Transferring JUCO credits to 4-year University

Yes, I think it is realistic to think that if you keep the student on track - planning the whole 2 year degree semester by semester that almost all credits will transfer. We just went through this. Unless you have a specific university in mind to transfer to, and adhere to the university's specific degree requirements you are going to end up with some credits that don't transfer. I mean, while it fulfilled a requirement, intercollegiate baseball for 4 semesters and his juco didn't mean squat to his new school. Neither did his extra PE class each semester. But it was good for him at the time. Some kids do take classes that might interest them even though it doesnt fit in with the major, or they heard it was a good class, or their girlfriend is taking it.

It could also happen that even by starting at "state U." as a freshman there are going to be wasted courses/credits if one didn't have a specific major as a freshman. It is quite possible to be at state U and still be a soph going into the 3rd year.

My son got CLEP credits during JUCO, he tested and got credit for 16 hours of spanish. All 16 were applied toward his assoc. degree. The new school only accepted -I think it was 9.

Seems like the grade had to be a C to transfer, but he didn't have any grades lower than C anyway. All is dependent on the receiving institution, and there is probably no standard that is uniform from university to university. Do the best you can with course planning, and shouldnt lose too many credits with whatever university you should choose a year and a half down the road. I found that it seemed to be easier to transfer in an assoc. degree vs. just credits as far as $$ institutional scholarships go. Hope that makes sense.

I agree with YBM.

If you happen to know which schools you may be transferring to, get ahold of their degree catalogs so you can map your JUCO work to their curriculem. You may be able to achieve a 100% transfer rate this way. I believe C's will transfer as well but could be wrong on that depending on the institution of transfer. This is something that can be checked on-line or with a simple phone call.

If you don't know where you may transfer some common sense can apply. Of course all degrees require English so take these at the JUCO. Courses like Psych 101 probably will apply as an elective or as part of a major. Math courses need to apply to the underlying degree. For instance, basic Algebra or Trig can be taken at a JUCO but probably does not apply to any 4 year degrees. It may need to be taken remidially however which is a different circumstance. If Engineering were a desired 4 year major, then the lowest applicable Math would be Calculus. Engineering usually requires several semesters of Calculus and other advanced math such as Differential Equations and Linear Algerbra. Many degrees require subjects like chemistry, economics, accounting etc. which can be taken with confidence at the JUCO level. Please also become good friends with the JUCO guidance counselor. These people are paid to serve you.

My son transferred twice - once JUCO to 4 year - and then to a second 4 year. He did not have too many problems transferring his classes. Ironically the only class he did have trouble with was a basic speech class that was required. It weathered the first transfer, but not the second. One never knows.

He is finishing his last semester now - and with two transfers we figure he did pretty good to complete his degree in 4 1/2 years (and on schedule to graduate with honors too).

Do your homework and you should end up in pretty good shape. But don't be surprised by a odd ball.

I will echo what everyone has said so far. I had 2 who transferred from a JUCO to a 4-year. The easiest transfer is from the JUCO to whatever 4-year school or schools it is tied to. Their course offerings and requirements tend to be identical. The next best is to know exactly which school you want to transfer to and also know your major. That way, you can duplicate as best you can the general education requirements and major prerequisites (including math)of the 4-year when you choose classes at the JUCO.

We found that each 4-year school has different general education requirements, especially in number and type of science classes (some want 2 courses in different areas, some want 2 courses in the same area -- one even required 4 courses in science!)and in the way they want the mix of humanities, social science, arts, etc. classes to look like. When in doubt, take the class that you know will transfer easily -- for instance, choose Sociology 101 rather than the Human Sexuality class that "all the baseball players take." Every school we looked at, though, would accept all grades of C or higher (none would accept D's).

As ClevelandDad suggested, work closely with the counselor. However, I also urge you to be extremely proactive. Don't necessarily take their suggestions on faith. At both my sons's JUCOs, the couselors seemed more tuned into maintaining player eligibility than they were into setting the players up well for the next level. Without our vigilance, they would have been in much worse shape.

AParent - congrats on your son's graduation in 4 1/2 years! My second one is actually on track to do it in 4 years, even with with baseball -- hope it works!

In general, though, I agree that it is quite do-able.

good info here - it is echoed in a recent story on FSU/TCC/USC/FSU RHP Brent Marsh and his nightmare saga - a quick rundown

1) Seminole freshman redshirt
2) 4-2 transfer to Tallahasse CC for JC degree - played 2 yrs
3) 2-4 transfer to Gamecocks - who assured most credits transfering, played 1 yr - then was re-notified mid yr about 30 hrs would NOT transfer
4) 4-4 transfer back to FSU where all 30 were good, even tho likely ending baseball eligibility
5) "miraculous" granting by NCAA of exemption appeal, will play for FSU and graduate this yr


Brent Mash, subscription for full text

I believe same state JCs MUST match up, out of state MIGHT match up - so be very carefull when transfer changes states

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One player I know transfering from JC to 4 year, different state. By the time he would have transfered he would have been starting all over again. The school worked closely and before he transferred he made the decision to remain at teh JC and take the required courses that were needed, instead of losing credits.

I never realized all of this until son wanted to take a math class at local JC for credits. The math classes offered were NOT accredited at CU. If I had not been given a heads up by advisor, he would have wasted $$.

I also know of a D1 student who did transfer to another D1, differnt state. Somehow the courses he was taking at the D1 was not offered, had to switch majors and lost tons of credits. But he wanted to play at this one particular school I think that parents need to be aware of the whole transfer process 2 to 4, 4 to 4 before decisions are made, in state, out of state. Great advice here.

Keep in mind that the rules have changed significantly in the last 2 years, so these stories of past experience may not apply now.
Your credits must transfer, and they must also dovetail into the degree program of the school you are transferring to. In addition, you must now transfer 40% (48 hours in a 120 hour degree program) verus 25% (30 hours) in the "good ol' days" after year 2. Also, you are much more limited in the number of summer hours that can transfer.
Bottom line: do your homework and take ownership of your specific situation and transferring is still very doable in most instances.

I would just like to say that the advice I gave above was based on my personal experience of attending a JUCO and then transferring to a 4 year school many years ago. That said, I don't see how the advice I gave is outdated by any new rules that have hit the scene in the past 2 years.

Frankly, I don't see where any of the advice given in this thread is outdated or not applicable due to new rules. Of course, I sometimes have difficulty understanding things at times

Bee's example case in Florida illustrates an important point. All Florida community colleges are affiliated with all FLorida state 4-year colleges. If you get an AA degree at any FL JUCO, you can transfer as a full-fledged junior into any Florida 4-year (assuming you are accepted), having satisfied all of the general education requirements. It's a great system. Even the course numbers are the same from school to school. I'm sure that's what made it possible for the young man Bee referred to to transfer back to FL State with all his credits intact, even though they weren't all accepted at USC.

Other states don't work that way though. In fact, Bee, our wonderful state of Ohio is probably the worst as far as having the most UNCOORDINATED system of state colleges and community colleges. When my son was trying to transfer credits into Ohio State from Ohio U and a FLorida community college, the credits they wouldn't accept were the ones from OU!!

As far as the NCAA upgrading the transfer requirements, it is true that the new requirements are designed to help the student be further along in his degree, but as Bee pointed out, not every school will accept all eligible credits, especially if they are from out of state, leaving the student holding the bag.

Illinois also has a program similar to that in Florida. It is called the Illinois Articulation Initiative. It makes transferring easy from/to the schools that are part of that group.

The examples I cited also were within the 2 year period, and I did mention they were transfering out of state.

this may be a foolish question but here goes. does it matter if you graduated from the juco vs doing two years and transfering?i know that my sons cc required 63 credits to graduate or for the assoc.degree. but you almost need summer classes to get those 63 in two years.would the gegree make things easier to transfer?i realize some credits still may not be transferable. but will the assoc. change your status?

20dad - It made the difference for our son and where he transferred to school. The difference was in the scholarship. Didnt make any credits more transferable, was just the $cholarship was only availble to assoc. degree transfers.

Don't forget about an internet class or 2 over the summer. Helps to get in the needed credits.

quote:

Originally posted by 20dad:
this may be a foolish question but here goes. does it matter if you graduated from the juco vs doing two years and transfering?i know that my sons cc required 63 credits to graduate or for the assoc.degree. but you almost need summer classes to get those 63 in two years.would the gegree make things easier to transfer?i realize some credits still may not be transferable. but will the assoc. change your status?

I believe the NCAA requires the associates degree for eligibility for those students who were not qualifiers out of high school. Otherwise, the student would only need 12 credits per semester to transfer and be eligible under NCAA rules. You can check this out at the NCAA site to verify.

I haven't checked out any individual 4-yr school requirements yet though.

I was also under the impression that the AA degree was required of those who were not qualifiers out of high school. In addition, SOME 4-year schools will waive general education requirements for juniors who come in with an AA degree (definitely true in FL if you come from a FL JUCO, but other schools will do it for all who enter with an AA degree). This can make the last 2 years much easier to complete -- basically just finishing up a major and/or minor. My son's 4 year school, however, just awarded credits (didn't take the AA degree into consideration) and he had to make up the general education credits that his JUCO didn't require (again, each school has a different mix of required courses).

Excellent point Topdogfan about the degree being necessary to transfer when not a NCAA qualifier out of high school.

topdog, i know that applys to a d1 school as far as being a nonqualifier out of high school,but i'm not sure its as stringent at the d2 d3 level. curious

20dad - It would be the same for those levels. If you were a qualifier for DII out of HS, you could transfer on to a DII after one year just like you could DI if you were a DI qualifier. I'm not overly familiar with the DIII rules. I would think you could leave JUCO at one year and go to DIII as well as NAIA if that's what you chose since there were no academic requirements out of HS for those. You would have to meet the individual school's tranfer requirements.

Since California has to be different than everyone else, does anyone know the requirements for non-qualifiers to transfer from a CA juco to a 4-yr.? I'm assuming they're the same, but I usually get in trouble when I assume anything

06dad - This is entirely speculation on my part as I am completely unfamiliar with CA JUCOs. However, it's really the "rules" of the NCAA that you have to meet as far as transferring, thus I would think they would be the same as coming from any JUCO. To transfer to a NCAA school - if you were a qualifier out of HS - then you could go after freshman JUCO year. If not, then the standard transfer requirements. Outside of the NCAA requirements, you have to meet the admission requirements of the 4 year school - whether that be a NCAA school or a NAIA.

Again, I would "assume" that's the correct answer. I'm sure someone at a CA JUCO could probably give you specifics to certain scenarios.