Flags are a unique feature of an undergraduate degree at the University of Texas at Austin, and they are therefore designed to be taken in residence. However, there are some circumstances where it may be appropriate to submit a petition to request Flag credit for course taken outside of UT Austin.
Students can petition for a course at any point. If you feel a course you’ve already taken, are enrolled in now, or plan to take in the future qualifies for Flag credit, it’s best petition for it as early as possible. Keep in mind that students graduating under the 2018-2020 catalog, or any subsequent catalog, may not receive Flag credit for courses taken at another institution concurrent with, or subsequent to their first semester enrolled at UT Austin . Students wishing to submit a Flag Substitution Petition may use the link below to access the online Flag Petition form.
Before accessing the form, please read all of the information on this page to learn what kind of courses may and may not be petitioned, and please read the criteria for the Flag you are petitioning to ensure that you understand the requirements for that Flag. In evaluating petitions, we will be looking to see whether the course you wish to substitute meets all of the criteria for the Flag, based on the course syllabus and any other information you submit.
If you have questions about the petitions process or want to schedule a consultation with the Core and Flags Petitions Coordinator you can reach us via email. Please include your UT EID in all emails. For all other Flags-related questions, please call the Center for the Skills & Experience Flags office at 512-232-7587.
Flag Criteria
To successfully complete your Flag petition, you must demonstrate that the course meets the Flag criteria:
- Cultural Diversity
- Ethics
- Global Cultures
- Independent Inquiry
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Students are strongly encouraged to include examples of graded work with their Quantitative Reasoning Flag petitions. More information on this request is available at the end of this page.
- Writing
Courses You Can Petition
- Study abroad courses
- In-residence courses taken for a letter grade
- Transfer courses from other colleges or universities taken for a letter grade
In-Residence Petitions
Note that the processing time for in-residence course petitions can vary, and may substantially exceed the two-week turnaround we have for other types of flag petitions. Petitions for in-residence courses that are not already flagged will first be evaluated by our petitions committee, and we will reach out to the instructor if we feel it meets criteria. The instructor then submits a proposal for our faculty committee (which governs each Flag) to consider. For in-residence courses, the entire course must be flagged to ensure equity in Flag credit for all students enrolled. If you are planning to graduate soon after petitioning for an in-residence course, please keep this timeline in mind and plan accordingly.
Courses Not Eligible for Flag Credit
- Dual credit courses or courses taken prior to high school graduation
- Credit-by-exam courses, including courses for which Advanced Placement, A levels, or International Baccalaureate credit is earned
- Any course of less than three weeks in duration (fewer than 21 days)
- Transfer courses from other colleges or universities taken during or after the student’s first semester enrolled at The University of Texas at Austin (with the exception of study abroad courses)
- Pass/Fail courses
Concurrent Enrollment Courses
Students graduating under the 2018-2020 catalog or any subsequent catalog may not receive Flag credit for courses taken at another institution concurrent with or subsequent to their first semester enrolled at UT Austin. Although courses taken at other institutions prior to a student’s first enrollment at UT Austin may be petitioned for Flag credit, once students are enrolled here, all remaining Flags must be taken in residence. The exceptions to this policy are courses taken through Study Abroad programs, which may be petitioned for Flag substitution credit, and courses taken through Texas Extended Campus, which will have any approved Flags noted in the course description.
Transfer Credit
The Flags, a unique and innovative feature of a UT Austin degree, are designed to be UT Austin courses and requirements. As such, most students will satisfy their Flag requirements with courses that are taken at UT Austin as part of their degree plans.
In some cases, transfer credit taken after high school graduation and accepted by the Office of Admissions (directly equivalent to a UT course number, general credit within a field of study, or general elective credit) may be used to satisfy Flag requirements if approved by the Flag petitions committee. Students can petition for courses before they enroll in them if they need to take a course outside of UT Austin. Please do not assume that any course will satisfy the requirement without first submitting a petition and/or speaking with the Flags Advisor.
Please note that transfer courses do not automatically satisfy Flag requirements, even in cases where the UT Austin course equivalent does carry a Flag. Any student who wishes to substitute a Flag requirement with a transfer course must submit a petition. The petitions are evaluated to determine if the course satisfies the criteria for the Flag, at a level of rigor appropriate for UT Austin courses.
Many transfer courses satisfy state Core requirements, but will not satisfy Flag requirements. Please note that there is a separate process for petitioning and evaluating Flag credit, and transfer courses do not automatically satisfy both requirements.
We recommend that before submitting a Flag petition students read the Flag Criteria and consider whether they feel the course that they took satisfies the requirements.
If you transfer to a different college or school after your petition is approved, the approved Flag will not automatically follow you to your new college. You must contact the Core and Flags Petitions Coordinator, provided that you still need the Flag.
Submit a Flag Substitution Petition
The online petition system will ask you for the following information:
- Semester and year in which you took the course
- Institution where you took the course
- Course title and instructor
- Course number where you took the course
- UT course equivalency number (If you do not know the equivalent course number, please contact the Core and Flags Petitions Coordinator, and we will assist you.)
- You must upload a complete syllabus, including a week-by-week breakdown of assignments from the exact semester in which you took the course. This is the most important aspect of the petition. Please note your petition will be returned if it does not include the appropriate syllabus
- You will have the option to upload additional supporting documents
- Students are strongly encouraged to include examples of graded work that show the most complex skills from the course (preferably exams from the latter part of the semester), as well as any assignments where you are asked to choose an appropriate technique, apply it to find an answer, and explain or justify how your answer should be interpreted and/or why the technique you chose was appropriate.
- Without seeing examples of graded work that meet these requirements and make up a significant portion of the course grade, the committee may not be able to approve your petition. If you do not have access to these materials, please reach out to your instructor and/or former institution for copies. Feel free to reach out to flags.advising@austin.utexas.edu if you have difficulty with this process.
- For II petitions, many times it is helpful to attach at least one or two supporting documents in addition to the syllabus. For example, criteria or rubrics for a particular project, or the actual final work you created help the petitions committee understand the nature of the work completed in the course as it relates to the Flag criteria.
- Please note: while RHE 306 is a requirement for most degrees, it is not a Writing Flag course, and the Writing Flag must be satisfied with additional courses beyond this one.