Transfer Courses

Transfer Limits

Transfer units are granted when courses (or exams) taken elsewhere are deemed equivalent to courses at SDSU. Transfer units can come from AP placement (or similar) exams, community college courses, 4-year institutions or from Study Abroad experiences.

Students may transfer up to 90 units overall into SDSU, but of these only 70 units can transfer from a community college (CC).

Note that students can take additional courses at a CC to fulfill requirements but they would not count toward graduation unit requirements. For example, a student who had reached the 70 units CC max wanted to take their 3rd foreign language course at a CC. The class could come in to meet the foreign language requirement but its units would not count toward the 120-unit minimum.

Advanced Placement (or International Baccalaureate, CLEP) Exams

If students score high enough on AP exams, CLEP exams or IB courses, they can receive college credit for them which are then counted as transfer units.

AP, etc. for PSY requirements: There are up to 4 AP exams that can potentially apply toward prep courses needed for psychology majors: Psychology, Biology, Statistics (which counts as a statistics lecture; PSY 281 is still needed) and a foreign language. If students scored high enough to meet the minimum scores set by SDSU, then they will show on the DARS as equivalent to PSY 101, BIOL 100, STAT 119 or STAT 250 or a 201 numbered language course.

AP, etc. for Graduation or General Education requirements: Exam scores may also be used for a variety of general degree requirements including the Golden Four, Language, (some) American Institutions and GE Foundation requirements. Refer to the section on Academic Credit by Examination Links to an external site. under the University Policies page in the Online Catalog for a full list of what AP exams relate to which SDSU courses, including the minimum exam score needed.

Transferring Classes from Other (U.S.) Institutions

In order for courses taken elsewhere to be transferred in as equivalent to an SDSU course, there must be an active articulation agreement between schools stating the the courses were equivalent in the semester the course was taken (or is to be taken). Articulation agreements last 1 academic year running from fall through summer. Unless there is a change in course content at one of the schools, articulations tend to be approved from year to year but they may lapse because there was a change in one of the school's courses OR simply because they are used less (e.g., few students come to SDSU from a particular school) and thus not prompted for renewal.

Finding Classes to Take at Another Institution

Students may want to take a class at a CC. Note that financial aid does not typically cover classes taken at another institution. Speak with the Financial Aid Office for more information and inquire about concurrent enrollment Links to an external site. and cross-enrollment Links to an external site. options.

Preparation for the Major at CCs Handout Links to an external site.

Each semester (Fall, Spring, Summer), we examine class schedules across local San Diego community colleges to identify which colleges are offering courses that may be deemed equivalent to Psychology pre-major (lower-division) requirements and in what modality (i.e., online vs. in-person).

Caution: This information is based on recent articulation agreements between schools. If any school has changed the content of their course since the last active agreement, the courses in the linked handout may no longer be equivalent.

Classes Previously Taken at Another Institution

If there is (was) an active articulation agreement between SDSU and another school in the term when a course was taken, then the course should automatically transfer into SDSU as equivalent. When there is not an articulation agreement courses may transfer in different ways:

As "generic" PSY units (e.g., PSY 2T003>U where the 2 indicates lower-division and the number indicates no SDSU equivalent),
As general units that do not match up to a department, but still count toward the 120-unit minimum (e.g., TRNSF4T011>U or ELECT2T008>U)
As units that do not contribute to the 120-unit minimum (e.g., NTRNS 011).

Incoming freshmen and transfers may have courses appear on their degree evaluation early on that have yet to be reviewed by the university. If so, they will appear as unknown units (e.g., UNKWN 0015).

Prospective students can use Transferology Links to an external site. to see how courses might transfer into SDSU. Please refer to the video tutorials on the linked webpage for a step-by-step guide on how to use Transferology.

How to Check if Courses can Transfer to SDSU

Transferology Links to an external site. can be used to check if a course(s) at another school that a student plans to take (or has already taken) has (or had) an articulation agreement with SDSU during the term in which the course is/was taken. Students should follow instructions on this linked page Links to an external site. to create a student account on Transferology. The site also provides help (including videos) on how to use the system.

Note that Transferology is best used to check (1) if a course at another college/university that a student wants to take in a future term has an active articulation agreement with SDSU, or (2) if a course already taken at another college/university had an active articulation during the term in which it was completed. For detailed guidance on how to proceed depending on the results that Transferology produces (e.g., if a course does vs. does not have an active articulation agreement in a particular term), please see this page.

If a student has already completed a course elsewhere and has submitted their official transcript to SDSU, see this page for guidance and examples of the different ways that transfer courses may appear on the degree evaluation.

If a student has a question about a course that did not articulate as a direct equivalent to a course at SDSU, they should reach out to their major advisor (or minor advisor if the course in question is for a minor requirement) to request to have their transferred course further reviewed to see if it could be applied to their major/minor requirement(s). Students should expect to provide their major/minor advisor with a copy of their original syllabus for their transferred course.

No Articulation Agreement or Course Did Not Transfer as Satisfying a Specific Requirement?

If there is not evidence that there was an articulation agreement between the 2 schools in the semester a course was taken, students may be able to petition the decision in certain situations. See the Psychology Major Homeroom page on Petitions for more information.

Study Abroad

Students are intended to have their courses approved before they go abroad so it is predetermined if the courses are equivalent to a specific SDSU course or not. Even if a course is not equivalent to a specific SDSU course, it may count toward GE requirements or electives. If a study abroad course is deemed equivalent to an SDSU course, then it should transfer in as such on the student's degree evaluation. If a psychology major (or Personality and Social Psychology minor) takes psychology 'additional units' abroad, they should appear on the DARS as "generic" department units (e.g., PSY 4T005>U where the '4' indicates it is an upper-division course). If study abroad courses do not show up under the PSY prep or upper-division major, a petition to have them reviewed will be needed.