Will you lose college credits after ten years?

Answer 1

Whether credits particular to specific course work are still usable is really up to the receiving college or university. That being said, most general education courses have no expiration date. These could include - for example - English Composition, History, Social Sciences, Literature, Fine Arts etc. Where you do find cut off dates are with the exact sciences where course work over ten years old are not usable. This is usually critical where those sciences are being used to fulfill a requirement particular to the Health or Allied Health fields. Still, some colleges and universities within this area will have a cut off date of seven years, and still others at five years. An individual should contact the college or university of interest and speak to an Enrollment Specialist for accurate information that is specific to that institution. Viper1

Answer 2

Typically, the general education courses such as English composition, history, humanities, social science - unless otherwise stated by the college or university - are good forever. There are institutions that do have a ten year cut-off when lab sciences are over ten years old. In addition, some schools may have a seven year or even five year cut-off when it comes to lab sciences that are requirements within a major. These are usually within the medical or allied health professions such as nursing, pre-med, etc. However, a specific department within an institution can also have cut-offs particular to their program. For example, if an individual completed a basic "Applications Using Microcomputers" course in 1985, it only stands to reason the course content would be much different than today's basic computer course. If a major requires this course, the department who's area of responsibility the major lies, can state the course does not fill the requirement. Still, most general education courses do not have such a cut-off.