Read below for answers to common questions about applying, transferring credits and coming to campus.
This information is designed to help new applicants with their questions. If you have already been admitted or have accepted an offer of admission to TU, you may find more helpful information at our Admitted Students and Enrolled Students pages.
Fall applications for the following year will open late in the fall semester. Applications for the spring open in August of the prior fall term. You can apply any time before the deadline. There are two deadlines for fall applications: the priority deadline of March 1 for scholarship consideration and Honors College applicants, and the regular deadline of June 1. The deadline for spring applications is November 15.
Our application may remain open on a space-available basis after the deadline has passed. Priority consideration is given to students who apply before the deadline.
Any student who has completed college credits after completing high school is considered a transfer student here at TU. In order to be a competitive applicant, we strongly encourage that you have completed at least 24 completed college credits before applying. This does not include coursework that is in-progress at the time of your application. When applying, you must submit official transcripts from all colleges you have attended since completing high school, even if you only took a small number of classes at a particular college or university.
Depending on the number of credits you have completed already, we will review your application using different academic criteria. If applying with fewer than 24 completed credits, in addition to all college transcripts, you must also submit an official high school transcript that indicates your completion/graduation date. Your academic performance in high school will factor into our review of your application along with your college-level coursework and performance. If you have completed 24 college credits at the time of application, then we do not require your high school transcript and will evaluate your application based on solely on your college performance.
An essay is not required for transfer applicants. Because the essay is optional, there is no assigned topic.
You can find out what we have received and what we still may need from you by using our online status checker.
Our admissions decisions are made on a rolling basis. Once your application is complete, a decision will typically be made and mailed to you in three to four weeks. Early fall applicants may expect a slightly longer wait since we begin mailing decision letters on December 1.
Our application review process is major blind. You must indicate your intended major on your application, but we do not consider it as a factor in our decision. Some of our majors have additional screening requirements, which means admission to the university does not guarantee admission to that major. If you select a screened major on your application, we would admit you as a pre-major student.
We also have an Admitted Students FAQ page where you can find more information to help you with this important decision.
Transfer credits will be awarded for most academic courses completed at a regionally accredited two- or four-year college or university. You can visit the Transfer Credit page to read about our transfer credit policies and evaluation procedures.
Coursework completed at institutions that are not regionally accredited but hold national or specialized accreditation recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and/or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) may be considered for transfer credit in consultation with the academic department on a case-by-case basis. Coursework completed at an international institution may also be considered for transfer credit on a case-by-case basis. See Non-traditional Credit & Experiences for more information.
We will accept up to 64 credits from a two-year college and up to 90 from a four-year institution (or from a combination of two- and four-year institutions).
We have many resources to help you understand your transfer credit evaluation even before you apply. Visit our transfer credit page to read about our transfer credit evaluation process. You can use TES to see if your courses already have transfer equivalencies. And most importantly, the Transfer Student Center offers pre-transfer advising via phone, e-mail, walk-in visits, and appointments.
Transfer students must apply to live on campus, and housing is awarded on a space-available basis. Space for transfer students is very limited. There are also a variety of off-campus housing options. Many of our students choose to live in apartments near campus or in surrounding communities. We offer a helpful Off-Campus Housing page with information and tools to help with your search.
A parking permit is only required if you want to drive to and park on campus. Many students who live off-campus use our free shuttle service, which offers eight off-campus routes for traveling between campus and the surrounding community. TU also partners with the Collegetown Shuttle service for free transportation between the TU campus, other Baltimore area colleges, and select local destinations. Click here to learn more about our off-campus transportation options.
Once you enroll at TU, you would have full access to the same campus resources and activities that current TU students have. Being a transfer student is an important part of how you get here, but once you're on campus, you're a Towson University Tiger like everyone else.