Transfer accreditation and evaluation

What is accreditation and why is it important?

Accreditation is the act of granting credit or recognition by a governing body of an educational institution. Accreditation is necessary to any educational institution to prove that they are maintaining suitable standards or quality. University of Idaho relies on the following accrediting associations standards to evaluate and accept college-level credits and all grades earned by transfer students:

Credit review process

If your institution is not accredited by one of the above associations, then the University Curriculum Committee (UCC) will have to review your courses and will make the final decision if the courses will transfer. Should you wish to have your courses reviewed by the UCC, you must submit the following to the Office of the Registrar:

  • A letter indicating the specific courses you want to have reviewed
  • An official transcript from the institution
  • Course descriptions and syllabi for each course to be reviewed

The Office of the Registrar will then forward the course information to the corresponding academic department for their review. After the Office of the Registrar has received the recommendations from the corresponding department(s) all of the information will be presented to the UCC. At that time, the UCC may request additional information from the student.

Upon approval by the UCC, the decision on each course will be sent to the Office of the Registrar, who in turn will notify the student and record the approved courses on the transfer portion of the student's transcript.

Credits earned at an institution that is a suspected diploma/degree mill will not be accepted by University of Idaho.

International credit evaluation

University of Idaho’s transfer specialist will evaluate and record all international coursework. An evaluation by an independent academic credential evaluation service may be required or requested by the student for some transcripts. If an independent credential evaluation is required, there are two options for obtaining this evaluation:

Option 1 — Ordered by the student before attending University of Idaho

This evaluation can be ordered by the student prior to attending University of Idaho when they are notified that it will be necessary. This will allow the student to know what courses will transfer before attending. The recommended service is the International Education Research Foundation (IERF). However, the institution will accept evaluations from other services that have been approved by either the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) or the Association of International Credential Evaluators (AICE). Please contact the Office of the Registrar to see if the agency you would like to use is accepted.

The student is responsible for supplying the correct academic records to the credential evaluation service and for all associated costs. University of Idaho requires a course-by-course evaluation when an evaluation service is required. Upon request, University of Idaho can fax or mail copies of official documents that have been received to International Education Research Foundation (IERF).

Please have the evaluation sent to: 

University of Idaho 
Office of the Registrar 
875 Perimeter Dr MS 4260 
Moscow, ID 83844-4260

Option 2 — Ordered by University of Idaho during the first semester of attendance

University of Idaho will submit a student's transcript to International Research Foundation (IERF) for evaluation after receiving all official documents, fees, and the student has begun attending classes. The cost for this evaluation will be the responsibility of the student and will be posted to the student's account.