designated by the U.S. Department of Defense as a Serviceman’s Opportunity College. As such, Southwest grants bona fide military personnel academic credit for skills and knowledge acquired through nontraditional modes of learning. Such credit is always granted pursuant to the standards and criteria set forth by the American Council on Education and may be applied toward the requirements of an associate degree.
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