Undergraduate Major Manual:
05. Restrictions on Transfer Credit, Credit Away, LPS (formerly CGS) and Summer Session Courses

course unit restrictions

Biology majors and minors must obtain permission from the Undergraduate Chair before taking any courses through LPS or at another university. No more than two course units taken in LPS, Summer Session and/or at another university or college may be counted toward the Biology Major. LPS courses include evening courses, Saturday courses, and Summer Session courses that are taught in the College of Liberal and Professional Studies (formerly the College of General Studies). See section below for exceptions to this restriction.

LPS and Summer Session

Courses above the introductory level in LPS or Summer Session generally cannot be counted toward the Biology major or minor. This rule is rarely waived and only with prior approval from the Undergraduate Chair and the instructor of the regular academic year, daytime course. Taking BIOL 202 or 221 through LPS is not allowed. The Fall semester of BIOL 404 Immunology and BIBB 269 are exceptions to this rule and are accepted for the major without requiring special approval.

To obtain permission to take a LPS or Summer Session course contact the Undergraduate Coordinator at bio-undergraduate@sas.upenn.edu or in the Biology Academic Office, room 102, Leidy Lab. Approval must be obtained before the student takes the LPS or Summer course.

transfer credit

After a student has matriculated at Penn, no course subsequently taken at a two-year college will be eligible for transfer credit.

If you plan to take a Biology course at another university or college, you should submit your request along with a syllabus for the course through the College XCAT website.

exceptions to above restrictions

The restrictions related to LPS and Summer Session courses do not apply to Biology Majors in the College of Liberal and Professional Studies. For LPS students who transfer into the College, these restrictions do not apply to courses taken before entering the College.

The regulations limiting the number of transfer credits do not apply to courses taken by transfer students before transferring to Penn or to courses taken by Penn students who participate in a study abroad program at the University of Edinburgh, one of the University of London schools, the University of Melbourne, James Cook University, or one of the tropical ecology programs in Costa Rica (see Study Abroad Programs and Field Courses). Students who have two or more course units in the major when they transfer into the College from LPS or another university or college will not be permitted to take any additional courses for the major in LPS, in the Summer Session, or at another university or college, although exceptions may be made for the study abroad programs and field courses discussed in Study Abroad Programs and Field Courses, if approved by the Undergraduate Chair.