Transfer of credit and level of placement are determined on an individual, case-by-case basis. The following are the guidelines used to determine the transfer of credits, not to exceed a total of 60 credits.

• Transfer credits are awarded based on current SVA requirements and curriculum.
• Placement is not necessarily based on the number of credits previously earned. It is not uncommon that applicants who have completed significant coursework in the liberal arts get placed in the first-year program of their department. This is due to the studio-based curriculum of our programs.
• One-for-one transfer of credit for humanities and sciences work, to a maximum of 30 credits, provided the student earned a grade of C or better.
• One-for-one transfer of credit for comparable art history work, to a maximum of 12 credits, provided the student earned a grade of C or better.
• Studio credits are awarded based upon an evaluation of the student's portfolio, in conjunction with the review of college transcripts, to a maximum of 45 credits, provided the student earned a grade of C or better. Studio credit will not be awarded without a slide portfolio on file.
• Students who have previously earned a four-year degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution of higher education will be awarded 30 credits and exemption from all humanities and sciences requirements. However, fine arts and interior design applicants will still need to complete additional humanities and sciences requirements specific to their department's curriculum.
• Applicants to the fine arts program will be required to complete Ideas in Art, if this coursework was not included in their previous degree study.
• Applicants to the cartooning and illustration programs will be required to complete Western Civilization I and II, if this coursework was not included in their previous degree of study.
• Applicants to the interior design program will have to complete Environmental Studies I and II, if this coursework was not included in their previous degree study.
• Transfer credit for coursework completed prior to enrollment at SVA, that was not reviewed or awarded at the point of admission, will not be reviewed or awarded once a student completes their first semester of study at SVA.

Note: If letter grades are not given by the institution, pass grades will be accepted.

SVA also offers select transfer applicants the opportunity to enroll in accelerated summer courses designed to advance their level of transfer placement the following fall. The program generally runs for nine consecutive weeks beginning in May or June. Applicants to the fall 2012 semester who qualify for these special summer programs will be notified at the point of admission.