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College and IB

The following information is from the IB website, www.ibo.org


Annually, DP students request transcripts sent to over 3,300 institutions of higher education in nearly 90 countries. The degree to which these and other institutions recognize the IB diploma and DP courses varies widely. Even institutions with no formally published recognition policy often still consider DP performance in admissions decisions.

Recognition comes in many forms, but the most common are:

  • recruitment—actively recruiting Diploma Programme students
  • admission—the IB diploma is fully recognized in the admissions process, addressing Diploma Programme students specifically in documentation and publications
  • placement—acknowledging the rigour of IB courses and establishing prerequisites for IB courses that are fair and equitable in comparison with those for state,
  • provincial and/or other examination courses; understanding and acknowledging the English language proficiency of DP students who undertook the programme in English
  • credit—providing detailed information on the courses for which credit is possible based on DP scores; specifically understanding and recognizing theory of knowledge, the extended essay and the content of both standard and higher level courses
  • scholarships—providing scholarships or scholarship opportunities specifically for IB diploma students

For information on universities that recognize the IB, and details on their recognition policies, please click  THIS LINK to a searchable database of credit policies for colleges and universities in the United States and abroad.


This study compared university acceptance rates of IB Diploma Candidates with those of the rest of the applicants at the top 25 most competitive colleges and universities in the US.

Here is the information from that study in table-form:

This is a list of comparing the 25 most competitive colleges in the US regarding IB vs gereral acceptance

Links to Some IB Credit Policies at a Sample of Universities and Colleges

  • Adelphi University IB Credit Policy
  • Brown University IB Credit Policy
    NB: Brown University was one of the first colleges to award credit for IB work. Brown recognizes that the IB represents achievement beyond most standard high school programs' advanced placement, and standing is therefore regularly granted. Three higher level courses can be assigned six course credits at Brown. With departmental approval, a standard level course with a superior mark may be counted for one credit.

 

Examples of Schools that Award Sophomore Status to
Students Who Earn the Full IB Diploma*

*Some of these schools have minimum score requirements for individual IB exams, or have minimum total points requirements for your IB exam total score calculation. For example, students need 24 of the 45 total points to earn the IB Diploma, but SUNY Albany requires that students earn at least 30 of the 45 total diploma points for 30 credits (or, sophomore status) upon entry.