Transfer Articulation: History

The Department of History at Sam Houston State University would like to extend a personnel invitation for you to visit and eventually join our department and faculty. The department offers opportunities for students to excel at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The faculty is committed to providing students with opportunities to further their professional development and research at all levels.

All History majors and minors at SHSU must complete History 163 (HIST 1301), History 164 (HIST 1302), History 265 (HIST 2311), and History 266 (HIST 2312). Applicants may transfer up to 12 semester credit hours (HIST 1301, HIST 1302, HIST 2301, HIST 2302), and towards a major or minor in History at Sam Houston State University. 

History Major and Minor Required Courses

Note: A maximum of 12 semester hours of transfer credit in history may be applied towards a major or minor in History

Transfer courses specific to the university major that you have selected appear in the section above. Transfer students are encouraged to maximize transfer courses required for their major as described above in addition to core courses at the transfer institution. Most university majors were meant to be taken over a 4 year period. Completion of freshman and sophomore level courses in the major with appropriate core courses helps transfer students to graduate in the minimum amount of time at minimum cost. 

As a final note, transfer students completing "residence requirements" at state supported Texas colleges are typically eligible to receive the associate degree by a process known as "reverse transfer" after having accumulated 60 (to 62) or more combined college transfer and SHSU hours. Reverse transfer allows students to count SHSU courses to the bachelor degree as well as apply the hours to the associate degree. The residency requirement for most colleges is 15 to 16 hours with a few colleges requiring 24 hours. SHSU enthusiastically supports associate degrees via reverse transfer with all state supported colleges

In general, Bachelor of Arts degrees have a foreign language requirement. Most Bachelor of Science degrees require additional mathematics and lab science requirements. Refer to the university catalog under which you plan to file for graduation for your specific degree requirements.

Most degrees require a minimum of 120 hours with 42 advanced hours (3000-level and 4000-level courses); however, some degrees require additional hours. All students are required to complete at least six writing-enhanced courses accumulating a minimum of 18 semester hours towards degree completion. Six of the hours must come from the student’s major field of study. SHSU students who have accumulated more than 60 hours may be blocked from enrolling in upper division courses until they have completed their math, English composition, and 4 to 8 hours of lab science.

In general, the Bachelor of Arts degree requires 8 hours of lab science and the Bachelor of Science degree requires 16 hours of lab science. Many majors require specific math and science courses from the core to apply for graduation. Applicants for the Bachelor of Arts degree should consult their major department web page or catalog for foreign language requirements. Many colleges including Business and Education have additional prerequisites for registration in upper-level (junior/senior) classes, including GPA restrictions and completion of lower-level (freshman/sophomore) course work.

In general,it is not advantageous for the transfer students to simply take courses that transfer. The most desirable goal is typically to only select courses from the core and major lower-level (first two university years), which not only transfer but satisfy degree requirements for graduation in the major to which you aspire.

Students are encouraged to select the university catalog offering them the most advantages with respect to degree completion. The respective university and/or college catalog selected for graduation determines final degree requirements.

The Core Curriculum at Sam Houston State University (to be used by all incoming students as of fall 2014) contains 42 semester credit hours, encompassing nine component areas. Each component area has a minimum credit hour requirement and a selection of specific courses that may be used to satisfy the requirement. The Core Curriculum details Sam Houston State University courses and their Texas Common Course Number (TCCN) equivalents for college transfer students which comprise SHSU’s core curriculum.

Many SHSU disciplines including the sciences, business, and education require specific courses from the SHSU core as degree specific graduation requirements. To minimize cost and time to complete degree requirements always select SHSU/transfer core courses specified as degree requirements in your intended major.  If you have not decided on a major, select core courses supporting your intended area of academic concentration.

Prior to enrolling in core classes, students are encouraged to review specific degree requirements for their major. Selection of major-specified core courses reduces the total number of hours required for graduation.

If you do not see a Texas Common Course Number (TCCN) mapping a specific core course to your transfer institution, please go to Transfer Course Equivalency Guide and select your institution from the drop-down menu. The result will list all currently mapped transfer courses from your institution to SHSU courses.