Michigan Transfer Agreement (MTA)

With more than 140 transfer agreements with community colleges—more than any university in the state of Michigan—Eastern Michigan University has long been regarded as the most transfer-friendly school for community college students.

The Michigan Transfer Agreement (MTA) was mandated by the Michigan Legislature in Fall 2014 to replace the MACRAO agreement. The MTA allows for the transfer of 30 credits of core general education courses from a Michigan community college to a Michigan baccalaureate college or university. Students may complete the MTA as part of an associate’s degree or as a stand-alone package. MTA courses are approved by the community college.

The Michigan Transfer Agreement (MTA) satisfies EMU's General Education core requirements listed below:

  • Effective communication
  • Quantitative reasoning
  • Knowledge of the disciplines (arts, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences)

Transfer students (admitted to EMU as a transfer student) with an MTA endorsement on their transcript will only need to complete the general education application requirements below:

  • One approved Perspectives on a Diverse World course (may be transferred)
  • One approved Learning beyond the Classroom (LBC) course or experience completed at EMU
  • One writing intensive course in the student's major, completed at EMU

The MTA may be completed after initial enrollment at EMU. Students should let their advisor know they intend on completing the MTA in order to get appropriate advising.

For information about transferring without the MTA endorsement, see EMU's general education requirements and general education transfer guidelines.

The MTA applies only to the general education program and does not exempt students from meeting requirements of their major, minor or program. To determine if any requirements of your intended major, minor or program might also satisfy the MTA, refer to EMU's undergraduate catalog.

Minimum Requirements

Students must complete a minimum of 30 semester hours in courses selected from the following categories:

  • One course in English composition
  • A second course in English composition or communication
  • One course in mathematics
  • Two courses in social sciences from different disciplines
  • Two courses in humanities and fine arts from different disciplines
  • Two courses in natural sciences from two disciplines (one lab science required)

Additional courses in any category above to satisfy the minimum of 30 credits. A minimum grade of 2.0 is required for each course. Students may use courses transferred from more than one college to satisfy the MTA, including courses completed at EMU and transferred back to the community college. Refer to your community college website for a listing of approved courses for completing the MTA.

Students must have their transcripts evaluated and endorsed as "MTA Satisfied" by a community college. Check with your community college registrar's office or counseling office to find out how to request an MTA transcript evaluation.

You may also find the MTA Curriculum Planning worksheet [PDF] helpful as you select MTA courses using the list of approved courses provided by the community college.

Mitransfer.org / Michigan Transfer Network

Mitransfer.org is the new site for the Michigan Transfer Network.  The Michigan Transfer Network allows students to search course equivalencies between Michigan colleges and universities.  Mitransfer.org contains a great deal of information for transfer in the state, including FAQ's about transfer and links to individual community colleges with transfer information, including the MTA. 

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