Letters of Permission

A student at the University of Guelph who wishes to enrol in a course for credit at another institution and have that course considered as a credit toward a University of Guelph degree must complete a "Request for Letter of Permission" form and obtain the appropriate approvals as indicated on the request form, prior to applying for admission to the other institution. The form is available in program counselling offices, at Enrolment Services and online at https://www.uoguelph.ca/registrar/downloads/.

Credit for successful completion of such courses will be granted at the University of Guelph if an appropriately-completed and signed Request for Letter of Permission form has been presented to the Office of Registrarial Services, Enrolment Services prior to the student's enrolment at the other institution. A student taking a course on a Letter of Permission is responsible for ensuring that the other institution forwards the official transcripts directly to Enrolment Services, Office of Registrarial Services. If the transcript for the course taken on a Letter of Permission is not received by the 20th class day of the semester following completion of the course, a grade of "F" will be entered on the student's internal academic record.

Students are required to complete the courses specified on the Request for Letter of Permission form during the semester(s) specified on the form. If the student registers in additional semesters or courses that were not previously approved by the University of Guelph, the student may request a transfer credit assessment through Admission Services. The student should speak with their program counsellor should they find themselves in this situation.

Withdrawals or non-registration in courses taken on a Letter of Permission must be verified by official documentation from the other institution. Any changes in the courses taken must have the appropriate program counsellor approval from the University of Guelph.

All courses for which Letters of Permission have been granted will be included in all the student’s internal academic records. The specific courses will not be listed on the official transcript of the University of Guelph but the name of the host institution and the total number of credits taken will be listed. Note that courses taken on Letter of Permission for which a grade of F has been either assigned or achieved will be listed as 0.00 credit. Courses taken on a Letter of Permission will not count in the student’s semester average or the student’s cumulative average.

Students do not normally qualify for a letter of permission in the final semester of their degree program.

Caution: when selecting courses to take on Letter of Permission you should be aware that you may not be able to get into the courses selected. For instance, courses may be full, may have been removed from the schedule, or may conflict with other courses. For this reason, you are encouraged to select more courses than needed but indicate clearly on the Request for Letter of Permission form the number of courses that will be taken. If you need to take a course not listed on the form, you should make every effort to contact your program counsellor in advance of registering in another course in order to obtain approval for the equivalent credit. Departments reserve the right to deny credit equivalency to a course taken without prior approval.