Exemptions & PLAR

Most Mohawk College General Education electives will automatically transfer if you change programs, or complete one program and register for another. This means that most students who have previously completed Mohawk College General Education electives are not required to apply for exemptions from other Mohawk College General Education electives. You can track the number of General Education electives required for your program in the My Academic Progress (MAP) tool. 

If you have previously completed General Education electives at Mohawk College, please check your MAP to see if your electives have transferred over to the "College/General Education Requirements" spaces for your current program of study. You can access MAP through MyMohawk > Academics > My grades > My Academic Progress (MAP).

If you have previously completed General Education electives at Mohawk College and your elective(s) display under "Other Course Activity" section of the MAP tool, please contact gened [at] mohawkcollege.ca (gened[at]mohawkcollege[dot]ca) to inquire about the transfer eligibility of your prior Mohawk College credit(s) for General Education credit(s).

If you previously completed courses at an accredited post-secondary institution, you might be eligible for exemption from one or more of your General Education electives. There are several factors to consider when selecting a course to use for a General Education exemption request. To qualify for General Education credit, the transfer course must meet all the following requirements.

• The course must be awarded by an accredited post-secondary college or university;
• The course must support learning in one of the five General Education themes: Arts in Society, Civic Life, Social and Cultural Understanding, Personal Understanding, or Understanding Science and Technology. Most courses in humanities, social sciences, or introductory sciences qualify as General Education;
• The content of the course must be unrelated to the vocational outcomes or courses for the student’s program of study. Please visit General Education Program Restrictions;
• Courses that focus on vocational, professional, technical, general interest, or applied skills and knowledge, do not qualify as General Education. This includes language, advanced science/math, computer, or applied arts courses, and placement, practicum, or laboratory courses;
• The course must be a minimum of 3 credits or 36-49 contact hours;
• The final grade on the official transcript must be 60% (C) or higher (50% for courses taken at Mohawk College). Courses with non-numerical grades or that are evaluated on a pass/fail basis are not eligible for credit transfer.

Note: To receive transfer credit/exemption for a program-mandated General Education course, the transferring course must match approximately 80% of the learning outcomes for the respective Mohawk College course.

You can apply for a General Education exemption online through MyMohawk. For step-by-step instructions, please visit Applying for a Course Exemption. 

When applying for your General Education exemption(s), you can submit up to several requests on the same Mohawk College Online Exemption Request Form by adjusting the number the exemption requests.

For General Education elective requests, please select "General Education ELECTIVE" as the exemption type.

For program-mandated General Education courses, please select "Regular Course" as the exemption type.

Note: Do not assume your application will be approved! If you are scheduled to take your General Education course, please register and remain active in your course until you receive an email informing you of the decision regarding your request. This email will be sent to your Mohawk College email address. If your exemption request is approved, your General Education course will be automatically dropped from your timetable.

If you are not currently registered in a General Education course and you are requesting an exemption from a General Education course that you are scheduled to take in a future semester, you can apply for the exemption(s) at any time. 

If you are submitting an exemption request for a General Education course that you are currently registered within, your application should be received before classes begin in order to be processed before the end of the add/drop registration period. For registration deadlines, please visit Academic and Important Dates.

Note: If you are registered within a General Education elective course, wish to remain within your elective, but want to apply for an exemption request for a future elective, please wait until your current elective has completed. Once you receive your official final grade for your current elective, you can then apply for an exemption request from your future elective. For official final grade release dates, please visit Academic and Important Dates.

Processing timelines can vary depending on the time of year; however, applications are normally assessed within 10 business days from the time General Education receives your validated paperwork. For paperwork requirements, please visit Applying for a Course Exemption.

Do not assume your application will be approved! If you are scheduled to take your General Education course, please register and remain active in your course until you receive an email informing you of the decision regarding your request. This email will be sent to your Mohawk College email address. If your exemption request is approved, your General Education course will be automatically dropped from your timetable.

Yes. When applying for your General Education exemption(s), you can submit up to several requests on the same Mohawk College Online Exemption Request Form by adjusting the number the exemption requests.

For General Education elective requests, please select "General Education ELECTIVE" as the exemption type.

For program-mandated General Education courses, please select "Regular Course" as the exemption type.

General Education exemptions are represented as “E” grade for "Exemption Granted" within your academic record. The "E" grade is used to indicate successful achievement of formal comparable learning outcomes. An "E" grade is not calculation within your semester GPA nor your overall WGPA for your program. For further information, please visit the Grading and Transcripts Policy.

If your exemption request has been approved for a General Education elective course, the exemption will be posted against an OPEL GE10x course code.