Office of Academic Records and Registrar
  • Students
  • Degree Progress

Degree Progress

Overview

The Degree Progress department provides a variety of academic and administrative services for students:

  • Monitors students’ progress towards degree completion.
  • Posts degrees to students’ academic records.
  • Issues diplomas.
  • Reports prior degree verification for graduate students.
  • Responds to questions concerning academic policy.
  • Processes domestic graduate transfer work.

 

Graduate Transfer Credit

Coursework Taken at an Institution Based Inside the U.S.

Graduate coursework taken at another institution within the United States before matriculation at USC can be made available for transfer credit at USC upon request. Students should contact us via our askUSC portal and request a Graduate Transfer Credit Report (GTCR). Official transcripts are required to complete this evaluation.

Degree Progress will include transfer coursework in the student record if the work meets the following criteria:

  • Transfer institution is regionally accredited in the U.S. to grant graduate degrees.
  • Courses are graded at least a 3.0 (B) on a 4.0 grading scale.
  • Courses are graduate level at the transfer institution and constitute a fair and reasonable equivalent to current USC coursework at the graduate level.
  • Courses logically fit into the program for the degree.

Once the transfer work is available on the student record, the academic department will determine whether or not course and unit credit will be used towards the degree.

Coursework Taken at an Institution Based Outside the U.S.

To transfer international graduate coursework, students will need to have their courses evaluated by the International Education Research Foundation (IERF). Please make sure to use this website to request this type of evaluation. It has changed from the prior degree verification website.

Once the evaluation is completed, it will be sent to the Graduate Admissions Office to be loaded onto the student’s record.

Military Education

Academic credit will be awarded for graduate level coursework taken at a regionally accredited U.S. military institute or college upon receipt of official transcripts.

The university will also evaluate coursework and/or experience completed through the armed services and may award credit for such courses if they meet the following criteria:

  • Students must provide an official Joint Services (JST) transcript to Degree Progress.
  • Coursework must be evaluated by ACE as graduate credit.
  • Students must submit an articulation petition for each course in which credit is requested. Each petition must include a statement of faculty support.

No Credit
USC will not grant credit for the following:

  • DD-214 or DD-295
  • Coursework not offered in an area of study taught at USC
  • Coursework and/or experience not evaluated by ACE
  • DSST and CLEP exam scores
  • Other Learning Experiences (OLE’s)

Domestic and International Degree Verification

All graduate students must verify that they have been awarded a bachelor’s-level degree from an accredited institution in the United States or an equivalent degree from an institution outside the United States.

This requirement is separate from and additional to the credential review conducted for admission. Therefore, you may be required to submit another set of credentials in addition to the materials submitted with your application for admission.

Please keep in mind:
Students whose admission is conditional on having their previous degrees verified will have an “Activity Restriction Warning,” identified as an ADM40 or RNR40, placed on their records. Failure to complete the verification process in the allotted time may result in delayed or canceled registration, as well as late fees. Your previous degrees must be verified before your graduate degree can be awarded.

Most students will have to satisfy this requirement before the end of their first term at USC.

Domestic Degree Verification

Students seeking to verify prior degrees from domestic institutions must submit official transcripts to the Registrar’s office.

USC Degree Verification
C/O The Degree Progress Department
University of Southern California
University Park Campus
700 Childs Way, John Hubbard Hall 106
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0912

Official transcripts (secure pdf/electronic) should be emailed to:

USC Office of Admission
etrans@usc.edu

International Degree Verification

Students who received a degree from an institution outside the United States will need to obtain a “Certification of Studies for USC” from the International Education Research Foundation (IERF).

This service is not offered on campus. You will need to send IERF your original documents for inspection, but in most (though not all) cases, your prior institution will not need to send IERF independent verification. When your verification is complete, IERF will mail your documents back to you. Opting for upgraded return shipping with tracking is strongly recommended.

Please note that transmission of your evaluation results to USC is already included in the base fee. You do not need to pay for an extra copy of the report. Visit the IERF website for more information about required documents and fees.

If you are admitted to an off-campus program, it is strongly recommended that you initiate the verification process directly with IERF as soon as all your credentials are available.

Please note that the Degree Progress department no longer forwards documents to IERF. You will need to arrange shipping through USPS, FedEx, DHL, UPS, etc. Opting for a level of service that provides a tracking number is strongly recommended.

USC Commencement Program

The Commencement Program includes students who graduated in Fall 2025 or will graduate in Spring or Summer 2026. You can browse the program by clicking the links in the page.

USC Commencement Program

Contact Us

Have a question?

The askUSC portal will help you find answers to our most commonly asked questions – and even some you may not have thought about. If you have any questions or wish to email us, we invite you to askUSC.

Note: Current USC students must use their official university email address (username@usc.edu) for all official university communications.

Contact information and staff directory can be found on our Contact Us page.