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RSU accepts international transfer students from other universities to continue their studies in a similar or related study field/programme provided that transfer students are currently studying at a university or have completed the study courses during the last 5 years.

Application for credit transfer

Transfer students must follow the same application procedure as all other RSU applicants and have to meet the General Requirements for studies in English. The decision about the study place is based on the high school leaving diploma/transcript.

The applicants applying for credit transfer within the application period have to upload onto the RSU’s e-Admissions portal a full set of application documents (see the Application Guide (page 2)) together with relevant academic documents for transfer. While filling in the online application form, transfer applicants have to tick “Application for credit transfer” under the section “Terms and Conditions” and fill in the necessary information about their previous university studies.

If transfer students are currently studying and have not completed an ongoing semester at the other university by the RSU application deadline, upon commencing studies at RSU the student can still apply for credit transfer within the first month of studies by submitting an application to the dean of the respective faculty/department and by adding relevant academic documents for transfer.

Evaluation of credit transfer

If the general requirements for credit transfer are met, the director of the respective study programme and the Committee for Comparison and Recognition of Study Results of International Applicants (hereinafter – the Committee) will review the relevant academic documents for transfer and the compatibility of transfer applicant’s previous university studies with the RSU study programme that the applicant wants to transfer to. The subjects are eligible for credit transfer if the following criteria are met – the completed study subjects have to have:

  • the same or higher number of credit points (ECTS) for the subject in question when compared with the RSU ECTS for the subject;
  • an actual grade acquired in an exam (study result “Pass” is not accepted as eligible for transfer);
  • study course is not older than 5 years;
  • equivalent subject content to the RSU subject in question.
Processing time and the announcement of the credit transfer decision

Once the applicant has submitted a fully assembled application, it usually takes up to two weeks for the director of the respective study programme to evaluate the subjects eligible for credit transfer and issue a transfer decision. When the initial evaluation is done, the Committee for Comparison and Recognition of Study Results of International Applicants will take the final decision about the transfer and issue a STUDY RESULT TRANSFER REPORT and INDIVIDUAL STUDY PLAN.

RSU responsible employees shall inform the transfer applicant about all of the following RSU decisions:

  • study place offer or rejection (passing of competition for a study place);
  • the Committee's decision about the transfer of credit points (ECTS).

If a transfer applicant accepts the study place and the transfer decision, the transferred subjects will be excluded from the study plan and the tuition fee calculation in the study contract.

The study subjects are transferred until the semester the student is admitted to. This is due to possible future changes to the study programme which may take place. Rest assured, RSU guarantees that the study programme will be implemented in full even though it might differ somewhat from what is planned at the current moment. Over time the list of study subjects as well as the number of ECTS received for study subjects may change even though the change is rare and does not affect many study subjects. 

If you want to have more study subjects credited from your previous studies in the future/upcoming semesters or if during your studies at RSU, you have acquired additional ECTS outside of RSU, every semester the existing/additional/updated grade transcript has to be submitted anew. The faculty/Committee would follow the same procedure and might transfer additional credit points.

Before the start of the studies

Please see the Important information for applicants who have received Offers of Study Place in the middle of the webpage.

If you have not completed the ongoing semester in the study programme at the relevant university by the deadline of the application period, upon commencing studies at RSU you can apply for credit transfer within the first month by filing an application for Comparison and validation of learning outcomes to the dean of the responsible faculty/department and adding relevant academic documents for transfer.

Usually, due to the misalignment of study programmes, there are a number of courses (like Medical Terminology in Latvian, First Aid and Civil Defence, etc.) that students have to study from the earlier semesters through the RSU Open University. Please see the RSU website section Open University for Transfer Students for more information on how to apply for the courses.

When taking study subjects from the previous semester, please bear in mind that students cannot study more than 20 Credit Points (CP) / 30 ECTS per semester. This includes both regular studies and Open University subjects combined.

Study plans and timetables for the upcoming semester are available during Orientation Week. The timetable will include all study subjects from the respective semester. In accordance with the STUDY RESULT TRANSFER REPORT and INDIVIDUAL STUDY PLAN in the first class, the student has to inform a professor about the exempted course. 

During the Orientation week, RSU International Department organizes a special workshop for transfer students with faculty members and Open University staff participating. This is the perfect opportunity and the best time to receive answers to all of your practical questions regarding the transfer.

Contact information for any questions regarding RSU study programmes, study subjects or credit transfer: