International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO)

The IBO is a nonprofit educational foundation based in Geneva, Switzerland. It grew out of international schools’ efforts to establish a common curriculum and university entry credential. The schools were also motivated by an idealistic vision. They hoped that critical thinking and exposure to a variety of points of view would encourage intercultural understanding by young people. They concentrated on the last two years of school before university studies in order to build a curriculum that would lead to what they called a “baccalaureate,” administered in any country and recognized by universities everywhere.

USU recognizes the International Baccalaureate program. Students who enter with International Baccalaureate credit are awarded admission to the Honors Program. Students who present an International Baccalaureate diploma will be awarded a maximum of 30 credits. These credits will waive the appropriate Breadth and Communications Literacy requirements, but students will still be required to complete the Quantitative Literacy and Computer and Information Literacy requirements, unless their individual scores on IB exams waive those requirements. Each student’s transcript will be evaluated individually, based on the courses he or she has completed.

Students who have not completed the International Baccalaureate diploma may receive 3 or more credits for scores of 4 to 7 on standard- or higher-level exams (as shown below), up to a maximum of 30 credits.

Individual departments and/or colleges may specify the exact courses required to fill their requirements and may require more than the minimum General Education requirements. Some departments and colleges require specific  coursework for General Education, which the IBO exams may not satisfy.

If, prior to (or after) taking an IBO examination, a student receives credit (including AP credit) for any coursework equivalent to the subject matter of an IBO examination, the credits earned for the course will be deducted from the credits awarded for the examination.

Other institutions have policies differing from those of USU regarding IBO scores and credits granted for those scores. For transfer students with less than an associate degree, IBO credit posted to another institution’s transcript is reevaluated based on USU’s standard.

International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) Credit Allocation