Additional Policies and Procedures
In addition to the standard and program-specific admission requirements of GPS undergraduate and graduate programs, the following policies and procedures apply (as necessary) to any applicant to a GPS program.
ADMISSION ON ACADEMIC PROBATION
An applicant with a GPA of less than 2.00 may apply to be admitted on academic probation. Decisions to grant probationary admittance will be made by the appropriate GPS Program Coordinator in accordance with all policies and procedures as determined by the student’s chosen GPS program.
TRANSFER CREDIT
Transfer credit is granted only for those courses for which a grade of C- or better was earned. Transfer credit policies may vary by degree program. Please refer to GPS program-specific sections of this Catalog for more information.
Students entering MVNU who have earned college credit after earning a high school diploma or equivalent are considered transfer students. Students earning college credit concurrently during high school from programs such as dual enrollment options are considered "first time in college" upon entry to MVNU. In either case, official transcripts must be sent directly to MVNU from all higher education institutions attended.
Transfer credit from other regionally accredited institutions may be granted for courses that apply to MVNU academic programs. Credit from non-regionally accredited institutions is evaluated on a case-by-case basis and may be accepted only as prior learning elective credit.
Transfer credit is granted for those courses for which a grade of "D" or better was earned only when those courses were part of a student's earned associate or baccalaureate degree at a regionally accredited institution. If a student has not completed a degree, transfer credit is granted when a grade of "C-" or better was earned, provided the courses are comparable to those of MVNU. Grades from accepted courses will not be factored into the student's cumulative GPA at MVNU.
Military transcript credit will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and equated to courses when applicable or accepted as prior learning elective credit.
GUEST STUDENTS
Students admitted to a degree program at another institution may enroll at MVNU as a guest student by presenting a letter of authorization from the academic dean or registrar of the other University. Guest students may enroll in courses not leading to degrees by showing evidence of ability to profit from the course and by accepting the ideals of MVNU. When a course the guest student wants to enroll in at MVNU has a prerequisite, the student must present an official transcript from any institution(s) showing the prerequisite is completed.
HOMESCHOOL STUDENTS
MVNU welcomes students who have graduated from homeschool programs of study. Homeschool students should complete the standard admission process with the following exception: a homeschool transcript may be produced by the homeschool instructor or parent (homeschool transcript templates are provided at https://www.mvnu.edu/homeschool).
RIGHT OF REFUSAL
Mount Vernon Nazarene University reserves the right to refuse admission to any applicant if there is evidence that the applicant's lifestyle or behavior is contrary to the University's culture and lifestyle expectations, or when an applicant's criminal record compromises the safety of the University's students or employees.
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
Students who are not citizens of the United States of America and desire admission to MVNU must complete the regular admission process with the following provisions:
- The prospective student must complete and return an application to the University’s Admissions Office by April 1 and be accepted by June 1 for fall enrollment. For spring enrollment, students must apply by August 1 and be accepted by October 1. Exceptions to enrollment deadlines can be made when the student has taken all required actions and transcript translation/evaluation is in process.
- All international student-athletes must have their transcripts evaluated by InCred (https://www.incredevals.org) as required by the NAIA.
- All other International students must have their secondary school (or equivalent) and university transcripts evaluated by a member agency of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (https://www.naces.org/members) or a member agency of the Association of International Credential Evaluators, Inc. (https://www.aice-eval.org).
- If a prospective student has attended a secondary school and/or university in North America, official transcripts from each institution must be submitted to the School of GPS Admissions Office.
- All transcript evaluations must be received directly from the transcript evaluator and must contain a cumulative, unweighted GPA on a 4.0 system. College transcripts must contain a course-by-course evaluation with grades.
- All applicants from foreign countries and U.S. territories are required to provide recent evidence of proficiency in English by:
- scoring 70 or above on the Internet-based TOEFEL (Test of English as a Foreign Language); -or-
- scoring 525 or above on the written TOEFEL; -or-
- scoring 6.0 or above on the IELTS (International English Language Testing System); -or-
- if the applicant has earned a high school diploma or certificate where the medium of education was English, then the requirement for a TOEFL score can be waived.
- All tests of English proficiency must have been taken in the last two years to be considered for acceptance. An official score report must be mailed directly to the School of GPS Admissions Office.
- Each international student must furnish the University with evidence of the ability to finance an education by completing the International Student Certification of Finances form and the International Student Financial Aid Application. These forms can be obtained from the University's Admissions Office. Upon verification of funds, an initial deposit of $2500 must be submitted to the University.
- The enrollment deposit is refundable minus a $250 processing charge for students who cancel before the deposit deadline.
- Students enrolling for spring or enrolling only for one semester are required to submit half of the deposit amount ($1250).
- This enrollment deposit suffices as the tuition deposit.
- Securing finances for school is the responsibility of the student. International students do not qualify for U.S. federally sponsored financial aid, but may qualify for academic, church-related, international student, and other scholarships from the University.
- Once the above steps have been completed and the student has been accepted, the University will issue an I-20 form for the student to use in obtaining an F-1 student visa. Students who are citizens of a country other than the United States of America (USA) must hold the F-1 visa in order to register for classes and enroll at the University. Persons who have entered the United States on a visitor’s visa must convert it to an F-1 visa before the University will consider admission. A SEVIS fee of $200 must be paid in addition to the visa application fee. International students on academic or disciplinary probation at another university, or who have been dismissed from another university, are not considered for admission.
STATE AUTHORIZATION RECIPROCITY
Mount Vernon Nazarene University was approved to participate in the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (NC-SARA) in 2015. NC-SARA is a national initiative that seeks to make distance education (online) courses more accessible to students across state lines, as well as making it easier for states to regulate and institutions to participate in interstate distance education. Please contact Jay Mahan (Assistant Registrar for Graduate and Professional Studies) at jay.mahan@mvnu.edu if you have questions regarding MVNU's reciprocity with your state of residence.
REGISTRATION
All persons, whether registering for credit or for audit, must be admitted to the university, registered for the course section(s) in the database, and pay applicable fees.