A student can transfer from Orange Coast College to a four-year college or university as a junior without loss of time or credits by completing the following:

1. Lower Division Major Requirements: These courses should be completed before transferring. They provide background and preparation in order to concentrate on the major beginning in the junior year. Many colleges and universities require specific courses prior to transfer and often set a minimum GPA. Please read the additional guidance below. 
2. General Education Requirements: These are the courses required of everyone to obtain a degree regardless of major. They are designed to provide students with the knowledge, skills and understanding which will enable them to function as intelligent and creative members of the community. Courses in writing, critical thinking, mathematics, sciences, arts and humanities, and the social sciences are included in general education.
3. Electives: These are transferable courses of choice taken in addition to courses for the major and general education requirements.

Lower Division Major Requirements

Most majors at four-year colleges and universities require the completion of one or more lower division courses as preparation for upper division coursework. Orange Coast College offers courses to meet the lower division requirements for most majors at most four-year schools.

Assist.org maintains the most currently available requirements for specific majors at California State University and University of California Campuses. Many private and out of state campus websites provide a searchable transfer credit database. The Private College Articulation Agreements page of the Transfer Center website provides links to major-specific articulation as well. 

Students should check the catalog of the college to which they wish to transfer and meet with their counselor for additional information about major programs and requirements.

Certification of General Education for Transfer to UC or CSU

Upon a student’s request, Orange Coast College will verify the completion of lower division general education requirements for transfer to the University of California using the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) or the California State University using either the CSU General Education Breadth Requirements or IGETC. Students who transfer without certification will have to meet the general education requirements of the specific UC or CSU campus to which they are transferring. Meeting these requirements usually necessitates taking additional courses.

Both CSU General Education Breadth and the IGETC should be completed in their entirety prior to transfer. Students can request partial certification of CSU General Education Breadth sub-areas if all requirements within the sub-area are met. Students using the IGETC who are missing no more than two courses prior to matriculation at a four-year institution may request partial certification during any term except in the final term prior to graduation from the four-year institution. Partial certification are upon request only to the OCC Transcript Office.

Students who have taken courses at other colleges can have these courses “passed along” in the certification process. OCC will certify courses taken at other California community colleges and CSU in the areas designated by the offering college. Courses taken at California four-year colleges or out-of-state two- or four-year colleges will be certified if they are equivalent to courses on the IGETC or CSU General Education Breadth list taught at any of the California community colleges. Courses from foreign institutions cannot be used in the certification process. Meet with your counselor to discuss how previous coursework may be applicable to the CSU or IGETC general education requirements. In some cases, it may be necessary to file an academic petition for faculty review of previous coursework. 

Students requesting CSU General Education Breadth certification must complete at least 12 of the 39 required units at OCC.

OCC will certify courses only once. Certification is not automatic and must be requested after the completion of the last term, prior to transfer. This request should be made as part of the final transcript request process through OCC's Enrollment Center. Courses taken at other colleges after a student has left OCC will not be certified.

A course used in the certification process must be on either the IGETC or the CSU General Education Breadth list during the term in which it is taken. If a course is taken before it is approved for inclusion on the list, it cannot be certified. Similarly, a course which is taken after it has been removed from the list cannot be certified.

OCC will also certify the completion of the CSU American Institutions Requirement for students following either IGETC or CSU General Education Breadth.