How do transfer credits work for California community college students?

Course articulation: what ASSIST.org does

Articulation is the official statement that a specific community college course is equivalent to a specific university course or requirement. In California, those agreements live on ASSIST.org, the statewide database of articulation between the community colleges and the UC and CSU. It is the authoritative source: it is what your counselor checks and what the university uses when it evaluates your record.

On ASSIST you choose your community college, your target university, and your major, and it shows exactly which of your courses satisfy which requirements. Because agreements are specific to a campus and a major, the same community college course can count toward a requirement at one university and not at another. Two rules shape what counts:

• Articulation is per campus and per major. Always check the agreement for the exact school and major you are targeting, not a general list.
• A grade of C or better is generally required for a course to satisfy a transfer or general-education requirement.

General education that transfers as a block: IGETC and Cal-GETC

Beyond single-course articulation, your lower-division general education can transfer as one certified block. You complete a standard pattern at your community college and the college certifies it, so the university accepts your entire lower-division GE at once rather than course by course.

There are two patterns. Cal-GETC is the single UC and CSU pattern for students who started a California community college in fall 2025 or later, at a minimum of 34 semester units. IGETC is the legacy pattern for continuing students who started before fall 2025, at a minimum of 37 semester units. Only your college can issue official certification, so any progress meter is an estimate until you request it.

The full area-by-area breakdown is in our Cal-GETC vs IGETC guide.

The Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) and the CSU guarantee

The Associate Degree for Transfer (an AA-T or AS-T) is a community college degree built specifically to transfer. Created by state law (SB 1440), it packages your general education and major preparation into one degree of about 60 transferable units. Completing an ADT in a major with a similar CSU program guarantees admission to the California State University system with junior standing.

Two limits are worth understanding. The guarantee is to the system, not to a specific campus or major: a campus that is impacted in your major can redirect you to another campus. And the UC does not use the ADT; UC admission runs through campus and major requirements on ASSIST, not through the ADT guarantee. If your goal is a UC, focus on the ASSIST agreement for your campus and major.

How much credit does the UC accept?

Transferring credit is not unlimited. The University of California caps transferable credit from community colleges at 70 semester (105 quarter) units. You can and often should take more than 70 units at a community college to complete your major preparation and general education, but only 70 count toward the units you bring in. Coursework beyond the cap still satisfies requirements; it just does not add to the unit total.

To transfer as a junior, the UC and CSU generally expect 60 transferable semester units completed. Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and some exam credit can also apply, and the rules differ from campus to campus, so confirm the specifics on the university's admissions pages.

Transfer-credit questions students ask