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Academic Credit

Unit of Credit

The unit of credit represents one hour of lecture per week for one semester and presupposes two hours of outside study for each lecture hour, or a minimum of 48-54 hours of lecture, study, or lab work. The amount of credit awarded shall be adjusted in proportion to the number of hours of lecture, study, or lab work in half unit increments.

Advanced Placement Program (AP)

Allan Hancock College grants credit towards its associate degrees for successful completion of examinations in the AP. Students who complete AP Examinations with scores of 3, 4, or 5 will receive credit according to the Hancock's AP, CLEP, & IB Equivalency List.

Credit awarded through AP may be used to satisfy graduation requirements. The units earned from AP credit cannot be used to satisfy the 12-unit residency requirement or be applied toward financial aid.

Transfer students should check with their receiving institution or the University Transfer Center about policies for using AP examination scores and credits toward meeting admission, and/or graduation requirements. An official copy of the student’s AP scores should be sent to the Admissions and Records office.

Units earned from AP credit will be posted to the student’s academic record at the time the student petitions to graduate.

College Level Examination Program (CLEP)

Allan Hancock College will grant a maximum of 30 units of credit for any combination of CLEP General and Subject Examinations that have been completed with an appropriate score. CLEP credit may be used to meet Hancock graduation requirements, but will not be counted toward the 12- unit residency requirement.

Students intending to transfer should be aware that CLEP credits may or may not be accepted by other colleges and universities. Students are advised to meet with a counselor regarding the use of CLEP in the student’s educational plan.

International Baccalaureate Program (IB)

Allan Hancock College grants credit towards its associate degrees for successful completion of examinations in the International Baccalaureate Program.

Credit awarded through IB may be used to satisfy graduation requirements. The units earned from IB credit cannot be used to satisfy the 12-unit residency requirement or be applied toward financial aid.

Transfer students should check with their receiving institution or the University Transfer Center about policies for using IB examination scores and credits toward meeting admission, and/or graduation requirements. An official copy of the student’s IB scores should be sent to the Admissions and Records office.

Units earned from IB credit will be posted to the student’s academic record at the time the student petitions to graduate.

Transfer of Credit and Course Waiver

Allan Hancock College will waive certain course requirements or allow students to substitute required Hancock courses, providing that Hancock does not offer the course on a regular basis, the college offers a comparable course or if the student has completed a comparable course at another accredited college.

Hancock cannot grant a course waiver or course substitution that is inconsistent with Title 5 regulations nor can the college ensure that another college or university will accept a waiver or substitution granted by Hancock.

Students wishing to petition for a waiver or substitution of a course(s) for an associate in arts degree, an associate in arts for transfer, an associate in science degree, an associate in science for transfer or a certificate should contact the Counseling department.

The college will grant lower-division credit for degree-applicable coursework from regionally accredited colleges and universities listed in the American Council on Education (ACE) book. Contact Admissions and Records or Counseling for details.

Students from foreign institutions must have their transcripts translated and evaluated by a qualified translation and evaluation agency. Completed coursework will be considered for lower- division unit credit only if the foreign institution is listed in the American Council on Education (ACE) book.

Courses must be completed with a C grade or better. Students with international transcripts should verify if the transcripts will be accepted before having those transcripts evaluated.

Articulation of High School Courses

A partnership between Allan Hancock College and participating high schools facilitates the articulation of high school courses with freshman-level offerings at the college. Students may receive a “Waiver” or may receive “college course credit.”

Hancock's instructional departments are responsible for identifying high school courses that are deemed equivalent to specific Hancock courses. Once a student has successfully completed a more advanced course in the discipline at the college, the student will receive college credit. The articulated course will appear on the student’s transcript as a high school articulated course.

Students who have received an articulation certificate from an area high school or ROP instructor should explore receiving college credit. For criteria and eligibility information, students should contact a Hancock counselor.

Military Service and Training Schools

See “Credit from Military Service.”

Course Attempts

Students may repeat any course in which they have received a grade of W, D, F, NC, and/or NP. If a student is enrolled in a course in which they believe they will receive a substandard grade, registration to repeat the course will be available after a final grade is issued. Upon satisfactory completion of the course, the student’s grade point average will be recalculated and annotated on the student’s’ permanent record.

A student may not attempt such courses more than three times except with the approval of the dean, Student Services. A student’s request to attempt a course more than three times will be evaluated by the dean, Student Services or designee, based upon the student’s need for the course. Under these circumstances, effective summer 2010, upon successful completion the first two non-passing grades will be alleviated from the grade point average. However, when course repetition occurs, all substandard grades will remain on the student’s permanent record, ensuring a true and complete academic history.

If a student has previously received more than one substandard grade in a course that is deemed repeatable by the institution and subsequently repeats the course, receiving a passing grade (C or better), all grades will be used in calculating the student’s grade point average. All grades received in the course will remain on the student’s permanent record, ensuring a true and complete academic history.

Reciprocity

A course for which substandard academic performance was recorded at Allan Hancock College may be repeated at another accredited college or university if, after the student submits a copy of the course outline, syllabus, and/or catalog description, the course is determined to be equivalent. Official transcripts from the other post-secondary institution must be submitted to Hancock's Admissions and Records office to verify the course was completed with a grade of C or better, and for equivalency consideration a Course Repetition Reciprocity Petition must be filed with the Admissions and Records office. Should a student have more than one non-passing grade in a specific course, and repeats the course at another post-secondary institution, only the first two non-passing graded units and grade points will be alleviated from the Hancock transcript. Federal financial aid regulations do not alleviate units or grade points removed through academic renewal or course repetition.

Repetition of a Course Previously Successfully Completed

Students attempting to repeat a course are prevented from registering by a computer block. Repetition of courses for which substandard work has not been recorded (A, B, C, P, or CR) shall be permitted only upon petition of the student and with written permission of the appropriate dean. If a course does not have allowable repetition, authority is granted to the deans to approve repetition of a course under special circumstances, which may include:

A minimum of 36 months has elapsed since the student last earned a grade in the course; and
The subject matter of the course has changed because of changing technology or principles;
The course was taken for credit and the student now needs a letter grade because the course is in his/her/their major;
Other valid situations as evaluated by the instructor and the appropriate dean.

Federal financial aid regulations do not alleviate units or grade points removed through academic renewal or course repetition.

Allowable Repetition of a Course

Course repetition is permitted without petition when such repetition is necessary for a student to meet a legally mandated training requirement as a condition of continued paid or volunteer employment. Such courses may be repeated for credit any number of times.

Hancock shall permit a student with a disability to repeat a special class for students with disabilities any number of times based on an individualized determination by the Learning Assistance Program that such repetition is required as disability-related accommodation for that particular student for one of the reasons specified below:

When continuing success of the student in other general and/or specific classes is dependent on additional repetitions of a specific special class; or
When additional repetitions of a specific special class are essential to completing a student’s preparation for enrollment into other classes; or
When the student has a student educational plan which involves a goal other than completion of the special class in question and repetition of the course will further achievement of the goal.

Students must submit a petition to the Admissions and Records office for approval. All grades and units received shall be counted in calculating the student grade point average.

Special circumstances course repetitions will be indicated as repeated on the permanent academic record of the student. Grades awarded for special circumstances course repetitions will not be counted in calculating a student’s grade point average. In addition, there is no assurance that repeated courses resulting in an improvement in grade will be accepted by other colleges and universities.

Multiple and Overlapping Enrollments

Allan Hancock College Board Policy 4226

Students may not enroll in two or more sections of the same credit course during the same semester unless the length of the course provides that the student is not enrolled in more than one section of that course at a given time. (Example: students cannot enroll in two sections of PEIA 100 simultaneously throughout the semester, such as a MW section and also a TTH section; however, enrollments in two eight-week sections that do not overlap are permitted, if the course has allowable repetition).

Academic Renewal

Allan Hancock College Board Policy 4240

Courses where substandard grades have been received may be disregarded in the computation of a student’s grade point average if the work was not reflective of the student’s present scholastic level of performance. A student may request academic renewal for not more than three periods of enrollment of coursework completed at Hancock under the following conditions:

A period of at least one year has elapsed since the work to be alleviated was completed;
A student must have completed either a minimum of 18 semester units with at least a 2.4 GPA or 24 semester units with at least a 2.00 GPA at Hancock and/or another accredited college or university since the work to be alleviated was completed;
The student may choose to have either 1) all coursework taken in a substandard semester (or term) disregarded in the computation of GPA; or 2) individual substandard (D or F) coursework taken in a semester (or term) disregarded in the computation of GPA. The semesters need not be consecutive;
When work is alleviated, the permanent academic record shall be annotated in such a manner that all work remains legible, ensuring a true and complete academic history. The semester(s) involved will not be deleted, but the units and grade points will be removed to calculate the grade point average.