Business Administration Transfer Pathway

Taking the following courses will prepare you to major in business administration at any UC campus.

Course expectations

  • Microeconomics
  • Macroeconomics
  • Single variable calculus (one-year sequence) Note: Students are encouraged to take the STEM version but some UC business administration programs may allow non-STEM calculus. Please check individual campus links.

  • Statistics
  • Introduction to business (including finance)
  • Financial accounting
  • Managerial accounting

Full sequences can take two to four terms to complete (depending on whether your institution is on semesters or quarters), so you'll want to start them early. To check which of your community college courses satisfy the Pathway course expectations at multiple UC campuses, refer to the UC Transfer Pathways Guide for a summary list. Use ASSIST to find the specific classes offered at your community college that will satisfy the expected coursework at a particular UC campus.

In addition to the coursework above, you will need to fulfill minimum requirements expected of all transfer applicants to UC. In particular, students are required to complete two English reading and composition courses no later than the spring term prior to transfer. If you’re interested in transferring to the Berkeley campus, be sure that these two transferable English reading and composition courses articulate to Berkeley’s required courses.

If you're working on an Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) in business administration at your community college, there's a lot of overlap with UC Transfer Pathway coursework. When you have options, try to select courses for your ADT that meet both the ADT and UC requirements. The differences between what UC expects and what some ADTs require is that UC does not require business law and some ADTs do not require both statistics and a full-year single variable calculus sequence. Also, UC requires that the two English reading and composition courses must be completed no later than the spring term prior to transfer. Additional courses required for an ADT may be eligible for UC credit at some campuses. Check ASSIST for details.

Applicable majors

The Business Administration Pathway applies to the degree programs listed below. More degree programs may be added in the future so you should check back periodically to see if your major has joined this list.

  • Business administration, B.A. at Irvine
  • Business administration, B.S. at Berkeley
  • Business administration, B.S. at Riverside
  • Business management economics, B.A. at Santa Cruz
  • Management and business economics, B.S. at Merced
  • Managerial economics, B.S. at Davis

Campus GPA requirements

Admission to different UC campuses and majors varies in competitiveness depending on how many students apply and how many slots are available. As a result, the minimum GPA and grade requirements for particular courses may vary from campus to campus. Make sure to look on the campus admissions websites to find minimum expected grade point averages for the major you are interested in.