What is a Letter of Permission?
A Letter of Permission allows students to take a course(s) at another university for credit towards a Waterloo degree.
In the Faculty of Arts, a Letter of Permission is granted only to students:
- who have successfully completed a minimum of four University of Waterloo courses*, and
- who are in Satisfactory academic standing.
*Exception: A Letter of Permission may be granted to post-degree diploma students who have successfully completed one University of Waterloo course.
A Letter of Permission application cannot be approved if there is a hold on a student’s Quest account.
Course eligibility
ALetter of Permission is not appropriate for all scenarios, and course transfer credit approval is at the discretion of a student’s academic advisor(s).
Some university courses (e.g. professional courses in education, nursing, and library science) are not eligible for Letter of Permission credit. If there is an exchange agreement in place between the University of Waterloo and the institution a student wishes to attend on Letter of Permission, the University of Waterloo global learning team (studyabroad@uwaterloo.ca) can advise on whether this may be possible.
International students should consult an Immigration Consultant in the International Experience Centre prior to completing a Letter of Permission application, to determine any impact on their eligibility for a Post-Graduation Work Permit.
Grading
Courses successfully completed on a Letter of Permission will be recorded on a student's academic record as a non-numeric grade(CR) if a grade of 60% or equivalent if attained.
- A grade of 60% or higher will be recorded as a transfer credit.
- Grades of 0% - 59% will result in the course not being recorded on a student’s record.
Arts transfer credit limits
The maximum number of transfer credits that can be granted by the Faculty of Arts is:
- 10.0 academic course units for a four-year degree
- 7.5 academic course units for a three-year degree
Credit earned for courses taken on Letter of Permission is included when calculating the maximum number of transfer credits that can be granted by the Faculty of Arts.
Students should be aware of the following regulations that impact the number of non-numeric grades used towards a degree:
- The Residency Requirement: At least 50% of the courses used to satisfy University of Waterloo total degree requirements must be University of Waterloo courses.
- The 50% Rule: At least 50% of the academic course units required to be awarded a degree, major, minor, option, or specialization must have numeric grades that are included in its average(s).
Approval Process
Arts students must have their Letter of Permission (LOP) application fully approved and submitted to the Centre prior to starting the course.
Students should follow these steps to seek approval for their Letter of Permission application:
- Contact your academic advisor to confirm your eligibility to take courses on Letter of Permission.
- Send each course outline to the academic advisor for the course subject area, for transfer credit assessment on the LOP form.
- Send the LOP form to the academic advisor(s) for their program or major (if different than discipline-specific advisor above), for approval.
- Send the form to the Arts Undergraduate Office for secondary approval.
- Once all approvals are completed, upload the form to the Centre website.
Final transcript submission
Students need to request an official transcript for the course be sent from the host institution directly to the Registrar’s Office within two months of the completion of the course.
Students should notify the Centre and their academic advisor if they withdraw from or do not take the approved course(s).
Retroactive Approval Requests
Academic credit will not normally be awarded for Letter of Permission applications if they are submitted ‘retroactively’ (i.e. after courses have been completed). Students seeking a retroactive approval need to submit this request through a Petition for Exception to Academic Regulations to the Arts Examinations and Standings Committee.