Your Transfer Credit at UCSC

After you have been admitted to UCSC and all your final official transcripts from other colleges have been received, the Office of Admissions will evaluate your transfer credit. The evaluation shows which of your past courses are transferable to UCSC and how many credits you have accrued. It also shows which general education requirements you have satisfied, whether you have satisfied the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC), and whether you have satisfied the University of California Entry Level Writing and American History and Institutions requirements.

Students access this information through MyUCSC by viewing the Degree Progress Report (DPR) from the "more links" drop-down menu in the Academics area of the Student Center. Students can also view the specific transcript that was evaluated, by navigating to the My Academics tile on the MyUCSC home page, then to the External Education page. If you see that a transcript has been reviewed but the coursework didn’t transfer as expected,  a Review of Transfer Credit can be submitted.

Students access this information through MyUCSC by viewing the Degree Progress Report from the "more links" drop-down menu in the Academics area of the Student Center. If this information is not available for your first enrollment period, contact a college or major adviser to help you select appropriate classes. It is an excellent idea to keep an unofficial copy of your transcripts from your previous schools. You should take these documents with you to all academic advising appointments.

Check your transfer credit carefully and report any missing courses and/or institutions to the Office of Admissions. Failure to list a college or university previously attended (including those attended concurrently while in high school) is a very serious matter and could lead to your dismissal from the university. Contact the Office of Admissions immediately about this matter. Transfer credit will be denied for courses completed at an institution not originally listed on your application. This applies to all incoming undergraduate students, frosh,  and transfers.

If you have completed the IGETC at the time you enter UCSC, your UCSC lower-division general education requirements will be considered completed. If this information is not reflected through your Degree Progress Report, contact the last California community college you attended to obtain the IGETC certification. Your certification must indicate that you have fully certified IGETC for the University of California. If you have received partial certification for UC, please contact the Office of Admissions.

If you are transferring from another UC campus and have completely satisfied the lower-division general education or breadth requirements of that campus, your UCSC lower-division, general education requirements will also be considered complete. You must submit a letter from your previous UC campus verifying your completion, in full, of the requirements of that campus. Call the Admissions Office, 459-2131, for more information.

A total of 70 semester credits (105 quarter credits) of lower-division credit toward a university degree may be earned at other colleges/universities. Only subject credit will be granted for lower division courses taken in excess of that cap.  For example, if you have already transferred 105 lower-division quarter credits from other colleges, you could still satisfy the American History and Institutions Requirement with a lower-division transfer course; however, the credits from that course would not transfer. Please note that credit from another University of California campus, Advance Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) credit are exempt from this limitation. For students who began at UC Santa Cruz prior to fall 2014, the 105 credit cap applies only to credit from community colleges; other lower-division transfer credit from four-year institutions is not subject to the limitation.


Revised 09/26/24