Welcome to Missouri Baptist University! By registering for an EXCEL course, you have chosen to pursue a challenging journey into an academic subject that will benefit you in a variety of ways. You have begun the trip toward full-time college study.
We find that EXCEL students take their course work seriously and make the most of their high school classes.
Information in this guide will answer many of your questions and those of your parents and guardians. As an officially registered student at Missouri Baptist University, it is important for you to read this guide.
If you need other information, please feel free to contact the EXCEL office at 314-392-2203 or through excel@mobap.edu.
We trust you will succeed this semester and that your courses will serve you well now and in your future college years.
Each year MBU sends hundreds of transcripts for EXCEL students to schools across Missouri and the nation. Due to administrative differences at each institution, MBU cannot guarantee that every course will transfer to every college or university.
Students should call their prospective colleges before turning in their EXCEL registration forms. Because EXCEL does not accept late registrations, it is the student’s responsibility to find out if a particular course will transfer to the school of his or her choice before enrolling in the program.
We suggest the following steps to check on the transferability of dual credit to a student’s chosen school:
Once you have registered, maintain a file for your dual credit course(s) including the following:
Try to achieve a good grade. Many universities will accept only transferred courses with a grade of “C” or above.
Most students who have reported the successful transfer of Missouri Baptist University EXCEL credit have received recognition in the form of degree (like) credit, placement in an advanced course, and/or exemption from a similar course at the colleges where they attend.
Remember:
Once you have registered for and completed an EXCEL course, the MBU transcript certifies that you have earned college credit, but it does not automatically guarantee the credit will be accepted at another institution. When credit is not given for dual credit courses, the following reasons may apply:
Because a college or university has recognized EXCEL credit in the past, does not meant that it has a future commitment to do so. Evaluation of any kind of transfer credit is made on an individual basis. By contrast, the fact that an institution has limited its acceptance of EXCEL credit does not imply that those limitations are permanent.
Transcripts of students’ EXCEL courses are available through the Records Department at Missouri Baptist University. Academic transcripts, official or unofficial, must be requested from the Records Department in writing. You may request a transcript at any time during the year. Students planning to register for their freshman year at college should request their EXCEL transcript in early June.
Students requesting transcripts may choose one of the following methods:
OR
There is no charge for the first transcript issued for any student. The charge for each subsequent transcript is $6.00.
If you choose to mail transcript requests, please use the following address:
Missouri Baptist University
Attn: Records Office
One College Park Drive
St. Louis, MO 63141-8698
Or they may be faxed to:
MBU Records Office
(314) 744-7652
For more information, visit the transcript requests page.
How do I receive credit for an MBU dual credit course?
To receive credit on a Missouri Baptist University transcript, students fulfill these requirements:
The following entry appears in the Missouri Baptist University catalog:
Missouri Baptist University considers all grades earned through EXCEL as university grades. All earned grades will appear on the student’s transcript and will become part of the student’s undergraduate GPA if the student enrolls as a full-time student at Missouri Baptist University. Students planning to attend other colleges or universities should note that most institutions do not accept transfer courses in which students have earned grades lower than a “C.”
Courses officially dropped, using a completed, signed, and submitted drop form from the EXCEL Office, on or before the census date, will not appear on the student’s transcript. Students who registered and paid fees before the census date will be eligible for a refund. Courses officially dropped after the census, but before 80% of the course has been completed, will appear on the transcript with the grade of W, indicating that the student withdrew without grade point penalty. Students dropping a course after the census date will not be eligible for a refund. Courses dropped after 80% of the course has been completed will appear on the transcript with a WF; no refund will be available.
What is a credit hour?
College courses are usually described in terms of credit hours. Some courses are considered as “three-hour courses.” In other cases, courses may be considered for one, two, four, or even five hours of credit.
What happens when I earn college credit?
Upon successful completion of an EXCEL course with at least a “C,” you will earn course credit from Missouri Baptist University and the course will appear on your MBU transcript.
How can the college credit be used?
College and universities often accept coursework completed at other universities. Upon receiving the student’s transcript, institutions can transfer the credit hours into the planned program of study, reducing the number of courses the student must complete in order to graduate. Another option is that the university can exempt the student from taking certain courses required for freshmen and sophomores including introductory courses in composition, math, science and social studies. Students may also be able to use the transfer credit for prerequisites for their major or minor fields of study.
What is the difference between “like” credit and “elective” credit?
In most cases, a dual credit course is transferred and accepted as the same course the student would need to complete as a freshman or sophomore. It transfers as “like” credit.
In other cases, the credit hours are counted as “elective” credit because the receiving university does not have a course that matches the course the dual credit student is transferring. In that case, the student can count the hours toward graduation but may still need to take a course that is similar to, but not the same as, the dual credit course.
An EXCEL student may elect to drop a course. However, the student will not receive a refund of the course fee. If the student chooses to drop a course, he or she must complete an EXCEL Course Withdrawal Form and submit it to the EXCEL office.
If a student has an emergency and/or medical situation or a change of residence to another school attendance area and must withdraw from all high school courses, including the EXCEL course(s), the student’s parent/guardian and the high school should do the following:
The cover letter and documentation should be submitted to the following address:
EXCEL Office
Attn: Student Withdrawal
Missouri Baptist University
One College Park Drive
St. Louis, MO 63141
If EXCEL determines the request for withdrawal because of emergency circumstances is valid, they will initiate action to withdraw the student from the college course and to refund the course fee.
The University’s 2006-2008 Academic Catalog includes the following policy on academic integrity and honesty:
Academic dishonesty jeopardizes the academic integrity of the university and is not keeping with Christian principles. It is considered to be a serious offense. Missouri Baptist University expects students to attach their names only to work or research that they have done themselves. Materials and sources must be properly documented. Students must prepare original work and research, present their own reports and papers and take examinations without any assistance or aids not expressly permitted in the testing procedure.
Academic dishonesty includes, but not necessarily confined to: plagiarizing; cheating on examinations; submitting counterfeit reports, tests or papers; stealing tests or other academic materials; knowingly falsifying academic records or documents such as transcripts; and submitting the same work to more than one class without consent of the instructors involved.
Academic dishonesty of any nature will result in disciplinary action, which may include receiving a failing grade on the work in question, failure in the course or dismissal from the university. Additional information is available in the Missouri Baptist University Student Handbook. (42)
Like students on campus at Missouri Baptist University, EXCEL students are expected to attend classes regularly. The EXCEL program accepts the high school’s policy for absence from an EXCEL course.