Articulation & Transfer

Articulation Agreements

Articulation agreements are formal agreements between two campuses that define how courses taken at one college or university campus can be used to satisfy a subject requirement at another college or university campus. Articulation agreements between community colleges and colleges in the University of California and California State University systems can be found at Links to an external site.www.assist.org Links to an external site..

Course Identification Numbering System (C-ID)

The information below is taken primarily from the C-ID website Links to an external site.

The Course Identification Numbering system, or C-ID, is a mechanism for facilitating articulation of commonly transferred courses between community colleges and universities. C-ID addresses the need for “common course numbers” by providing a mechanism to identify comparable courses. The number is assigned based on a course "descriptor” which was developed by intersegmental discipline faculty. Once descriptors are developed, colleges are asked to submit their course outlines of record (COR), and CORs that match the descriptor will be granted the C-ID number and will carry the associated articulation.

In short, C-ID is a method for facilitating articulation. It is simultaneously a system of providing a common number to comparable courses and an answer to many challenges facing post secondary transfer efforts.

• C-ID Numbers

The C-ID number is a designation that ties a course to a specific course “descriptor” that was developed by intersegmental discipline faculty and reviewed statewide. Most C-ID numbers identify lower-division transferable courses commonly articulated between the California Community Colleges and universities (including UC, CSU, as well as with many of California's independent colleges and universities). An example of a CI-D number and name is: 

• C-ID number: HIST 140
• C-ID title: United States History from 1865

Need Help Determining if Your Course Aligns to a C-ID Descriptor? Links to an external site.

• C-ID Descriptors

A C-ID descriptor is a document that provides minimum requirements of a given course in terms of general course description, prerequisites, co-requisites, recommended preparation, course content, lab activities, and course objectives.  It also provides information for ongoing curriculum development and revision of lower division courses. 

Once the descriptor for a course has undergone wide discipline review, it is posted for general viewing at Links to an external site.https://c-id.net/descriptors Links to an external site.. Individual college courses (CORs) submitted to C-ID are compared to the minimum requirements set by these descriptors. Any community college course that bears the C-ID number conveys that intersegmental faculty have determined it meets the published course content, rigor, and course objectives as listed in the descriptor. Faculty are able to add more to the course outline, but must clearly meet the minimums set forth in the descriptor. 

With the mandate for associate degrees for transfer (AA-T and AS-T degrees) that began in 2011, C-ID took on an additional and critical role: to provide descriptors and numbers for all of the courses in the Transfer Model Curricula (TMC).

Need help finding a C-ID Descriptor for your course? Links to an external site.

Transfer Model Curriculum (TMC)

In response to Senate Bill 1440 (Padilla, 2010), the Academic Senates for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) in collaboration with the California State University Academic Senate (CSU) have developed Transfer Model Curriculum (TMC) for certain majors for students who transfer from a California community college to CSU. Each TMC represents a set course structure developed by community college and CSU faculty for establishing the major components of a California community college ADT. According to Title 5, section 55063, and Education Code, section 66746, the associate degree must include a major or area of emphasis consisting of a minimum of 18 semester units.

The C-ID infrastructure is used to develop and vet the transfer model curriculum (TMC) in each of the most common transfer majors in order to provide assurances to students and faculty that courses offered at one institution are comparable to those elsewhere, provided they have the same C-ID number.  

Once a TMC has been drafted by intersegmental discipline faculty, it is vetted on the C-ID site Links to an external site. where feedback is posted by a wider sampling of faculty.  Once finalized, TMCs become available for community colleges to use as they develop their associate degree for transfer. Faculty are required to regularly review their TMC template(s) to ensure their programs are up-to-date. 

Associate degrees for transfer are either AS-T degrees (for STEM) or AA-T degrees (for all other programs).

View Your TMC Template Links to an external site.

Articulation System Stimulating Interinstitutional Student Transfer (ASSIST)

The ASSIST database Links to an external site. is a repository of articulated, transferrable courses for all California Community Colleges, CSU, and UC campuses. It displays reports of how course credits earned at one California College or university can be applied when transferred to another, and can be searched by college or major. ASSIST also displays C-ID numbers and titles.

(Contact the Articulation Officer for help searching a related database called the ASSIST Information Center, by keyword or course title.)