Acceptance of Transfer Credits | Diablo Valley College

Transfer of Credit and Coursework

In order to evaluate for equivalent coursework, DVC accepts transcripts from institutions currently recognized by the following regional accrediting organizations: Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Higher Education; New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Commission on Institutions of Higher Education; North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, the Higher Learning Commission; Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities; Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges; Western Association of Schools and Colleges, Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges; Western Association of Schools and Colleges, Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities. DVC also follows the recommendations of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions and Records Officers. The official transcript from the other college is required. Students must submit sealed unopened transcripts in person or by mail to the Admissions and Records Office of Diablo Valley College. Students must make a counseling appointment to review the evaluation of their transcripts. The appointment initiates the evaluation of the transcript by admissions and records; therefore, transcripts must be on file with admissions and records a minimum of two weeks prior to the scheduling of the appointment. It is recommended that students complete this process prior to or during their first term of enrollment at DVC.

Students are advised that:

Only courses and credit from accredited institutions will be considered for transfer to DVC.
Upper division courses may be applied to degree, certificate and transfer requirements under the following conditions:
1. Upper division coursework may be applied to satisfy DVC general education, major, and certificate requirements. A course substitution request form (available online) must be submitted to the Admissions and Records Office.
2. Upper division coursework may be applied to Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) requirements under the following conditions:
  1. When a University of California (UC) or California State University (CSU) campus has classified a course or series as upper-division but has requested that lower-division transfer credit be allowed because an equivalent course is taught at a community college or because the preparation of the subject is desired prior to transfer. Current examples include economics, organic chemistry and abnormal psychology.
  2. When a non-California Community College (CCC) course is determined comparable to one taught and approved for IGETC at a CCC, it may be applied to IGETC regardless of its upper-division status.
  3. When a CSU uses an upper-division course in its “lower-division” General Educational pattern.
3. Upper-division coursework may be applied to California State University General Education (CSU GE) requirements under the following conditions:
  1. When an upper-division course is equivalent to a lower-division course used to satisfy a CSU GE requirement.
  2. When CSU uses an upper-division course in their CSU GE pattern.
Transfer credit and coursework may be applied towards the requirements of a degree or certificate program. Students are strongly encouraged to make a counseling appointment to determine applicability of courses taken elsewhere towards their program at DVC.
When courses completed at other institutions are determined to be equivalent to DVC courses but their unit value varies, students will not be required to “make up” missing units for DVC GE, major and/or certificate requirements. Students are always required to complete a minimum of 18 semester units for both major and general education requirements with three semester units in each GE area and 60 semester units for a degree.
Transfer coursework may be used to meet prerequisites at Diablo Valley College.
Transfer credit and DVC credit together determine the student’s overall GPA when applied to academic program requirements and financial aid and athletic eligibility. DVC will use plus/minus grades in GPA calculation.
Transfer credit from colleges and universities with different credit systems (quarter units) are converted to semester hours of credit.
DVC may accept Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB) and College Level Examination Program (CLEP) scores to meet DVC general education and Transfer Studies certificate of achievement requirements as well as CSU GE and IGETC requirements. Students who wish to have AP, IB or CLEP scores evaluated by DVC must submit official score reports for consideration.
Coursework and credits that may transfer will be determined based on an evaluation that may include but is not limited to: course content, objectives, student learning outcomes, units, grades, course level and applicability toward degree, certificate or prerequisite requirements as well as CSU GE and IGETC requirements.
Foreign transfer credit may be applied toward the 60-unit requirement for the DVC associate degree only after an evaluation by an approved credential evaluation service (for a list see: https://www.naces.org). Students are advised to meet with a counselor and obtain guidelines from DVC admissions and records before requesting such an evaluation. Evaluations must include a course-by-course report with semester unit equivalencies, distinguishing between upper- and lower-division coursework and including letter grades. Students who wish foreign coursework to be used to meet specific course requirements for prerequisites, DVC majors, general education, or certificate requirements must provide detailed course descriptions. Foreign coursework cannot be used to certify California State University General Education (CSU GE) or IGETC requirements, except for the IGETC Language Other Than English requirement. Transfer of credit policy varies from institution to institution. Students who intend to transfer are advised to review the policy of the receiving institution.