Student support

Course Waiver Guide

For DSB students who have completed a prior degree

If you believe that you have already completed a course from your U of L program in your previous degree(s), you may begin the process of having your course evaluated for equivalency as soon as possible after you accept your offer as the evaluation process outlined below can take several months to complete.

Any request for assessment of equivalency for course waivers must be submitted by the last day of the student’s first term. See the Academic Schedule for the last day of the term.

1. Determine course eligibility

☐ Determine which course from your previous degree closely aligns with a required course in your Dhillon School of Business (DSB) program by comparing a course description of the previous degree course to a U of L course in the Course Catalogue.  Please note that courses dependent on Canadian law or practice (ie. Accounting 3151 - Introduction to Tax; Management 3010 - Business Law) are not likely to be equivalent if the similar course was not taken in Canada.  
☐ Ensure you will still meet the program's residency requirement if the course is waived. Otherwise, you may be required to change your program or major.
☐ If you are an international student, contact the International Centre as changing the number of courses in your program may impact your study permit and/or post-graduate work permit.
☐ Ensure the following guidelines are met:
o Credit hours – the course or courses to be evaluated must total 3.0 or more credit hours to be equivalent to a 3.0 credit University of Lethbridge course.
o Time Limit for Retention of Course Credit - Management (MGT) 4090 and non-core DSB course equivalents (ACCT, AGEM, FINC, HRLR, IGBM, IMGT, MGT, MKTG) must have been completed at a recognized post-secondary institution not more than eight years prior to admission or re-admission to the DSB.
o Minimum Grade Requirement - The grade achieved in the first-degree course must meet the DSB minimum grade requirement equivalent.
o Major course options – If you have the equivalent of one in a list of multiple major course options, you will be required to take a different option to ensure you get the most out of your DSB program.

2. Request an evaluation for course equivalency

If the course has not already been evaluated as per the Transfer Credit Equivalencies Database, follow the steps outlined by the “Courses Not Previously Assessed” section of the Transfer Credit website.  Please note the transfer unit does not have the capacity to search through a document with every course outline/syllabi in your first degree so it is your responsibility to identify and list in your email to the transfer unit which courses you believe are equivalent and ensure you only attach the corresponding first degree course outline/syllabi for those individual courses. Note that if your submission is not complete with all the required information, it will not be evaluated.

3. Request a course waiver

Once a course has been evaluated and if it is deemed to be equivalent, contact the DSB advising office at your campus to have the course waived from your program. Include the course number and name of the course from your previous degree, the name of the institution, and the course number and name of the University of Lethbridge equivalent.

Note that students who change to a different program or major after admission may need to have additional courses from their first degree assessed for the new program or major. This may result in being required to complete additional courses or fewer courses for the new program or major. If a student wishes to submit a request for course equivalency in the new program or major, those requests can only be made for courses specific to the new program or major if the last day of the student’s first term has passed.