Course Substitution or Wavier Request

Articulated courses -  Refer to www.assist.org for course equivalencies. They will automatically appear on the DPR/Planner.

Non-articulated courses are courses not on Assist.org. For non-articulated courses, you will need an approved Substitution/Waiver form in order to get credit for taking the course.

Yes.  You should get the substitute course PRE-APPROVED BEFORE enrolling in it. We do not accept courses that do not meet our quality requirements for AACSB International (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) and/or WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) accreditation. If students take courses without pre-approval, such courses may not be accepted as meeting degree requirements. Approval to substitute a non pre-approved course is at the discretion of the relevant department chair or designee.

Students seek PRE-APPROVAL by sending an email from their CSUN account to the relevant department chair or designee with the Subject line “Request for Substitution Pre-Approval.” Attach to the email the following: (1) a draft substitution/waiver form indicating which course is being substituted for the CSUN class, (2) a current DPR, and (3) supporting documents (i.e., syllabus in English).

Send an email from your CSUN account with the Subject Line "Course Substitution Request" to the appropriate department chair or program director with: (1) a completed substitution/waiver form, (2) a current DPR and supporting documents (i.e. syllabus in English, etc.) and (3) a copy of your pre-approval (i.e., email confirmation) as attachments. A scanner is available for student use in computer lab BB 2129.

Click this link:  https://www.csun.edu/sites/default/files/dncbe_sub_form_rev_9.12.2023-3_2.pdf

Refer to the most recent Nazarian College Substitution/Waiver form for a list of those authorized in the college to approve substitutions. All waivers must be approved by the respective department chair or designee of the course. The Substitution/Waiver form can be found at: https://www.csun.edu/sites/default/files/dncbe_sub_form_rev_9.12.2023-3_2.pdf

Students must earn a C or better in transfer courses used in the major.

For MATH-related substitutions, submit your request directly to the Chair of the Nazarian College Department of Systems and Operations Management (SOM). (See page 2 of the substitution form for contact information.) This includes substitutions for MATH 103 Mathematical Methods for Business (or a higher calculus course such as MATH 150A or MATH 255A) or MATH 140 Introductory Statistics.

BUS 302/302L Gateway and Lab and BUS 497 Capstone are the “bookend” courses for our business majors, are uniquely designed to meet the needs of our program, and are critical to our assurance of learning and continuous improvement effort. These two courses may NOT be substituted or waived; they may only be taken at CSUN. 

Only if there is an articulation agreement in place. Generally, only classes taken at other CSU campuses that are AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) accredited may be considered for substitution; the course content must match the equivalent CSUN course. See the AACSB website for a list of accredited schools:

http://www.aacsb.edu/en/accreditation/accredited-members/

A waiver is a request for an exception to a degree program requirement, either in terms of a specific course or number of units. Waivers are rare and are the purview of the Department Chair. A waiver of a course or units does not waive the minimum number of units to graduate. All CSU students are required to complete a minimum of 120 units in order to graduate with a bachelor’s degree. If a waiver is approved, you will typically be asked to complete another course in order to meet the minimum degree requirements (120) or the minimum units for your major as this cannot be waived.

Transient credit is a course taken outside of CSUN after being accepted to our program.

The David Nazarian College of Business and Economics will only accept the transfer of upper-level business courses from AACSB-accredited schools and economics courses from U.S. Regionally-accredited institutions. Under normal circumstances, transfer of transient coursework is limited to 6 units or 2 courses within the Major (this includes all upper division core, major, and major electives). Transient coursework is defined as classes taken at another university after being admitted into the David Nazarian College of Business and Economics.

Yes, students in an approved Study Abroad program may exceed the 6-unit limit with the department chair approval.

First, check with the CSUN Office of International Admissions to make sure the course is from an accredited institution and is transferrable to CSUN (http://www.csun.edu/admissions-records/international) . Then, obtain pre-approval from the Nazarian College of Business and Economics Department Chair or designee to ensure the course will be accepted in your major.  Once the approved course is completed, submit a completed request for substitution.  Send an email from your CSUN account with the Subject Line "Course Substitution Request" to the appropriate department chair or program director with: (1) a completed substitution/waiver form and (2) a current DPR and supporting documents (i.e. course descriptions and/or syllabus in English, etc.) as attachments. A scanner is available for student use in computer lab JH 2129.  Be sure to submit your official transcripts to Admissions & Records upon completion of the course.

Each quarter unit is equivalent to 0.6667 semester units. A typical 4-unit quarter system course equates to 2.6667 semester units. This is not a direct equivalent for the 3-unit courses in our business and economics programs. Your DPR will list a shortage. No formal waiver is required. During the graduation evaluation process, CSUN Admissions and Records will clear the deficiency for Nazarian College students.

European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) semester units are not weighted the same as semester units earned at U.S. universities.  The ECTS courses generally have fewer contact hours in a semester such that 1.00 ECTS credit hour is equal to 0.60 credit hours at CSUN.  This means that you will need 5 ECTS units to substitute for a 3 unit CSUN course.

The CSUN residence requirement refers to the minimum number of course units completed on this campus. The residence requirement is completion of 30 units “in residence at CSUN” in the following distributions:

• 24 of the 30 units must be completed in Upper Division;
• 12 of the 30 units must be in the major; and
• 9 of the 30 units must be in General Education.

Yes.  At least 50 percent of the business and economics course credit units and 50 percent of the specialized major credit units required for the Bachelor of Science degrees in Accountancy, Business Administration, Finance, Information Systems, Management, Marketing and the Bachelor of Arts in Economics must be completed in residence at CSUN. For more details see: http://www.csun.edu/catalog/about/colleges/cobae/

Yes. They do count towards the units in residence requirements as if they were taken at the home campus.

Generally, no. Only courses taken on the CSU Northridge campus apply toward the residency requirement. The only exception is a course taken through CSU Fully Online as explained above.

No, a class taken by a CSUN student at another campus through CSU Fully Online comes back to us like any other transfer course in terms of repeat rules: repeating an equivalent course elsewhere will not replace the CSUN grade in the GPA. Also, units earned for equivalent courses (if both attempts are passing grades) will not be counted twice.

In general, 7-10 business days, but may take longer.

Check your DPR two weeks from the time you submit your completed course substitution form.

Contact the Chair/Designee responsible for reviewing your Sub/Waiver request Course Substitution/Waiver Request.

If you believe the substitution was denied in error, you can appeal to the Nazarian College Associate Dean. To set up an appointment, contact the Office of the Associate Dean at 818-677-2466.  

Generally, 2 weeks, but may take up to 3-4 weeks if you are a graduating student.

The substitution will reflect in two places. First, in the body of the DPR where the required course is listed. You should see the substitute course applied to meet the applicable degree requirement. Second, near the end of the DPR in the section entitled: --- EXCEPTIONS TO ACADEMIC RECORD ---. This section provides a list of approved substitutions.

Contact the department chair of your major/minor.