Transferring Community College Courses

Sometimes CSUN students take classes at local community colleges and then transfer those units to CSUN. If the student plans to use a community college class to satisfy a General Education (GE) requirement, it is imperative that the student take one that is equivalent to the CSUN class listed in that section of GE. While students who transfer to CSUN with CSU certification can use a wider variety of courses to satisfy GE requirements, CSUN students are held to our specific selection of GE courses. This rule is applicable both for the native student who begins his/her academic career at CSUN and to the transfer student after transfer.

When the community college and CSUN have an agreement that the community college course is equivalent in content to the CSUN course, the courses are articulated. Students are wise to confirm that there is an articulation agreement for the community college course before enrolling in it if the student plans to apply the course to General Education or the major.

To confirm that a community college class articulates to a CSUN, go to www.assist.org. This user friendly website contains all of the articulation agreements between CSUN and our local community colleges.

Credit for work taken at Community Colleges

The office of Admissions and Records in accordance with the following provisions will evaluate credit earned in accredited community colleges:

Community college credit is allowed up to a maximum of 70 semester units. Credits and grades earned after the student has the maximum allowable may only satisfy subject and grade point requirements but cannot apply toward the total units required for graduation from the university.

No upper division credit may be earned for community college work.

The university publishes a series of articulation agreements with local community colleges outlining how coursework at the community college applies to CSUN requirements, both in the major and in General Education.

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Community College Articulation (www.assist.org)

ASSIST walks you through selecting the information needed to display transfer information. The items you select will be displayed in the sidebar under the heading "Selected." For more information about the type of information that is requested or displayed in ASSIST, click on the Help button in the sidebar.

ASSIST can help you determine if a student will receive credit for courses already taken, and how those courses will apply to specific academic goals. Click on one of the links in the sidebar on the left for help with understanding the data, or if you're not comfortable using a web browser, click on Browser Basics. To search the ASSIST database, click Start ASSIST.

Every California community college has an agreement with the University of California and the California State Universities that specifies which courses will receive transfer credit. Courses that are transferable to the University of California are displayed in ASSIST by selecting University of California Transferable Courses. Courses that are transferable to a California State University are displayed in ASSIST by selecting California State University Transferable Courses. The California State University system has authorized California community colleges to identify courses that are appropriate for transfer credit to all California State University campuses. You display these courses in ASSIST by choosing CSU Transferable Courses. We are currently entering this information for each community college. This information will be available in ASSIST when completed.

Transfer Credit Process

Students who wish to ask for transfer credit for work taken at other colleges and universities should follow these procedures:

Send their transcripts to Admissions and Records. Only courses for which a grade of C or better was earned may be considered for transfer credit into the major.

After Admissions and Records has evaluated the transcripts and entered the student’s coursework onto the DARS report, they should get a copy of their DARS report.

All courses eligible for transfer credit to CSUN will be listed on the DARS report. Courses that have been articulated (i.e., pre-approved for transfer credit) with the community colleges will automatically be counted for transfer credit into the major, provided the student has a C or better in the course. In this case, the student needs to take no further action. (See www.assist.org for a list of community college articulated courses). However, there may be some courses on the DARS report that did not map into major courses and for which the student would like transfer credit. If that is the case, go to Step 4.

Transfer Total

Transfer totals listed on the transcript include units from the institutions listed and units for any exams listed as Examination Credit.

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Helpful Websites

California Articulation Website
Whenever you are working with a transfer student and need to know if the course the student completed at a community college is the equivalent to a course at CSUF, go to this site! Once you arrive at the site, click "Start Assist". Next select CSUF and then the community college. Go to the "Department" information to identify those classes at the community college that are articulated with classes at CSUF. (An articulation agreement between the two institutions about a particular class means that we have agreed to accept that class as a substitute because the courses have equivalent content.)

College Source Online
This site allows you to view college catalogues from institutions throughout the U.S. and the world. You can search for the institution either by title or geographic location (this strategy is particularly helpful if you are unsure of the exact name of the institution or how the institution is identified on the site). Once you access the catalogue, it is usually helpful to go to the index to find the course descriptions.

Grade Point Average Calculator
These sites assist you in determining how many units at what level of performance a student needs to obtain a particular GPA. This is especially helpful when working with a student on probation or with a student who aspires to a graduate program that requires a particular GPA.