Duke University - Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

Credit: AP, IPC, and PMC

Trinity College draws a distinction between college-level work completed prior to matriculation at Duke and work completed at another college or university after matriculation at Duke (for the latter, see Transfer Credit). We recognize three types of pre-college work for which you may receive a limited amount of elective credit at Duke at matriculation:

• Advanced Placement Credit (AP),
   
• International Placement Credit (IPC)

• Pre-Matriculation Credit (PMC)

Trinity College will record on your permanent Duke record courses of these three types completed prior to matriculation at Duke. The three types of pre-college course work are regarded as equivalent and may be used for placement into higher-level course work and to satisfy major and minor requirements to the extent allowed by individual departments. Additionally, up to two of these elective credits will apply toward the degree requirement of 34 course credits. APs, IPCs, and PMCs are not given Areas of Knowledge designations or Modes of Inquiry codes and may not be used to fulfill continuation or graduation requirements except as elective credits toward graduation.

Note: If after matriculation you successfully complete a course at Duke recognized as equivalent to  pre-college work  of one of the three types noted above you will lose the AP, IPC, or PMC credit. 

 Additional AP/IPC/PMC credits may be used as acceleration credits in order to graduate early. Acceleration is defined as completing the requirements for the bachelor's degree one or two semesters earlier than the original expected graduation date. Specifically, for students graduating in seven consecutive semesters, the two elective credits and up to two acceleration credits may be included in the 34 credits required for graduation. For students graduating in six consecutive semesters, the two elective credits and up to six acceleration credits may be included in the 34 credits required for graduation. Students may not use acceleration credits to compensate for time taken away from their studies.

Note: It is expected that you will have your AP, IPC and PMC credit evaluated and, if warranted, placed on your transcript during your first year at Duke.

Advanced Placement Credit

APs are familiar to most American students. Duke recognizes the Advanced Placement program of the College Board, and grants a limited amount of elective credit and placement into advanced courses for scores of 4 or 5 on an AP examination. If you have not already done so, please ask the College Board to send your AP score report to Duke's Registrar's Office immediately. To begin the process, see the Registrar's instructions on having your AP scores sent to Duke.

Note: Duke does not recognize AP exam results if the exam is taken after a student’s matriculation at Duke.  Furthermore, no equivalent exams granting degree credit (e.g., CLEP, locally administered placement tests, etc.) are recognized by the University.

International Placement Credit

In addition to AP credit, Duke also recognizes various international standardized examinations and grants a limited amount of elective credit and placement in advanced courses at Duke for students whose performance in these examinations meets certain standards established by the University. If you completed the French Baccalauréat, the German Abitur, the British, Singapore, or Hong Kong A-Levels, the International Baccalaureate, the Swiss Federation Maturité, the All India/Delhi Senior School Certificate or the Indian School Certificate examinations, you may be eligible for IPCs if you received one of the following scores on the individual exams:

These credits can be awarded only in those subject areas for which there is an AP exam offered domestically.  IPCs are counted as electives in the same way as AP credits are awarded. Scores of all examinations must be received by the Office of the Registrar (Box 90054, Durham, NC 27708) before AP or IPC credit can be awarded.

*Note about Physics: Students who have earned one of the qualifying scores on an international placement examination in physics are given PHY141(IAP) credit. Students with higher scores than the minimum may be eligible to obtain credit also for PHY142(IAP) upon recommendation of the director of undergraduate studies (DUS) for Physics.

Pre-Matriculation Credit

Students who matriculate at Duke with pre-college course work taken at another American college or university prior to their matriculation at Duke--transfer student credits are evaluated in a different way, as are pre-matriculation credits earned at Duke (see below)--can have their pre-college courses recorded on their Trinity College academic record and receive AP-like credit for them only if the courses:

• were taken on the college campus;
• were taken in competition with degree candidates of that college;
• were taught by a regular member of the college faculty;
• were part of the regular curriculum of the college;
• were taken after commencement of your junior year of high school;
• were not taken on a study abroad program completed prior to matriculation at Duke--restriction does not apply to transfer students if such credit was granted at the former institution;
• yielded a grade of B- or better;
• were not pre-calculus or English composition courses; and
• were not used to meet high school diploma requirements.

All 9 of these criteria must be met. In order to verify these criteria, you must take the following steps:

1. arrange to have an official transcript of the college course work sent directly from the college to the Duke Registrar's Office;
2. provide the Registrar's Office with a course description or syllabus for each coure you've taken;
3. send a confirmation form to the college of record, which will confirm that the first four bulleted criteria above have been met;
4. send a confirmation form to your high school, which will confirm that the last two bulleted criteria have been met.

Upon receipt of this information, the Duke Registrar's Office will confirm the remaining bulleted criteria above, consult with relevant directors of undergraduate studies and then if approriate, will award PMC credit comparable to the credit awarded for a score of 4 or 5 on an AP exam.   As is the case with AP credits, if you repeat at Duke a course taken at another American college or university prior to matriculation at Duke, you will lose the PMC credit (see Repeating a Course for details). 

Note: International students who take University courses in their home country prior to matriculation at Duke are eligible to receive PMC credit.  Award of such credit is subject to the same policies and limitations that apply to domestic PMC credit.

Pre-Matriculation Credits Earned at Duke

PMC courses taken prior to graduation from high school in the Duke Pre-College Program may be show on the Duke transcript at the request of the student, subject to the following limitations:

• If the student requests that that Duke PMC courses be posted, any and all taken must be posted;
• As PMC courses, they are subject to the restriction that only two AP, IPC, and PMC credits (any combination) may count toward the 34 cc needed to graduate;
• Grades earned in Duke PMC courses will be factored into the student's overall Duke undergraduate GPA; and
• Duke PMC courses taken can be used to fulfill curriculum requirements, including general education requirements  and requirements of  majors minors and certificate programs.
• Duke PMC courses may not be repeated at Duke for credit.

Transfer Students

If you have transferred to Duke from another college or university, then policies for AP, IP and PMC courses apply for any pre-college work that you have done.  However, questions regarding post-matriculation transfer credits should be directed to your academic dean.

Note:  Students admitted to Duke who have graduated from high school and who attend  a Duke Summer Session can expect these credits to count as any other Duke credits earned following their matriculation at Duke.  

Note:  Courses taken at another four-year U.S. institution after matriculation at Duke are considered transfer credits and are subject to different policies and procedures.

See also:

• AP Credit (by Department)
• Credit Limitations
• Graduating Early
• Transfer Credit