Answers
1. Articulation: Simply stated, articulation deals with how courses transfer from one college to another. Specifically, articulation is the process of establishing which courses offered at City College of San Francisco (CCSF) are comparable to, or acceptable in lieu of, courses offered at four year colleges and universities. The purpose of articulation is to facilitate the successful transfer of students from the community colleges to the baccalaureate colleges and universities.
2. Articulation Agreement: Each college or university has its own program requirements. These requirements vary with the student's intended major. An articulation agreement is an agreement, usually with a four-year institution, that specifies which courses may be transferred to meet elective credit, general education, or major requirements.
a. Transfer Credit Agreements: These agreements indicate which courses will transfer for university credit, at a minimum. Courses that are approved for transfer credit do not necessarily count toward general education or a major at the university. CCSF courses that transfer for credit to California State University or University of California (also known as the UC Transfer Course Agreement – UC TCA) are identified in the CCSF catalog at the end of the course descriptions, or on the ASSIST web site.
b. Course-to-Course Agreements: The purpose of a course-to-course agreement is to determine if a specific course taken at one college will satisfy a requirement at another college. For instance, if a community college course is approved as “comparable” to a university course, it may fulfill the same general education and major preparation requirements that the university course does.
1) Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC): (IGETC) is a general education program which community college students can use to satisfy lower-division general education requirements at the CSU or UC systems without the need to take additional lower division general education requirements after transfer. IGETC is often not recommended for high-unit majors, like engineering.
e. California Articulation Number (CAN) System: CAN was the common numbering system used to designate lower division courses required for major preparation primarily at CSU campuses and California Community Colleges. It was defunded in 2005, so the course information is no longer being updated. However, it may serve as a historical reference for course equivalency. C-ID Course Identification Numbering: C-ID is new type of common course numbering project currently under development.
4. More about Articulation Agreements: CCSF maintains written articulation or course transfer agreements with many colleges and universities. These agreements are approved by the transfer college faculty and specify how courses will be accepted at the transfer institution. Students who wish to transfer need to become familiar with articulation agreements found on the many websites listed below (note: transfer students are strongly advised to speak with a CCSF counselor and visit the Transfer Center):
a. ASSIST
ASSIST (Articulation System Stimulating Interinstitutional Student Transfer) is the official repository of transfer information for California's public college and universities. ASSIST maintains current articulation agreements that identify which courses can be applied for elective, general education and major preparation credit when a student transfers from a California Community College to a CSU or UC campus. The ASSIST web site offers easy access to a single database.
Of the 48 total semester units needed to complete the CSU General Education-Breadth requirements, 39 lower division units can be completed at CCSF. The remaining 9 units must be completed in upper-division coursework at the CSU campus. CCSF courses that have been approved for meeting the lower division general education requirements for all California State University campuses can be found on ASSIST. This information has also been summarized on the CSU General Ed Worksheet.
Transfer students can follow the IGETC curriculum to satisfy lower-division general education requirements at the CSU or many colleges in the UC system (generally not advised for Engineering or high-unit science majors). CCSF courses that have been approved for IGETC can be found on ASSIST. This information has also been summarized on the IGETC Worksheet.
d. Private or Out-of-State Articulation
Information on how CCSF courses transfer to private or out-of-state colleges and universities can be found on the Other Colleges page of the articulation website. The Articulation with CCSF link connects to articulation agreements with private institutions in California, as well as public and private colleges outside of California.