The UC awards unit credit for college courses completed at U.S. colleges and universities accredited by one of the seven former regional accrediting agencies (including Middle States Commission on Higher Education); or at a university recognized by the Ministry of Education (or higher-education authority/appropriate government agency) in another country that offers university-level academic degree program courses comparable to a U.S. associate's or bachelor's degree.

Courses determined to be essentially the same as courses offered for an undergraduate degree at any UC campus will be awarded credit if the course:

• is listed in the original institution's catalog/website of official courses offered for the year in which the course was completed; and,
• includes the same or similar content; and,
• requires the same or similar prerequisite coursework; and,
• is offered at the same level of instruction.

Courses that further the student's knowledge and understanding in fundamental liberal arts disciplines such as mathematics, natural science, literature, social sciences, fine arts and philosophy, are acceptable for transfer if comparable in scope and depth to those offered at UC.

UC does not award credit for: work or volunteer experience, vocational or technical training, and personal enrichment courses; remedial academic or pre-baccalaureate courses, especially in English and math; or College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) or DANTES Subject Standardized Tests (DSST) exams. Additionally, coursework from an international junior/community college program that is technical or vocational, or which does not lead to further academic study at a university in the international country, will not receive transfer credit at UC.

Courses accepted for transfer must be reported on an official transcript (academic record) which must be provided to the UC campus in a sealed envelope (or electronically submitted from a UC campus-acceptable vendor) from the original college/university of enrollment, bearing the institution's official seal and registrar's signature.

Courses completed at unaccredited institutions or institutions not accredited by one of the former regional accrediting agencies may be reviewed on a case-by-case basis after matriculation at UC.

Pass-along credit

UC does not award credit posted to a third-party institution's transcript. Credit is only considered from the original institution's official academic record.

Limits on transfer credits

Students will be granted up to 70 semester/105 quarter units of credit for lower-division coursework completed at any institution or any combination of institutions. For units beyond the maximum, subject credit for appropriate coursework taken in excess of this unit limitation will be granted and may be used to satisfy requirements.

• Units earned through AP, IB and/or A level examinations are not included in the limitation and do not put applicants at risk of being denied admission.
• Units earned at any UC campus (Extension, summer, cross/concurrent and regular academic year enrollment) are not included in the limitation but are added to the maximum transfer credit allowed and may put applicants at risk of being denied admission due to excessive units.
• Note: if all courses are completed at one or more 2-year (community) colleges, a student would never be in danger of having too many (excessive) units.

In addition, UC places limitations on the number of units/credits or courses awarded in the following areas:

• English as a Second Language courses: a maximum of 8 semester (12 quarter) units
• Physical Education courses: a maximum of 4 semester (6 quarter) units of PE activity; a maximum of 8 semester (12 quarter) units of PE theory

Examination scores/grades

UC awards credit for examinations as follows:

• College Board Advanced Placement (AP) - scores of 3, 4 or 5 on select exams
• International Baccalaureate (IB) Higher Level - scores of 5, 6 or 7 on select exams
• GCE and Singapore-Cambridge Advanced Level (A levels) - grades of A, B or C on select exams

Repeated courses

A student is allowed to repeat each course in which a C-, D+, D, F or NP grade was originally earned, as many times as necessary, until the first time he or she earns a letter grade of C or better. The following rules apply:

• The replacement (repeat) course must have curriculum similar to the original course (the same content but not necessarily the same title).
• The new grade earned will replace the deficient grade in the GPA calculation. UC does not average the grades.
• All coursework (original and repeats) must be reported on the admission application.
• A non-honors course can be used as a repeat of an honors-level course.
• An honors-level course may be used as a repeat of a non-honors course.
• Repeat of C (2.0) grades is not allowed.
• Repeat of courses out of sequence is not allowed.
• Students may not repeat a lower-level course if a grade of C- or higher has already been earned in a higher-level course.
• UC courses must be repeated at UC, but not necessarily at the original campus.

Duplicative credit prohibited: UC will not grant credit for college courses in which the content duplicates material of a previously completed course or examination for which credit has already been granted, with the exception of the repeat of deficient (D/F) course grades.

Language/literature credit for students whose native language is not English

A student whose native language is not English — and who has completed at least nine years of education conducted in that native language — may receive credit for language courses in the native language only if the courses are advanced courses at the upper-division level. No similar restriction exists on earning college credit for literature in the native language at either the lower- or upper-division level.

Final determination on the transferability of coursework for credit will be made by the admissions office based on UC's review (not that of another institution).