Formal articulation agreements
Northwest's course-based and CBTE programs are accredited, hence accredited institutions are likely to grant transfer credit to students who have studied at Northwest.
The amount of transfer credit granted and the courses for which it is granted, depends on the school. As such, we have formed articulation/transfer agreements with schools we know and who know us. Here is the list of schools we currently have articulation/transfer agreements with and for which programs they are established.
Please click on the school logo to read the formal articulation agreement.
General transfer credit into a CBTE degree program
Northwest does not “transfer” credit into any of its CBTE programs, except for its CBTE Bachelor of Arts degree completion programs (see below for further information). However, the direct assessment aspect of all Northwest CBTE programs allows for mentor teams to assess prior learning for all incoming students.
In a case where an incoming student possesses relevant formal education that may be eligible for a transfer in to a course-based program, Northwest Admissions engages the following process when assessing an incoming student’s prior achievement of competency:
- After an applicant with prior credit is admitted into a CBTE program, Admissions review their transcript and indicate places in the curriculum where there may be prior achievement of competency. Depending on the transcript and the institution(s) from which the student received credit, Admissions may also request to examine course syllabi to make an appropriate recommendation to the student and their mentor team.
- Once a student with prior credit begins a CBTE program, an eight-week acclimation period is required for the student and mentors before Admissions distribute its findings and recommendations.
- When the eight-week acclimation period is complete, Admissions distributes its findings and recommendations to the student and mentor team for individual and collective review.
- The student and mentor team consult the findings and recommendations document together, and they collaborate to form a strategy for proving prior achievement of competency using relevant artifacts that can be uploaded to the Pathwright learning platform for assessment.
- Once artifacts are uploaded to the Pathwright learning platform, the student’s mentor team assesses these materials according to the degree program curriculum, performance indicators, and rubric, and either issues a grade indicating level of achievement or they request that the student continue developing competency in this area and/or provide further evidence that shows a base level of achievement.
Transferring required general studies credits into a CBTE Bachelor of Arts completion program
Our CBTE Bachelor of Arts in Christian Leadership degree completion programs requires students to earn 30 credits of general studies at an accredited institution prior to entering our CBTE Bachelor of Arts in Christian Leadership degree completion program. To fulfill this requirement, which is intended to (1) encourage and equip undergraduate students to grow in their academic breadth and depth, and (2) integrate the general studies component of this degree with the ministry leadership emphases of its Bachelor of Arts degree programs, Northwest recommends that students complete one 3-credit, introductory/elective level course in at least nine of the following ten areas of study:
- Administration, finance management, and/or budgeting
- Organizational leadership, development, and/or human resources
- Instructional design and/or verbal, written, and/or visual communication
- Psychology, conflict management, interpersonal communication, and/or
relational dynamics - Sociology, anthropology, and/or ethnography
- History
- Art history and/or film, television, and/or music studies
- Political science
- Philosophy and/or critical theory
- Earth sciences
Note, this list summarizes recommended areas of study. Northwest may, upon review of a student’s transcript, accept for entry or award for graduation the Bachelor of Arts in Christian Leadership to students who have one or more courses from the following areas of study listed by the Association of Biblical Higher Education (for a total of 27 credits of general studies completed at an accredited institution):
- Communication (e.g., composition, public speaking, writing courses)
- Humanities/Fine Arts (e.g., modern and classical languages, history, literature,
linguistics, philosophy, archaeology, art, music, graphics) - Natural Science/Mathematics (e.g., physical science, biology/life science,
physics, chemistry, mathematics, statistics) - Social/Behavioral Sciences (e.g., psychology, sociology, anthropology,
political science)