OHIO BOARD OF REGENTS

HEI Enrollment Data Submissions

Alternative Credit (AC) File
Revised September 1, 1998

File Description

The Alternative Credit (AC) file contains records for each undergraduate student who has had credits either accepted or awarded from a source other than instruction at this college or university or through a cross-registration agreement with another institution for degree credit during this term.

Alternative credit might be obtained through the following means:

transfer credits,
credit by examination,
credits from institutions outside of higher education,
advanced standing (placement) credits,
life experience credits.

All Alternative Credit records must have a corresponding entry in the Student Entrance table on the HEI database or in the Student Entrance (SE) file for this term.

Submission Schedule

Once per term.

Capture Date

The capture date for the Alternative Credit (AC) file is the 30th day after the last day of the term.

Relationship to Other File Submissions

If there are students reported in the Alternative Credit (AC) file who have not been previously reported in a Student Entrance (SE) file, then the Alternative Credit (AC) file may not be submitted until the Student Entrance (SE) file is submitted, edited with zero errors, and loaded onto the HEI database.

Data Fields

Field Names	Field Attributes and Procedures	Data Format
Student Identifier	Enter the federally assigned Social Security Number (SSN) whenever possible. If the SSN is unavailable, enter another identifier which uniquely relates to this student. For a given student, the same identifier must be used in all enrollment files.	Alphanumeric 9 characters Columns 1-9 Left justify
Type of Credit	Enter a code from Type of Credit Codes.	Alphabetic 2 characters Columns 10-11
Sending Institution	Enter a code from IPEDS Institution Codes to identify the sending institution. If the sending institution is located in another country and no IPEDS institution code is available, enter FOREGN. If the credit being transferred is from an Ohio institution that is not in the IPEDS Institution Codes, enter OTHROC. If the credit being transferred is from an institution outside of Ohio that is not in the IPEDS Institution Codes, enter OUTOFS. If Type of Credit is not TC, enter XXXXXX.	Alphanumeric 6 characters Columns 12-17
Credit Hours	Enter the number of credit hours accepted or awarded during this term, expressed in tenths.	Numeric 4 characters Columns 18-21
Delete Switch	Enter Y if the record is to be deleted from the database. Otherwise, enter N.	Alphabetic 1 character Column 22

Additional Explanations

Multiple Sources or Awards: If credits were accepted or awarded from more than one source during the term there should be a separate record for each award. The number of credit hours in each record should be the number accepted or awarded from one source during this term only.

Definitions and Descriptions of Data Fields

Type of Credit

Transfer Credit: Credit subject to transfer evaluation accepted from another higher education institution. The source must have an IPEDS Institution Code to be recognized as a higher education institution unless it is outside of the U.S.
Outside Coursework: Credit subject to transfer evaluation accepted from a source other than another higher education institution. For example, credit accepted for military instruction or industry-related training.
Credit by Exam: Credit awarded through testing administered by this institution.
Advanced Standing: Credit awarded through standardized testing administered by an outside organization. This includes credit awarded through Advanced Placement (AP) or College Level Examination Program (CLEP).
Life Experience: Credit awarded for non-academic experiences.
Other: Credit awarded through some means other than described above which is not the result of instruction at this college or university or through a cross-registration agreement with another institution.

Sending Institution: College or university where academic credit subject to transfer evaluation was initially awarded.

Return to Enrollment Files

http://regents.ohio.gov/hei/datasubdoc/enrollment/production/acfile.html
Last updated September 1, 1998