Southern accepts credits from approved accredited institutions and verifiable credit from international and non-accredited institutions. Credit by examination taken at other colleges will be accepted according to Southern Adventist University standards (see "University Credit by Examination" in the Academic Policies section of the Catalog). Background deficiencies revealed by transcripts and entrance examinations will be given individual attention.
The criteria for evaluating transfer work from an accredited school is based on guidelines given in Transfer Credit Practices AACRAO 2015 guide. The ACE recommendation guide is used for evaluating transcripts for the veterans of the armed forces and credit from unaccredited sources. Credit may be considered for courses taken at institutions which are not accredited only after the student has completed at least 12 semester hours at Southern Adventist University with a 2.00 or better average GPA. Transfer courses that are comparable to Southern Adventist University courses may be recorded with an earned grade of "C-" or higher. All college transfer work from Tennessee will be recorded to meet the requirements of the HOPE scholarship. Transfer credit from international foreign schools must be evaluated by a credentialed foreign evaluator. As a general rule, accredited international institution credit is usually issued with pass/fail grades.
A student who has been dismissed from another institution because of poor scholarship or citizenship, or who is on probation from that institution should address this on the application at the time of applying for admission.
Adult degree completion students must submit official college transcripts from previously attended institutions documenting at least 24 credit hours of previously earned college credit before being allowed to continue registering for classes.