Shepherd University provides course credit for Advanced Placement (AP) testing and International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum, based on the respective score requirements outlined below.
Advanced Placement (AP)
To receive credit for AP tests, students must send the official exam results to the Office of Admissions through their CollegeBoard account.
| Content Area | AP Score Requirement | Credits Awarded |
| American History | 3, 4, 5 | HIST 201, HIST 202 |
| Art History | 3, 4, 5 | ART 103 |
| Art History | 4, 5 | ART 203 (art majors only) |
| Biology | 3, 4, 5 | BIOL 103, BIOL 104 |
| Calculus AB | 3, 4, 5 | MATH 207 |
| Calculus BC | 3, 4, 5 | MATH 207, MATH 208 |
| Chemistry | 3, 4, 5 | CHEM 207, CHEM 207L, CHEM 209, CHEM 209L |
| Comparative Politics and Government | 3, 4, 5 | PSCI 304 |
| Computer Science AB | 3, 4, 5 | CIS 104 |
| Economics (Macro and Micro) | 3, 4, 5 | ECON 205, ECON 206 |
| English (Language and Composition) | 3, 4, 5 | ENGL 101 |
| English (Literature and Composition) | 3, 4, 5 | ENGL 102 |
| Environmental Science | 3, 4, 5 | ENVS 201 |
| European History | 3, 4, 5 | HIST 102, HIST 103 |
| French Language | 3, 4 | FREN 101 |
| French Language | 5 | FREN 101, FREN 102 |
| German Language | 3, 4 | GERM 101 |
| German Language | 5 | GERM 101, GERM 102 |
| Government and Politics (American) | 3, 4, 5 | PSCI 101 |
| Human Geography | 3, 4, 5 | GEOG 105 |
| Music (Theory) | 3, 4, 5 | MUSIC 111 |
| Music (Theory) | 4, 5 | MUSC 103 (music majors only) |
| Physics B | 3, 4, 5 | PHYS 201, PHYS 201L, PHYS 202, PHYS 202L |
| Physics C (Mechanics) | 3, 4, 5 | PHYS 201, PHYS 201L |
| Physics C (Electricity and Magnetism) | 3, 4, 5 | PHYS 202, PHYS 202L |
| Psychology | 3, 4, 5 | PSYC 101 |
| Spanish Language | 3, 4 | SPAN 101 |
| Spanish Language | 5 | SPAN 101, SPAN 102 |
| Statistics | 4, 5 | MATH 314 |
| World History | 3, 4, 5 | HIST 101, HIST 102 |
As new AP tests are developed, additional credit(s) may be awarded.
International Baccalaureate
IB is recognized as a strong pre-university academic program. Advanced standing will be awarded for higher-level exams, with scores of 5, 6, or 7 to students holding the IB diploma or individual IB exam scores. Credit is not awarded for standard-level exams.
To receive credit for IB higher-level exams, students must send the official exam results to the Office of Admissions.
| Content Area | IB Score Requirement | Credits Awarded | Credit Hours |
| Art (Design) | 5, 6, 7 | ART 104, ART elective | 6 |
| Biology | 5, 6, 7 | BIOL 101, BIOL 102 | 8 |
| Chemistry | 5, 6, 7 | CHEM 207, CHEM 207L, CHEM 209, CHEM 209L | 8 |
| Computer Science | 5, 6, 7 | CIS 211, CIS 314 | 8 |
| Economics | 5, 6, 7 | ECON 205, ECON 206 | 6 |
| English A | 5, 6, 7 | ENGL 101 | 3 |
| French B | 5, 6, 7 | FREN 101, FREN 102 | 6 |
| Geography | 5, 6, 7 | GEOG 101, GEOG elective | 6 |
| German B | 5, 6, 7 | GERM 101, GERM 102 | 6 |
| History (America) | 5, 6, 7 | HIST 201, HIST 202 | 6 |
| History (Africa) | 5, 6, 7 | HIST 320, HIST elective | 6 |
| History (Europe) | 5, 6, 7 | HIST 102, HIST 103 | 6 |
| Mathematics | 5, 6, 7 | MATH 108, MATH 205 | 7 |
| Philosophy | 5, 6, 7 | PHIL 101, PHIL 305 | 6 |
| Physics | 5, 6, 7 | PHYS 201, PHYS 201L, PHYS 202, PHYS 202L | 8 |
| Psychology | 5, 6, 7 | PSYC 203, PSYC elective | 6 |
| Social Anthropology | 5, 6, 7 | ANTH 315, ANTH elective | 6 |
| Spanish | 5, 6, 7 | SPAN 101, SPAN 102 | 6 |