Overview
Articulation is the process that connects courses at two educational institutions to help students make a smooth transition from one to the other without having to complete duplicate coursework. The process identifies courses at the sending institution that are accepted by the receiving institution. This allows students to fulfill a receiving institution requirement at the sending institution before transfer. For more information, please see the FAQs below.
Forms
25-26 Merritt AA/AS GE Pattern
FAQs
What is articulation at Merritt College?
Articulation is the process of establishing which Merritt College courses are acceptable in lieu of courses offered at 4-year institutions. Merritt has articulation agreements with all public universities in California, including all campuses of the University of California (UC) and the California State University (CSU). Merritt also has articulation agreements with private and independent colleges and universities in and outside California. The goal of articulation is to create a clear pathway for students to transfer from Merritt College to a 4-year institution without having to repeat courses after transfer that they’ve already taken and passed.
What is an articulation agreement?
Each 4-year institution has its own admission, general education, graduation, and major requirements. An articulation agreement is an agreement that specifies which Merritt College course(s) will fulfill one or more of these requirements.
Transfer Course Agreements. These agreements list courses that will be accepted for credit by the 4-year institution. Courses that are approved for transfer credit may or may not count toward general education, major, or graduation requirements. Merritt College courses that transfer for credit to CSU or to UC are identified in the Merritt College catalog at the end of each course description and/or on the ASSIST website (see below).
Course-to-Course Agreements. A course-to-course agreement lists Merritt College courses that are acceptable in lieu of specific courses at a 4-year institution.
General Education Agreements. There are different GE patterns. The California General Education Transfer Curriculum (Cal-GETC) is a general education pattern that lists Merritt College courses that fulfill lower-division GE requirements at either a UC or a CSU and at many independent and private colleges and universities. Cal-GETC is usually not recommended for high-unit majors like Engineering, Computer Science, Biology, and Business. Completion of the Cal-GETC GE pattern also fulfills all lower-division GE requirements for CSU’s Associate Degrees for Transfer: Associate of Arts-Transfer (AA-T) and Associate of Science-Transfer (AS-T). Merritt College also has its own general education pattern, often referred to as local GE. This pattern fulfills the GE requirements for all Merritt College Associate of Arts (AA) and Associate of Science (AS) degrees.
There are also campus-specific GE agreements at individual 4-year institutions that a student may opt to fulfill instead of a systemwide GE pattern like Cal-GETC. See a counselor for more information about this.
Major Preparation. Major preparation agreements list courses that fulfill specific lower- division requirements for different majors at 4-year institutions.
Course Identification Numbering System (C-ID). C-ID is a statewide numbering system that can be used to determine course equivalency between California Community Colleges (CCCs) and CSUs. If a course at a CCC has an approved C-ID designation, it can be considered comparable to a course at either another CCC or at a CSU with the same C-ID designation. However, just because a Merritt College course shares a C-ID designation with a course at a CSU doesn’t mean it will fulfill admission, general education, major preparation or graduation requirements. Merritt College courses that have been approved for C-ID to date are listed at <https://www.c-id.net/course_compare.htm> See a counselor or contact the transfer institution for more information.
Common Course Numbering System. The Common Course Numbering (CCN) system in California, mandated by AB 1111, is a state-wide initiative by the California Community Colleges, aimed at standardizing course numbers, titles, and descriptions for general education and transfer pathway courses across all California Community Colleges. This system will make it easier for students to understand which courses will transfer and for students to build a cohesive academic plan.
How can I learn more about articulation agreements?
One source of articulation information is the Articulation System Stimulating Interinstitutional Student Transfer (ASSIST). ASSIST is the official repository of articulation agreements for all public higher education institutions in California (CCCs, CSUs, and UCs) and some independent or private institutions. These agreements have been reviewed and approved by the faculty at these institutions and identify how CCC courses will fulfill admission, transfer, general education, major preparation and graduation requirements at CSUs, UCs, and some independent or private institutions. Students planning to transfer should become familiar with articulation agreements found on ASSIST at <https://www.assist.org/> and on other sites. Students are strongly encouraged to see a counselor and to visit the Merritt College Transfer Center for more information.
