The easiest way to ensure a smooth transfer from your community college to a four-year institution is to find schools that your community college has an articulation agreement with. An articulation agreement discusses what classes are required for the transfer and which courses from the community college will transfer with full credit to the four-year institution. This ensures that an associate’s degree (what you will earn after completing community college) will satisfy all first and second-year general education requirements at the four-year institution. This maximizes efficiency and minimizes time wasted on classes you don’t need.

For example, if you earn an associate’s degree at Community College A, which has an articulation agreement with University B, your credits are guaranteed to transfer as long as you’ve earned passing grades. In other words, when choosing a school with an articulation agreement, you can transfer comfortably knowing your credits have transferred and you’ll be able to start as a junior ready to take upper-division courses for your major to finish in two years.

Note: articulation agreements often have geographic restrictions.

Below are some partnerships to know about:

2+2 Articulation Agreements

2+2 Articulation Agreement is an agreement between a community college and a university in which a student completes an Associate's degree or specific course requirements at a community college for their first two years and then complete their last two years at a university. Students that follow the required course plan and complete their Associate’s degree with the required grade point average can then apply to specific four-year schools where they will be guaranteed admission—with all course work transferring seamlessly.

Here is an example: Statewide 2+2 Articulation Agreement

3+1 Articulation Agreements

3+1 Articulation Agreement is often between two four-year institutions where one institution offers a program that the other doesn’t and thus, would complete 75% of the coursework at institution one and transfer to institution two to finish out the coursework, or 90 semester credits in institution one and 30 in institution two.This can be popular with specific majors like Engineering or Nursing.

Here is an example: 3+1 Articulation Agreement

Resources:

• What is an articulation agreement?

• State-by-state lists of colleges with articulation agreements

• College Resources Transfers Need to Know About

1. Know your major (if you’re still unsure, be sure to discuss with your advisor as they can advise on more common classes that fulfill general education requirements and typically transfer).

2. Check to see if the school you’d like to transfer to has an articulation agreement with your community college.

   1. CollegeTransfer.Net Search for College and University Transfer Agreements

   2. American Association for Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers

   3. www.assist.org (for California-based institutions)

3. Ensure your school and the school you’d like to transfer to are accredited schools. You can check here.

4. Be sure to check if there are grade and/or GPA minimums to attain. Failing to meet the minimum will result in the need to retake a course and therefore, more time and money wasted.

Universities are known to update their articulation agreements. Thus, it is your responsibility to frequently meet with your advisor and/or and ensure you are on track with your articulation agreement.

Below is an example of what an Articulation Agreement can look like. You will notice the name of the courses that are required of you to take, what they transfer as, and what grade you will need to earn, at a minimum, to have it transfer:

Click to view an example of an Articulation Agreement.

You can search other articulation agreements here: https://www.collegetransfer.net/Search/Search-for-Transfer-Articulation-Agreements

Be sure that you meet with your advisor to discuss an articulation agreement before you begin taking courses.