Articulation Functions

Each university system has its own major program requirements. Articulation is the process of developing a formal written agreement that identifies courses (or sequences of courses) from a "sending" campus to specific course requirements at a "receiving" campus.  An established articulation agreement enables students to transition and transfer to a four-year campus more effectively and efficiently.  An articulation agreement, sometimes referred to as a transfer course agreement, is an agreement with a four-year institution that specifies which Ventura College courses may be transferred to meet general education, major requirement or major preparation, and/or elective units.  Articulation proposals are often initiated at the request of a discipline faculty member or by the Articulation Officer. The Articulation Officer at Ventura College (VC) coordinates all aspects of articulation agreements.  The Articulation Officer researches, reviews, informs discipline faculty members, and sends the proposals to a receiving institution.  The receiving institutions review, and render articulation decisions which will be recorded on the Assist.org.

Types of Articulation Agreements

1. General Education - The General Education Breadth agreements indicate courses that a student completes at VC satisfies the general education requirements at the receiving campus. The General Education Breadth patterns are the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) and California State University General Education - Breadth

  • Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) is a general education program which California community college students use to satisfy the lower-division general education requirements at any CSU or UC campus.
  • IGETC 2.0 version
  • The CSU General Education (CSU GE-Breadth) agreement is a general education program which California community college students use to satisfy the lower-division general education requirements at any CSU campuses.
  • CSU GE Reviewer Guide

2. Course-to-Course Agreements - The major preparation agreements and/or course-to-course agreements specify the lower division courses required for a specific major at a specific four-year institution. The purpose of a course-to-course agreement is to determine if a specific course taken at VC will satisfy a requirement at another college.

3. Elective Credit Agreements  - The agreements indicate which courses are transferable for a minimum university credit.  Courses that are approved for elective credit do not necessarily count toward a general education pattern or a major at the university. Ventura College courses that transfer for elective credit to the CSU or the UC campuses are identified in the VC Catalog at the end of the course descriptions, or on the ASSIST Web site.

UC and CSU Transferability:  The discipline faculty members at VC determine the courses transferable units to the CSU system. The University of California Office of the President Student Affairs Office determines the UC transferability status. The UC transferability determination is an annual process.  It is denoted on the catalog as transfer credit: CSU for a CSU transferable course.  A UC transferable course is denoted as transfer credit: CSU, UC for a CSU and UC transferable course.  

Transferable Course Agreements - The University of California Transfer Course Agreement (UC TCA) is a listing of courses offered at VC that are transferable to the University of California (UC).  the University of California Office of the President will determine a course's UC transferability status.