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The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme: Recognized Worldwide

Looking at life after high school raises so many questions! What kind of school or training will I need? Which institution is the right fit? Public? Private? HBCU? 4-year or 2-year? Near home or far away? How will I fund this investment in myself?

Your IB Diploma Programme classes are like your first scholarship. The skills you will learn, concepts you will interpret, and knowledge you will study over your two years in DP are all designed to bring you into college-level thinking and performing.

Colleges and Universities recognize this too: that is why so many of them offer college credit based on the final score you earn for each IB subject you take. The policies differ from institution to institution, so research carefully. Each course you earn credit for through IB can be a course you won't need to pay to take later. Some of our alumni have started at their college or university with a semester or more of college credits already credited to them because of their hard work in IB.

To help you research your options, please see the following resources:

TeeJay IB has compiled a spreadsheet with information about the credit-awarding policies of many of the colleges and universities that our alumni have attended. Would you like to see information on a school that is not listed? Please contact Ms. Johnston for help.
IBO has a database of universities worldwide that offer recognition, including credits and/or scholarships, for IB alumni.
When you are on a college/university website, search for "IB Credit" or "IB Recognition" or contact your college admissions advisor for the most up-to-date policies.

Helpful things to know about IB and college credits

Remember that you must complete and submit all required assessment components and exams for a class to earn a score. Scores are released in July. See Understanding IB Scores for more information.
Students earn a final score of 1-7 from IBO for their IB subject classes.
For Theory of Knowledge and the Extended Essay, which are components of the Diploma Core, students earn a final score of A-E.
Although it does vary, at most colleges and universities, the typical class is worth three credit hours, so you will often see that students can earn three credits for their IB score. IB recognition policies also specify which course the credits are for. Sometimes the course will be listed as 1XX or something similar, meaning elective credit not tied to a particular course.
Pay attention to whether your IB course was Higher Level (HL) or Standard Level (SL), as credit recognition policies can vary widely between the two.