Course Substitution

Course Substitution: Preparation

In meeting graduation requirements, it is sometimes necessary to substitute one course for another. See more information on Course Substitutions in the “Academic Regulations” section of the Undergraduate Catalog .

To avoid prerequisite issues or a delay in graduation, this request should be submitted as early as possible. Note that some colleges do not consider requests in the last semester, so it is best to submit prior to application for graduation. Only courses that you have already completed or are currently pre-registered for can be used in a Substitution request.

This is a request for a change to the curriculum requirements for an individual student and approval is not guaranteed, nor does approval for this individual student imply that the same request will be approved for others. You will be notified via email once your request is approved or denied.

Course Substitution: Student Responsibilities

Before submission of this electronic substitution request, the details of the request should first be discussed with your primary advisor. Complete the request and the mandatory detailed justification section with applicable information. A clear and detailed justification will expedite the review process. You may be asked to provide additional documentation upon review by approvers. If additional documentation is needed to further justify your request, you will be notified via email.

General Education Course Substitution Review Process

The Clemson Crossings/General Education curriculum has some areas that are driven by student learning outcomes rather than by content alone: the Global Challenges area (2022-2023 catalog and after), the Cross Cultural Awareness area (catalogs prior to 2022-2023), and the Science and Technology in Society area (catalogs prior to 2022-2023). Students may request review of a course via a course substitution form for courses not listed in the General Education areas in the catalog.

To prepare the course substitution form:

  1. Check the Undergraduate Academic Catalog for the General Education student learning outcomes for the student's catalog year. The course for which the course substitution is being prepared must be a good fit with our student learning outcomes.
  2. Students should work with the academic advisor to create a new note in CU Navigate and upload the syllabus from the course. If the course syllabus is not available, students should provide a narrative describing how the course and the work performed by the student on assignments meets the student learning outcome and upload a sample of their work from the course. All documentation should be in CU Navigate. (Substitution requests without documentation will not be approved.)
  3. Submit the substitution request, add a note that the documentation is in CU Navigate. For students following the 2022-2023 catalog and after, no course may be used to fulfill two General Education requirements (i.e., Mathematics and Global Challenges), so course substitution requests should be submitted only for courses not already fulfilling a General Education requirement. If you are unsure, check the student's Degree Works audit. Global Challenges course substitution requests can be for Clemson courses only, not courses taken elsewhere.

Transferring Credits from Another School

An Approval of Credits to Be Earned at Another School (PDF) must be submitted prior to enrolling at another institution. Course substitutions are not permitted in situations where Academic Forgiveness has been previously applied. See Transferring Credits.

Submit Course Substitution Request

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