Jewish Studies Transfer Credit and AP Policy

The Jewish Studies Program per se does not give transfer credit. However, you may contact us for advise regarding which department you should make your request and to whom you should speak.

However, the Jewish Studies Program does have a policy on transfer credit in Jewish studies related courses taken at non-university institutions in Israel (yeshivot).

The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations (NELC) and the Jewish Studies Program do not give credit for study at Israeli institutions unless they are fully-accredited, Penn-approved, university programs. Even courses of study which have been accredited by American universities but which were not taught at these universities by their regular faculty, will not be granted transfer credit. Exceptions will be considered, however, under the following conditions should the student choose to major or minor in either Hebrew and Judaica (in NELC) or the interdisciplinary Jewish Studies Program: (Please note that Penn allows for dual majors.)

• Upon completing each term of study in Israel, a student should ask the instructor to fill out a Report Form for Transfer Credit for every course for which he or she may wish to apply for credit (one copy of the form is attached; students should make a copy for each course). The instructor(s) should return the forms to the student in sealed envelopes, which the student shall then submit when applying for transfer credit at Penn. An official, final (not midsemester) transcript from the institution must also be sent separately to Penn's Transfer Credit Office.
• After the student declares a major or minor in either NELC (Hebrew and Judaica) or the interdisciplinary Jewish Studies Program, he or she should obtain Transfer Credit Forms (supplied by the Transfer Credit Office), fill them out and take them, along with the Report Forms for Transfer Credit in sealed envelopes, to the Jewish Studies Program office to apply for transfer credit.
• For study at a non-university institution, majors will receive a maximum of 4 c.u.* and minors will receive a maximum of 2 c.u., to be counted toward the major/minor requirements. These credits must be supplemented at Penn by the text courses required by the student's major or minor (two or three courses in biblical, rabbinic-medieval, or modern texts, in the original language, or, when permitted, in translation).
• In general, no single course will receive more than 1 c.u., except where the course involves an exceptional number of class hours per week. In such a case, the student may apply for 1.5 c.u.
• The student must receive a grade of B/80 or higher (no credit is given for a passing grade alone).
• With the exception of Hebrew language courses (see item "g" below), courses to be accepted for credit must generally involve as their primary focus the reading of texts, preferably in the original language.
• Courses in Hebrew language must involve at least one hundred hours of direct student-teacher contact and must be part of a government certified Ulpan program. A final grade of B/80 or higher must be earned by the student if the course is to be considered for credit as a corresponding language course at Penn. No credit is given for courses that are primarily limited to conversational Hebrew.
  
  * At Penn each course is awarded 1 c.u. (course unit) of credit.

Please note: Transfer credits (including all study abroad courses, both university and non-university courses) are limited to 4 c.u.s for the Interdisciplinary major and 2 c.u.s for the Interdisciplinary minor.

Jewish Studies Advanced Placement

AP Jewish History (History 43): The AP Jewish History exam consists of 3 parts (ancient, medieval, modern). In order to receive credit for History 43, students must receive a score of 4 or 5 in TWO of the three exams.