Following is information on earning credit by examination for undergraduate and graduate students.

Undergraduate Students

You may earn credit by examination in two ways:

1. If you are a new or re-entering undergraduate student, on the recommendation of the Board of Admissions you may be allowed credit by examination for knowledge that you acquired since graduation from high school, either by independent study or at another institution, and for which you have not been allowed advanced standing credit. You should apply to the Office of the Registrar for credit.

2. If you are a student in good standing and currently registered in a regular session, you may qualify for course credit by examination. You may apply for credit to the dean of your college or school on the Petition for Credit by Examination, obtainable from the Office of the Registrar or on the web at registrar.berkeley.edu. You may apply for credit by examination in any course listed in the current General Catalog that pertains to the regular sessions at Berkeley. However, the subject in which you want to be examined should be one in which, in the opinion of the instructor in charge or the department, knowledge can be tested by examination. You must file a separate petition for each course for a fee of $5 per course. In certain laboratory, field, or practice courses, neither a written nor an oral examination may be a satisfactory test. You may not receive credit by examination (1) if the credit would duplicate credit that you presented for admission to the University, or (2) in elementary courses in your native language if it is not English. The examination must cover the entire course and be administered at one sitting of no longer than three hours. It may be the regularly scheduled final examination for the class, provided that the examination meets the foregoing criteria. The result of the examination may be reported to the Office of the Registrar only as Passed or Satisfactory, according to the regulations governing the assignment of these grades. Further information concerning credit by examination may be obtained from the Office of the Registrar.

Graduate Students

If you are a graduate student in residence, you may petition to receive a limited amount of course credit toward your degree by passing examinations on material covered in certain courses in lieu of taking those courses. Laboratory courses or graduate seminar or research courses are excluded. You must be registered for at least 4 units of upper division and/or graduate course work at the time you take the examination and you must be in good academic standing (3.0 grade point average or better). The final result of the examination will only be reported as satisfactory or unsatisfactory. You may obtain the petition from the Office of the Registrar. Approval to take these examinations must be given by the dean of the Graduate Division and by the course instructor, or, if no instructor is designated, by the department chair.