Recognition of qualifications and transfer credit

1. VCI (Colorado) accepts transfer credits from other institutions according to the following guidelines:
   1. They must be issued by institutions accredited by the Association for Biblical Higher Education or another CHEA-recognized accreditor.
   2. They must be equivalent to the credits for which exemptions are sought.
   3. Transfer credits from foreign and unaccredited schools will be recognized on a case by case basis.

Probationary period (Graduate degrees)

1. Students will not be candidates for a particular degree during the probationary period.
2. For full-time students, the first year will be the probationary period.
3. For part-time students, the first two years will be the probationary period.

Bridging requirements for professional degrees

1. VCI may prescribe a bridging program if it is of the opinion that an applicant does not have sufficiently broad current learning in the student's intended field of professional studies. These deficiencies may be the result of one or more of the following:
   1. the previous studies were in a different discipline from the intended project
   2. a long period has elapsed since attaining that qualification with no significant professional involvement in the intervening period.
   3. the proposed research is interdisciplinary and the applicant has no evidence of suitable preparation in one of the relevant disciplines
   4. a foreign qualification that is not clearly equivalent to a required prerequisite.
2. Bridging studies will normally include a combination of supervised professional experience and research review.
3. Student writings done in the bridging program are deemed to be part of their course of study. Consequently, if any of the written is useful for the original project of the student's thesis, a student may use or develop parts of it into his/her thesis without referencing it as a separate work.
4. The student's supervisory committee will assess students' bridging portfolios.
5. Students must be assessed as satisfactorily completing the bridging course before they may formally progress to development of a full research proposal.

Applications (research degrees)

1. Upon application, students must specify:
   1. whether they will be full time or part time
   2. a specific area of research interest for a research degree, or professional interest for a professional degree
   3. the extent they will be external students or involved in field research away from direct supervisory contact
   4. the language used for their field research if it is not English, and the extent that they expect to use it in their thesis. (e.g. brief quotes, extended quotes, linguistic analysis, etc.)
   5. The language in which the thesis will be written if it not English.
   6. The degree for which they intend to pursue upon candidature.
2. Students work may be conducted and submitted in a language other than English subject to the following conditions:
   1. It is a recognized major world language
   2. VCI has suitably qualified supervisors and assessors
   3. The student's graduation testamur and academic records shall state that the qualification was earned in that language.
3. Graduates of Master programs who wish to progress to another degree must apply as new applicants.
4. Students who intend to submit previously published work as more than half the number of pages of the thesis are subject to the following:
   1. The academic prerequisites may not include the work to be submitted for assessment.
   2. They may apply to the HDC for a reduced minimum period of study.
   3. The thesis publication will assessed against the current state of research in its field at the time is assessed , not at the time it was first written or first published.
   4. The assessors may conduct any investigations they deem necessary to establish whether or not the published work is fully the student's own work.

Bridging requirements for research degrees

1. The HDC may prescribe a bridging program if it is of the opinion that an applicant does not have sufficiently broad current learning in the applicant's intended field of research. These deficiencies may be the result of one or more of the following:
   1. the previous studies were in a different discipline from the intended research.
   2. a long period has elapsed since attaining that qualification with no significant professional or research involvement in the intervening period
   3. the previous qualification had no research preparation component (e.g. coursework master degrees, studies that were primarily professional training in nature)
   4. the proposed research is interdisciplinary and the applicant has no evidence of suitable preparation in one of the relevant disciplines
   5. a foreign qualification that is not clearly equivalent to the prerequisite qualifications.
2. Bridging will normally comprise a prescribed series of essays and annotated bibliographies, critically reviewing the current state of research in the disciplines of the identified inadequacy.
3. Student writings done in the bridging program are deemed to be part of their course of study. Consequently, if any of the written is useful for the original research of the student's thesis, a student may use or develop parts of it into his/her thesis without referencing it as a separate work.
4. The student's supervisory committee will assess students' bridging portfolios.
5. Students must be assessed as satisfactorily completing the bridging course before they may formally progress to development of a full research proposal.