USC Office of Articulation
Information For Spring Admits1 About Transfer Courses
To Be Taken Before Entering USC
Which courses transfer for credit to USC?
For general information about transfer policies, see Transferring to USC, pages 6-11.
Can transfer courses satisfy my general graduation requirements at USC?
Yes, transfer courses you take after graduating from high school and before entering USC may fulfill most of the "USC Core" including:
For more information about the USC Core, see the USC Catalogue or click here for brief descriptions of the USC Core requirements.
How can I find out what transfers to USC from schools in California?
The Articulation homepage displays articulation agreements with most California community colleges that state exactly what credit courses will receive. Please read the entire agreement carefully. USC will honor the transfer credit shown on these agreements. If you will attend one of these colleges, please do not submit a pre-approval form. Admissions recommends that you attend a two-year school in the fall. There are also articulation histories with several four-year schools.
What if I’m not taking courses at one of those California colleges?
First, look at Transferring to USC, which gives guidelines for determining whether a course transfers for elective credit and fulfills a graduation requirement.
Second, click here to access the Transfer Planning Guide (TPG). After choosing one of the colleges from the list and a USC major, the TPG will display which courses at that college satisfy the USC Core and requirements for the selected major. The list of colleges on the TPG is limited (but growing), and the TPG does not contain a complete list of courses taught at these colleges. Therefore, if the school you are planning to attend is not listed or the courses you want to take do not appear, please continue to the third step.
Third, speak with your Admission counselor, who may be able to provide information from our database of courses that have already transferred from the college you plan to attend. You can identify your counselor, with contact information, on the Admissions Counselor page, or call Admissions at (213) 740-1111.
Fourth, if you need more specific advice and have submitted your commitment deposit, fill out a Spring Admit Pre-approval form. List the course(s) you want to take and state what credit you would like to earn for each. Please request only the courses for which you will eventually register. If you request more than 4-5 courses, your response may be considerably delayed. Fax the completed form, with signature, to Degree Progress at (213) 821-3757, email it to dprogss@usc.edu, or mail it to:
University of Southern California
Degree Progress, JHH 010
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0912
Please note that Spring Admit Pre-approval forms will not be processed for students requesting course work from any school with which USC has a published agreement.
What courses should I take that would apply to my USC major?
Requirements for majors are described in the USC Catalogue. Most departments prefer that students take "USC Core" requirements and courses preparatory to the major (if relevant) before coming, and take major course work at USC.
Can I transfer study abroad courses?
Possibly, but not all overseas programs transfer to USC. If you are going abroad through a U.S. college or university's study abroad program, please submit a Spring Admit Pre-approval form and include information about the program, a course syllabus for all courses you intend to take and indicate which university will provide the transcript for the course(s).
Programs offered and transcripted by international institutions cannot be evaluated in advance. You will need to have any international coursework evaluated by the International Education Research Foundation (IERF) after you complete the program for an additional fee. There is no guarantee of credit for such programs.
How about online courses?
In most cases online courses will receive the same credit in transfer as the classroom version at the sending institution. However, online or hybrid laboratory science classes will not satisfy Category III GE or earn equivalence to USC lab science courses. Online or hybrid foreign language courses are not equivalent to USC foreign language courses nor will they fulfill the language requirement. If you took a traditional classroom version of one of these courses at a school where the course is also available online, we cannot guarantee equivalence or subject credit in advance. You will need to provide additional documentation after you complete the course to demonstrate that you were enrolled in the classroom version of the class. Documentation typically includes a registration summary and your course syllabus; please keep copies of all related materials.
Any courses taught in non-traditional settings or time frames, including compact intersessions or open-ended distance education courses, require individual review after completion of course. In these cases no advance guarantee of credit can be made.
1This process can also be used by Fall Admits who wish to inquire about courses to be taken in the summer before entering USC.