Retroactive credits are credits granted in recognition of previous language study.
Retroactive credits earned at UW-Madison do correspond to particular courses, for example ASIALANG 101: First Semester Chinese, but the credits are not graded and do not factor into your GPA.
You cannot receive retroactive credits by simply taking a placement test or any other exam. You must take the class that you are placed into within our department, and meet the following requirements to earn credit for the lower-level courses:
- The course must be your first course at UW-Madison in the language.
- The course must be designated appropriate for earning retroactive credits by the department.
- You must take the course before you have earned 30 degree credits. This does not include AP, CLEP, IB, or other college credit earned in high school, nor does it include retroactive credits earned in another language. It does include courses transferred from another institution where you were working towards a degree.
- You must earn a B or better in the class.
- Please note: retroactive credits cannot be earned for the same course for which AP credits were earned. While students are able to earn both retroactive credits and AP credits, they cannot do so for the same course.
If you meet the above requirements, retroactive credits will be applied automatically to your record.