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 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 and cross-enrollment options.

Preparation for the Major at CCs Handout

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 SDSU TAP to see how courses might transfer into SDSU. See instructions on how to use TAP (only one search is up-to-date on articulation agreements) before looking up courses.

How to Check if Courses can Transfer to SDSU

SDSU TAP can be used to check if there are current (or recent) articulation agreements between SDSU and another school. See instructions on how to use TAP (only one search is up-to-date on articulation agreements).

Students should pay close attention to the time range provided to see if there was a current articulation agreement when the course was taken. If a student is planning to take a course elsewhere and SDSU TAP shows a recent articulation agreement for it, then it is likely to transfer in as expected, unless either school has recently changed the content of a course.

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 a student's degree evaluation.

No Articulation Agreement or Courses did Not Transfer?

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.