Check how credits transfer between schools.
Credit transfer involves two independent reductions and conflating them produces badly wrong expectations. The first is a unit conversion: credit systems are defined by notional learning hours, roughly 45 per US semester hour, 30 per quarter hour, 27 per ECTS credit and 10 per UK CATS credit. So 60 US semester hours is about 100 ECTS, not 60. The second reduction is acceptance — the receiving institution decides which credits map onto its own requirements, and rates of 70 to 85 percent are common because electives and unmatched modules are frequently declined even when the academic level is fine.
Unit conversion
Converted = credits x source hours per credit / destination hours per credit
Accepted credits
Accepted = converted x acceptance rate%; remaining = degree requirement - accepted
An illustrative estimate only. Grading scales, GPA conversion, weighting, transfer credit and progression rules are set by your institution and vary between programmes and academic years. Confirm all figures with your course handbook, registry or academic adviser before relying on them for any academic decision.
Because they measure different amounts of study. A US semester hour represents roughly 45 hours of notional learning; an ECTS credit represents about 27. The conversion factor is close to 1.67, which is why a US year of 30 semester hours maps to approximately 60 ECTS.
Because transfer is about curriculum fit, not just academic standard. A module with no equivalent in the destination programme, or one that duplicates something already required, may be declined or accepted only as a general elective. Getting a written credit evaluation before enrolling is the only reliable answer.