Do college credits expire when transferring?

I'm really curious if college credits expire when you transfer schools. Also, how does this apply if you're considering transferring after, like, many years? Does it vary by university, or are there general rules for this?

When transferring schools, whether college credits "expire" or not typically depends on the policies of the specific institution that you aim to attend. Some universities do have time limits on certain types of credits, especially for rapidly changing fields like technology or healthcare. For example, they might not accept science or computer science credits that are over a decade old.

However, general education credits—courses in subjects like English, History, or Math—are typically less likely to have a limitation and are often transferable even after a significant amount of time has passed. Still, each institution has its own policies, and there's no standard rule applicable to all schools.

Bear in mind that even if credits don’t expire, not all credits might transfer as you might expect. They may not meet the course requirements of your new university or perhaps they meet a lesser or different requirement than the one for which you originally took the course. For example, a class you took for your major at one school might only satisfy a general education requirement at another.

In other scenarios, a university might accept your credit but not include that course's grade in your new GPA calculation, or it might not accept some course credits at all because they do not align with the curriculum the new school offers.

The best course of action would be to reach out directly to the admissions or registrar's office at the school you're considering transferring to, and provide them with as much information about your past courses as possible, such as course descriptions or syllabi. This will give them more context to evaluate your transfer credits accurately.