International College of Music—Malaysia

ANNOUCEMENT: Joint Statement on Cessation of Institutional Collaboration

The 30-year institutional collaboration between the Berklee College of Music (USA) and the International College of Music (ICOM) in Malaysia to offer the Berklee Track program, namely the then Berklee Transfer Program and the current Foundation in Music program at ICOM, will end on 31st August 2026 due to the compulsory acquisition of ICOM’s campus premise by the city council to pave the way for the proposed Mass Rail Transit (MRT) Circle Line 3 development project, resulting in the closure of ICOM in Malaysia.

Both institutions have agreed that there shall be no new students enrolled to the program after September 2025. Berklee and ICOM are committed to see out all enrolled students on the program in Malaysia until their completion of studies in full accordance with academic quality assurance standards of both institutions and their respective accreditation agencies.

Those students currently enrolled on the program will be able to complete their studies within the standard completion period. Any students who are unable to complete their program of study by the end of the teach out period due to achieving a failure in one or more modules, will exit without
the relevant certification.

As per the provisions of the Berklee Global Partner agreement and the Credit Transfer Agreement (CTA), ICOM students have a four-year duration from their completion of the Berklee Track program at ICOM to apply to Berklee. The table below outlines the date of completion of studies at ICOM and the maximum year for Berklee application.

Year of Completion at ICOM	Maximum Application Year to Berklee
2022	2026
2023	2027
2024	2028
2025	2029
2026	2030

Berklee will accommodate students who completed the Berklee track program at ICOM within the standard completion period on a case-by-case basis.

Please direct any queries on the above statement to the following:

1. Berklee College of Music: Mr. Jason Camelio, Assistant Vice President for Berklee Global Programs and Partnerships, jcamelio@berklee.edu
2. International College of Music: Ms. Nadhirah Ahmad Kamil, Registrar, nadhirah@icom.edu.my

About the Program

Students Who Entered ICOM on or after September 1, 2022

Entrance Requirements

Students transferring from ICOM to Berklee must earn a grade of “C” (3.00/4.00 GPA) or better in each course specified in the Berklee Global Partner (BGP) credit transfer agreement (see "Courses and Credits" below) to receive credit.

In this case, the student will enter Berklee as a transfer student. In the first semester of study, they will be required to take the Entering Student Placement Assessment (ESPA) for course placement in core music courses. They may transfer in any applicable liberal arts and sciences courses admissible under the transfer credit policy in place at the time of the student's matriculation to Berklee.

Admissions: ICOM students who wish to transfer to Berklee are required to go through Berklee's official undergraduate admissions process. Students accepted to Berklee will receive transfer credit for courses taken at ICOM in accordance with an agreement between the two schools. Transferring students must send Berklee an official transcript showing all courses specified as completed with a satisfactory grade of "C" or better before credit transfer at Berklee can take place.

ICOM students planning to transfer to Berklee under this agreement must do so within four years after completing their program of study at ICOM.

Liberal Arts and General Electives

Students seeking to transfer credit to Berklee must first take the steps outlined in the Pre-Approval Process to determine whether the desired course(s) qualify for transfer.

Students may transfer up to 24 credits of liberal arts courses toward their liberal arts requirements at Berklee.
- Only 15 of those 24 credits can be completed and transferred in after a student has started their studies at Berklee.
- Those 15 credits can be applied to a student’s academic requirements as follows: 9 credits can be applied to liberal arts requirements, and 6 credits can be applied to general elective requirements.
Students in the Bachelor of Music or Arts degree programs must earn a minimum of 39 credits in liberal arts and may use 6 additional liberal arts credits (two courses) as general elective credit.
Students in the Professional Diploma program must earn a minimum of 6 credits in liberal arts and may use up to 12 liberal arts credits (four courses) as general elective credits.

See detailed information about transfers of liberal arts courses and general elective courses.

Performance Courses

Ensembles:
- ICOM transfer students will receive up to 3 transfer credits in ensembles after completing one or two credits per course taken at ICOM based on credit equivalency with an average grade of “C” or better.
- All students are required to enroll in an ensemble in their first semester at Berklee.
Principal Instrument:
- Principal instrument courses (private lessons) taken at a BGP school are nontransferable.
- Berklee’s policy states that all students, including transfer students, must participate in and pass a minimum of four semesters of principal instrument instruction at Berklee, regardless of their level of proficiency.
- All transfer students are required to take a Berklee instrumental/vocal proficiency placement examination upon arrival at Berklee to ensure appropriate placement in principal instrument courses.

Requirements to Graduate

Berklee College of Music students must meet the following requirements to qualify for graduation:

Residency: All students, including candidates transferring from another school, are normally required to complete a minimum of four semesters of full-time attendance and earn a minimum of 60 credits (48 credits for diploma students) at Berklee College of Music in order to graduate. Credit by exam (CBX), advanced placement credit, CLEP credit, and transfer credit do not count as residency requirement credits, even if earned while at Berklee College of Music. This requirement will be applied regardless of the number of credits transferred.
Attain at least a 2.70 cumulative GPA in all major courses and have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.00.
Complete the principal instrument proficiency level, as specified by the major.
Complete a required final project in the chosen area of concentration, as described and approved by the department chair (as applicable).
For music education majors, complete all observation and student teaching requirements.
For music therapy majors, complete all coursework and a six-month, full-time, post-coursework internship.
Fulfill all financial obligations to the college.

Learn more about the requirements to graduate.

We encourage you to review the Berklee Global Academic Partner Berklee Track Guidebook, which provides comprehensive information about the credit transfer process.

Courses and Credits

Required Transfer Credits: 31

ICOM Courses	Berklee College of Music Course Equivalents
FP101 Fundamentals of Music Theory	PW-111 Music Application and Theory (4 credits)
CH010 Contemporary Music Harmony, and CH020 Advanced Contemporary Music Harmony	HR-112 Harmony 2 (2 credits), and HR-211 Harmony 3 (2 credits), and HR-212 Harmony 4 (2 credits)
ET010 Basic Ear Training	ET-111 Ear Training 1 (2 credits)
ET020 Intermediate Ear Training	ET-112 Ear Training 2 (2 credits), and ET-211 Ear Training 3 (2 credits) or ET-231 Solfege 1, depending on Berklee major requirement (2 credits)
ET111 Aural Training	ET-212 Ear Training 4 (2 credits) or ET-232 Solfege 2, depending on Berklee major requirement (2 credits)
AR020 Scoring for Rhythm Section	AR-111 Arranging 1 (2 credits)
TM010 Traditional Harmony and Composition	CM-211 Tonal Harmony and Composition 1 (2 credits), and CM-212 Tonal Harmony and Composition 2 (2 credits)
TM020 Traditional Two-Part Writing	CP-210 The Art of Counterpoint 1 (3 credits)
TM121 J. S. Bach Inventions	CP-215 Art of Counterpoint 2 (2 credits)*
MT010 Music Technology and MIDI Systems	MTEC-111 Introduction to Music Technology (2 credits)

*Berklee core music courses required by some Berklee degree programs

Additional Potential Transfer Credits: 20
Note: Contact the academic advisor at this institution to ask about the courses below.

ICOM Courses	Berklee College of Music Course Equivalents
GE001 Preparatory English for College	LENG-2xx Liberal Arts English Elective (3 credits)
GE013 Academic Writing in English	LENG-111 Introduction to College Writing (3 credits)
GE020 Acoustics for Musicians	LMSC-208 Music Acoustics (3 credits)
GE030 Electronics and Computer Systems	LHUM-2xx Liberal Arts Elective (3 credits)
HM010 Survey of Pop Music	MHIS-322 History of Rock Music (2 credits)
MB101 Introduction to Music Business	MB-101 Introduction to the Music Business (2 credits)
MB112 Business Communications	MB-287 Business Communication (2 credits)
MT106 Computer Applications in Business	MB-255 Computer Applications in the Music Industry (2 credits)

Ensemble Courses Required by ICOM
FP102 Music Performance Lab	Berklee Ensemble (1 credit)
PS010 Music Performance Studies 1	Berklee Ensemble (1 credit)
PS020 Music Performance Studies 2	Berklee Ensemble (1 credit)

Potential Transfer Credit Summary
Required Transfer Credits: 31
Additional Potential Transfer Credits: 20
Ensemble Credits: 3
Potential Transfer Credit Total: 54

Students Who Entered ICOM Prior to September 1, 2022

Entrance Requirements

ICOM students transferring to Berklee must earn a grade of "C" or higher (2.00–4.00) in each core music course, and a grade of "C" or higher (2.00–4.00) in each liberal arts and general elective course designated for transfer in this agreement (see "Courses and Credits" below) to receive transfer credit from Berklee.

To earn credit for any core music course for which a student receives a grade below B, students will be required upon entering Berklee to:

take the entering student proficiency assessment (ESPA) for harmony and ear training courses
or
earn credit by exam (CBX) for music technology, tonal harmony, and counterpoint courses
or
enroll in the course at Berklee

For any liberal arts and sciences courses for which a student receives a grade below C, no credit will be granted.