International Baccalaureate Program (IB)

INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE (IB) PROGRAM

Sam Houston State University Policy Information

Sam Houston State University recognizes the International Baccalaureate Program for those students who earn the IB diploma/certificate. Although Sam Houston typically accepts a maximum of thirty (30) semester hours of credit through a combination of national standardized examinations and/or locally designed and administered departmental tests, students earning the IB diploma/certificate are capable of earning in excess of those 30 hours.

  • GENERAL INFORMATION
    • Information on the International Baccalaureate Program may be obtained from high school counselors or by visiting the International Baccalaureate website at www.ibo.org.
    • Letter grades A and B take precedence over credit-by-exam.
    • Credit-by-Exam will automatically replace letter grades D and F. If a letter grade of C is listed on the transcript for a course in which credit-by-exam is also applicable, the C will take precedence over the credit-by-exam. Students will have the option to request credit (via credit-by-exam) in lieu of letter grade C. The student will have to initiate the change and work with the respective department and Admissions to finalize the change.
    • Although credit-by-exam replaces letter grades C, D, and F, it does not remove the letter grade from the transcript.
    • Specific course prefixes, numbers, and credit hours will be awarded for acceptable scores but no grades will be awarded 
  • EXAMS ACCEPTED/CREDIT AWARDED
    INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE PROGRAM

    EXAM AREA

    LEVEL

    SHSU COURSE EQUIVALENT

     Group 1

    		 Level Course Number Hours

     English

    		 HL ENGL 1301 and ENGL 2332 6

     SL

    		 ENGL 1301 3
    Extended Essay

    Grade A or B

    		 ENGL 1302 3

    Group 2

    Level

    Course Number

    Hours

    Spanish

    HL

    SPAN 1411, 1412, 2311, and 2312

    14

    SL

    SPAN 1411 and 1412

    8

    French

    HL

    FREN 1411, 1412, 2311, and 2312

    14

    SL

    FREN 1411 and 1412

    8

    German

    HL

    GERM 1411, 1412, 2311, and 2312

    14

    SL

    GERM 1411 and 1412

    8

    Arabic

    SL

    ARAB 1411 and 1412

    8

    Chinese - Cantonese

    SL

    FOLG 1411 and 1412

    8

    Chinese – Mandarin

    SL

    FOLG 1411 and 1412

    8

    Danish

    SL

    FOLG 1411 and 1412

    8

    Hebrew

    SL

    FOLG 1411 and 1412

    8

    Hindi

    SL

    FOLG 1411 and 1412

    8

    Korean

    SL

    FOLG 1411 and 1412

    8

    Norwegian

    SL

    FOLG 1411 and 1412

    8

    Portuguese 

    SL

    FOLG 1411 and 1412

    8

    Russian

    SL

    FOLG 1411 and 1412

    8

    Dutch

    SL

    FOLG 1411 and 1412

    8

    Finnish

    SL

    FOLG 1411 and 1412

    8

    Indonesian

    SL

    FOLG 1411 and 1412

    8

    Italian

    SL

    FOLG 1411 and 1412

    8

    Japanese

    SL

    FOLG 1411 and 1412

    8

    Swedish

    SL

    FOLG 1411 and 1412

    8

    Language A1 Self-taught

    SL

    FOLG 1411 and 1412

    8

    Group 3

    Level

    Course Number

    Hours

    History Europe

    HL

    HIST 2312 and 1000

    6

    SL

    HIST 2312

    3

    History Americas

    HL

    HIST 1301 and 1302

    6

    SL

    HIST 1301

    3

    Economics 

    HL

    ECON 2302 and 2301

    6

    SL

    ECON 2302

    3

     Psychology 

    HL

    PSYC 1301 and 2315

    6

    SL

    PSYC 1301

    3

     Philosophy 

    HL

    PHIL 1301

    3

    SL

    PHIL 1301

    3

    ITGS

    HL

    SOCI 3381 and 1000

    6

    SL

    SOCI 3381

    3

    Group 4

    Level

    Course Number

    Hours

    Chemistry

    HL

    CHEM 1411 and 1412

    8

    SL

    		 CHEM 1411          4

    Biology

    HL

    BIOL 1406 and 1407

    8

    SL

    BIOL 1408

    4

    Physics

    HL

    PHYS 1301, 1101, 1302, and 1102

    8

    SL

    PHYS 1305 and 1105

    4

     Environmental Systems  and Societies

    SL

    ENVR 1301

    3

    Group 5

    Level

    Course Number

    Hours

    Mathematics Analysis and Approaches

    SL

    Math 1410

    4

    HL

    Math 1420

    4

    Mathematics Applications and Interpretation

    		 SL

    Math 1314 or Math 1332 or Math 1342

    3

    HL

    		 Math 1410 4

    Computer Science

    HL

    CSTE 1330

    3

    SL

    CSTE 1330

    3

    Group 6

    Level

    Course Number

    Hours

    Dance

    HL

    DANC 1372

    3

    SL

    DANC 1372

    3

    Film

    HL

    MCOM 2366

    3

    SL

    MCOM 2366

    3

    Music

     

    HL

    MUSI 1306

    3

    SL

    MUSI 1306

    3

     

    Theatre 

    HL 

    THEA 1366

     3

    SL

    THEA 1366

     3

     

    Visual Arts 

    HL 

     ARTS 1301

     3

    SL 

     ARTS 1301

     3

  • LIMITATIONS
    • Students with the IB diploma/certificate will be allowed to gain at least 24 hours of credit provided they score at least a 4 on each exam.
    • Students without an IB diploma/certificate may earn credit for taking the exam on a case by case basis. In such cases, the various academic departments will determine what level of proficiency is needed to earn credit.
  • ACCEPTABLE SCORES AND CREDIT
    • An official score report must be received before credit will be awarded.
    • Click here to request your IB score report to be sent to SHSU.
    • A student must earn the International Baccalaureate diploma/certificate and receive a score of 4 or above to receive any course credit from the IB exam.
    • Students taking IB exams without achieving the IB diploma/certificate will be evaluated on an individual basis.
  • ADDITIONAL INFORMATION