How many credits will transfer to an online college? (2026)
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- Published caps run from 87 to 113 credits where a school names one number
- What you must take at the school sets how far the cap goes
- Credits from a two-year college can hit a lower cap
- Your evaluation decides, course by course
- 100 credits can leave 20 to 70 to take, by our calculator’s math
- Military credit follows ACE’s recommendations, and each school decides
- Get your evaluation in writing before you enroll
- Frequently asked questions
- Your next step: turn your credits into a finish date
Where the online schools we profile name one overall cap in semester credits, a bachelor’s takes at most 87 to 113 transfer credits in 2026, and each school’s evaluation of your transcripts decides how many of yours count. A cap is the most a school will apply, not a promise.
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Enter the credits you have, the hours a week you can give and fall-and-spring or year-round. See your finish month, and how much later it lands if a school takes only half. About a minute, no sign-up.
Estimate my finish dateThe rest you take at the school. SNHU and Franklin require 30 credits there; APUS and Columbia Southern require 25% of the degree. Source · SNHU Source · Franklin Source · APUS Source · CSU
If you’re paying with your own hard-earned money this time, every course you have to repeat is money spent twice. You avoid that by knowing the cap, the residency rule and your own evaluation before you enroll.
StudentAid.gov puts the general rule this way: “Many colleges have limits on the number of credits that you can transfer from another college (usually about two years’ worth of credit).” Source · StudentAid.gov
By our count, nine of the twelve schools below publish a bachelor’s cap of 87 credits or more, or 75% of the degree; ASU caps only two-year credit, Columbia Southern states no overall cap, only its 25% minimum, and WGU publishes no number.
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Published caps run from 87 to 113 credits where a school names one number
These are each school’s own published rules for a bachelor’s degree, read on October 26, 2026. Purdue Global sets a percentage, Capella counts quarter credits, ASU caps only two-year credit, Columbia Southern states no overall cap, only a 25% minimum, and WGU publishes no number.
Programs within a school can set lower limits, and none of these is a count for you. Our college planning guides cover the rest of going back, from old credits to held transcripts.
| School | Most it applies to a bachelor's | What you take there |
|---|---|---|
| American Public University System | Up to 90 credits; only 60 of them can be non-traditional (exams, training, military occupations) | At least 25% of the degree |
| Arizona State University | No limit from four-year schools; up to 64 lower-division credits from a two-year college | At least 30 credits at ASU, and 45 upper-division credits in the 120 |
| Capella University | Up to 135 of the 180 quarter credits | The other 45 quarter credits (our math) |
| Columbia Southern University | No overall cap stated; experiential-learning credit up to 25% of the degree | At least 25% of the degree, including the capstone |
| Excelsior University | Up to 113 of 120 credits in the BS in Liberal Arts | The rest of the 120 at Excelsior; limits differ by program |
| Franklin University | Up to 94 semester hours | 30 semester hours at Franklin |
| Liberty University | Up to 90 hours | 25% of the degree and 25% of the major |
| Purdue Global | Up to 75% of an undergraduate degree | The other 25% (our math) |
| Southern New Hampshire University | Up to 90 of 120 credits | 30 credits, four classes (12 credits) of them in your major |
| University of Maryland Global Campus | Up to 90 credits, with no more than 70 from a two-year college | The rest of the degree at UMGC |
| University of Phoenix | Typically 87 credits; some programs up to 90 | The rest of the degree at Phoenix |
| Western Governors University | No number on its transfer page; reviewed course by course | Whatever your evaluation leaves |
Each rule is from the school’s own page: Source · APUS Source · ASU Source · ASU catalog Source · Capella Source · Columbia Southern
Also from the schools’ pages: Source · Excelsior Source · Excelsior BSLA Source · Franklin Source · Liberty Source · Liberty catalog
Source · Purdue Global Source · SNHU Source · UMGC Source · Phoenix Source · WGUExcelsior’s 113 applies to its BS in Liberal Arts, which sets no time limit on transfer credits except for Logistics Management concentration courses (15 years). Our Excelsior University profile prices the credits you would still take there.
What you must take at the school sets how far the cap goes
At SNHU, the cap is the residency rule seen from the other side: its 90-credit cap and its 30-credit residency add up to its 120-credit bachelor’s. Source · SNHU
APUS says its transfer limits are the ones “set forth by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) for APU.” Source · APUS
HLC, an accreditor, writes: “Typically institutions will require that at minimum 30 of the 120 credits earned for the bachelor’s degree and 15 of the 60 credits for the associate’s degree be credits earned at the institution itself, through arrangements with other accredited institutions, or through contractual relationships approved by HLC.” Source · HLC
HLC adds: “Any variation is explained and justified.”
Credit by exam may not count toward residency either. Franklin says exam credit “does not count toward student residency.” Our guide to credit by exam and prior learning covers what those credits cost. Source · Franklin
Credits from a two-year college can hit a lower cap
Where your credits came from can matter as much as how many you have. ASU says “A maximum of 64 semester hours of credit will be accepted as lower-division credit when transferred from a regionally accredited community, junior or two-year college, with the exception of some special programs.” Source · ASU
From four-year schools, ASU says “An unlimited number of credit hours will be accepted.”
ASU also requires at least 45 upper-division credits in its 120. Ask how many of those your transcript fills, since ASU takes two-year college credit “as lower-division credit.” Source · ASU catalog
UMGC takes up to 70 credits from a two-year community college and up to 90 from a four-year school or combined sources. By our math, a reader with 80 community college credits and nothing else could have up to 70 of them apply there. Source · UMGC
Your evaluation decides, course by course
The cap only matters if your courses fit the program. SNHU says courses “must fit the requirements of your degree program.” Source · SNHU
WGU may turn a course down if “the content is misaligned,” there isn’t enough information, it lacks the credit hours, the grade “falls below WGU’s acceptable threshold,” or the course is deemed non-transferable. Source · WGU
Liberty adds a size rule: a course must carry “at least 2/3rds the number of hours required by Liberty,” and “The 2/3 rule may create a shortage of credit hours.” Source · Liberty catalog
Grades have their own floor. SNHU, ASU, Liberty and Purdue Global take C- or better; UMGC asks for a C; Franklin and Columbia Southern can apply a D, except in English composition, math and nursing courses at Columbia Southern. Source · Purdue Global Source · UMGC
In a 2017 report, the Government Accountability Office estimated that students who transferred from 2004 to 2009 “lost, on average, an estimated 43 percent of their credits.” Those figures are dated; they show the stakes, not today’s rate. Source · GAO-17-574
Age can matter too. Some programs set a time limit on older courses, and our guide on whether college credits expire lists seven schools’ rules.
100 credits can leave 20 to 70 to take, by our calculator’s math
Example: you have 100 college credits and want a 120-credit bachelor’s. You can give school 18 hours a week, year-round. Our time-to-degree calculator counts 45 hours of work a credit and 48 weeks of class a year, so that pace is 19.2 credits a year.
| If the school applies | Where that cap appears | Credits left | Finish time |
|---|---|---|---|
| All 100 | Excelsior's 113 in the BS in Liberal Arts | 20 | 1 year 1 month |
| 90 | SNHU, APUS, Liberty, UMGC | 30 | 1 year 7 months |
| 87 | Phoenix's typical bachelor's | 33 | 1 year 9 months |
| 64 | ASU, if all 100 came from a two-year college | 56 | 2 years 11 months |
| 50, half | Any school that takes half | 70 | 3 years 8 months |
Every row is a best case: it assumes each applied credit fits the program. The gap between the top row and the bottom one is 2 years 7 months of class at the same 18 hours a week, by our math.
Military credit follows ACE’s recommendations, and each school decides
If you served, your official military transcript is the Joint Services Transcript (JST). It carries the American Council on Education’s (ACE) credit recommendations for the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard. Source · ACE
Air Force transcripts come from the Community College of the Air Force or Air University. Source · ACE: JST
You can search your occupation or upload your JST to ACE’s Military Guide to see the recommendations. ACE is plain about what that means: “Individual colleges and universities assess learning and award credit differently.” Source · ACE
Schools draw different lines. ASU counts military credit toward total credits but not its general studies requirements. APUS counts military occupations as non-traditional credit, and only 60 of its 90 can be non-traditional. Source · ASU Source · APUS
Liberty’s military degree plans accept “Up to 75% of degree requirements” as transfer credit, with “A minimum of one course in the major” at Liberty and “No final year or final semester residency requirement.” Source · Liberty catalog
Which limit to ask about first
Where did most of your credits come from?
Get your evaluation in writing before you enroll
StudentAid.gov says each school “must disclose and make available to prospective and enrolled students a statement of the school’s transfer of credit policies,” and must list its partner schools on request. That statement is where to start. Source · StudentAid.gov
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Order every transcript
From every school you attended. If one is held over an unpaid balance, see what a school must release.
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Ask for an evaluation before you enroll
Phoenix offers a preliminary one from unofficial transcripts but says “this is just an estimate.” WGU does no unofficial evaluations. Source · Phoenix
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Ask which requirement each course fills
Find out which credits meet general education or major requirements and which come in only as electives.
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Ask what you must take there
The residency credits, any major courses (SNHU wants 12 credits in your major) and any capstone (Columbia Southern’s must be taken there).
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Compare two or three evaluations
Set them side by side before you pay a deposit, using the credits left at each.
Frequently asked questions
Can I transfer credits if I have F’s on my old transcript?
Courses below a school’s minimum grade don’t transfer, and an F is below every minimum listed here. Courses you passed at or above the minimum can still count. At SNHU your old grades “stay at your old college,” and ASU bases your GPA “solely on coursework taken at ASU.”
Can I appeal a transfer credit decision?
At some schools, yes. ASU says a student “who feels they have been unjustly denied credit for transfer may appeal the decision,” and Columbia Southern says “Students may appeal transfer credit decisions.” Purdue Global, for one, may ask for a course syllabus to evaluate a course.
Does my financial aid move with my credits?
Not on its own. StudentAid.gov says “Most likely, your federal student aid will not automatically transfer,” so add the new school to your FAFSA, Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The free federal form for grants, federal student loans and work-study. Most states and schools use it for their own aid too.. It also points transfer students to how much of their Pell lifetime eligibility they have used.
Your next step: turn your credits into a finish date
Once a school tells you how many credits apply, the time-to-degree calculator turns the credits left and your weekly hours into a finish month. Try it with the full count and with half, as the table above does, so you know your range before you enroll.
Then check what aid could cover the courses you still take. If you got Pell at your old school, Pell Years Left estimates how much of the lifetime limit is still yours.
See what aid could pay for the credits you still need
The aid check estimates a full-time Pell Grant, state and campus grants and federal loan limits under the rules for the year you start (2026-27 or 2027-28). About two minutes, no name, email or phone number.
Check my aidWant your finish-line plan by email? Go to the quick check
Sources
Every figure in this guide comes from one of these pages. How we check sources
- StudentAid.gov: Resources for transfer students
- FSA Handbook 2026-27, Volume 2, Chapter 6: consumer information (transfer of credit policies)
- Higher Learning Commission: Assumed Practices (CRRT.C.10.010)
- GAO-17-574: Students need more information to help reduce challenges in transferring college credits (2017)
- ACE Military Guide Help Center: How much credit will I receive for my military experience?
- ACE Military Guide Help Center: How do I get an official military transcript?
- ACE: Understanding the Joint Services Transcript
- American Public University System: Understanding transfer credit
- American Public University System: Undergraduate transfer credit guidelines
- Arizona State University: Transferring college credits
- Arizona State University catalog: Undergraduate graduation requirements
- Capella University: Transferring credits
- Columbia Southern University: Transfer credit policy
- Excelsior University: Transfer credit guidelines
- Excelsior University: Bachelor of Science in Liberal Arts
- Franklin University: Transfer credit policy and procedures
- Liberty University: Transfer to Liberty's online programs
- Liberty University catalog: Academic information and policies, online program
- Purdue Global: Transfer college credits
- Purdue Global 2026-2027 catalog: Types of credit
- Southern New Hampshire University: Transferring credits
- University of Maryland Global Campus: Transfer credit requirements
- University of Phoenix: College transfer credits
- Western Governors University: College transfers
Related Resources
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Prior learning assessment: CLEP, DSST and military credit
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