CPL FAQ UC Articulation
UC Transferable Coursework
Baseline transferability is granted at the system level to courses that meet UC’s minimum subject area guidelines
UC eligibility areas (UC-E (English), UC-M (Mathematics), UC-S (Science), UC-H (Humanities), UC-B (Social and Behavioral Sciences)) are granted at the system level to courses that meet UC’s eligibility criteria in these areas
Course-to-course articulation is granted at the UC campus and department level to courses deemed equivalent to a course at that UC campus in that department
A course may have baseline transferability without approval in any UC eligibility area. A course may have baseline transferability and approval in a specific eligibility area without any course-to-course articulation.
Externally Administered Exam Credit
The University of California awards credit for examinations as follows:
College Board Advanced Placement (AP)
International Baccalaureate (IB) Higher Level
GCE and Singapore-Cambridge Advanced Level (A-Levels)
- UC will only award credit for external exams (AP, IB, A-levels) if the UC campus receives the official score report or statement of results for the exam; we will not accept AP, IB, or A-level credit posted on a CCC transcript, as that is considered “pass-along” credit
UC’s exam credit policy (which addresses AP, IB, and A-levels, the primary external, third party examination scores considered in a UC admissions context) is outlined on UC’s Transfer Credit Practices webpage, linked here.
Internally Administered Credit-by-Exam
In the context of transfer, the University of California uses “credit-by-exam” to refer to the process by which a student can earn credit for a course by taking an exam created and administered by the CCC discipline faculty that demonstrates the student’s knowledge of what would have been learned in the course.
To receive UC credit for coursework assessed by credit-by-exam coursework, the course in question must be:
Listed in the CCC catalog
UC transferable
Posted to a specific term
List specific units and a passing grade
High School Articulation via Credit by Exam
The means by which faculty at any given California community college assess a student’s gained knowledge to be equivalent to a course in that college’s catalog is under their purview. As clarified above, UC may accept “credit by exam” if the credit is posted to a specific term with units and a grade, and the course for which the student earned credit is UC-transferable.
California community colleges should ensure any high school articulation agreements in place with UC-transferable courses are preparing students for subsequent lower division and upper division coursework. In the event that UC faculty identify any students – transfer or otherwise – with specific CCC course credit as being unprepared academically to persist, it is within their purview to revoke a UC-transferable CCC course’s course-to-course articulation, which would initiate a phase-out of that course-to-course articulation at that specific UC campus.
UCTCA and UC eligibility areas would continue to be honored since they were approved at the system level.
Recommended Best Practices for CCC-High School Articulation (CIAC)
CCC faculty and high school instructors, perhaps with support of articulation staff, should review the course outline of record (COR) and verify that the topics, learning outcomes, and final examinations or final assignments reflected in each COR (the CCC-based one and the high school one) are equivalent to each other
Hours of instruction, writing and reading, lab hours are all elements to consider in alignment with UC transferability guidelines
CCCs and high school partners should follow all relevant Education Code guidelines