How to Use Assist

I am following the 2019-2020 or earlier Cal Poly Catalog.

1. Make sure you choose the academic year in which you are taking or took the course.
2. Find the "Search below for transferable courses" section and select the community college from the drop-down menu.
3. Under Transferable Courses, select: CSU GE-Breadth Certification Courses, then click the View Transferability Lists button.
4. In the “View Transferable Courses by” heading, select CSU GE-Breadth Area radio button.
5. Select the GE Area you need (see chart below).
6. Exclude courses that have a date in the “Date Removed” column.
7. You must also check the articulation of the class to be sure that you are not repeating a class you already have credit for (example: Microeconomics), OR taking a class that is a lower level than you have credit for (example: foreign language). See “What can I take at a community college to satisfy a Major/Support course at Cal Poly?” for how to verify this.

The information outlined above can also be found on the PDF of How to Use Assist.

I am following the 2020-2021 or later Cal Poly Catalog.

1. Make sure you choose the academic year in which you are taking or took the course.
2. Find the "Search below for transferable courses" section and select the community college from the drop-down menu.
3. Under Transferable Courses, select: CSU GE-Breadth Certification Courses, then click the View Transferability Lists button.
4. In the “View Transferable Courses by” heading, select CSU GE-Breadth Area radio button.
5. Select the GE Area you need (see chart below).
6. Exclude courses that have a date in the “Date Removed” column.
7. You must also check the articulation of the class to be sure that you are not repeating a class you already have credit for (example: Microeconomics), OR taking a class that is a lower level than you have credit for (example: foreign language). See “What can I take at a community college to satisfy a Major/Support course at Cal Poly?” for how to verify this.
8. On the 2020-26 Catalogs, C1, C2, and the lower-division C elective must come from three different subject prefixes. To ensure you’re not duplicating prefixes in any remaining lower-division Area C coursework, use the Prefix Mapping Chart in the section below to determine what subject prefix Cal Poly will consider your transfer course to be.
9. For students on the Standard GE template on the 2020-21 Catalog, the two courses in Area D2 must come from two different subject prefixes. To ensure you’re not duplicating prefixes in any remaining D2 coursework, use the Prefix Mapping Chart in the section below to determine what subject prefix Cal Poly will consider your transfer course to be.
   1. For students on the Standard GE template on the 2021-26 Catalogs, the three courses in Area D (D1, D2, and Upper-Division D) must come from two different prefixes. 
      1. NOTE: Upper-Division D cannot be completed at community college.
   2. Students on the High Unit GE template (CENG, ARCE, and BRAE) following either the 2020-21 or 2021-26 Catalogs are not held to the prefix requirement in Area D.

I don't know how my transfer course subject prefix will appear once my transfer course has been evaluated by Cal Poly. What do I do?

1. Cal Poly requires three different subject prefixes in lower-division Area C.
2. For students on the Standard GE template on the 2020-21 Catalog, the two courses in Area D2 must come from two different subject prefixes. To ensure you’re not duplicating prefixes in any remaining D2 coursework, use the Prefix Mapping Chart below to determine what subject prefix Cal Poly will consider your transfer course to be.
3. For students on the Standard GE template on the 2021-26 Catalogs, the three courses in Area D (D1, D2, and Upper-Division D) must come from two different prefixes. 
   • NOTE: Upper-Division D cannot be completed at community college.

Because other schools may use different prefixes than Cal Poly’s, the Prefix Mapping Chart below will help you figure out how to appropriately select courses at California Community Colleges without duplicating prefixes.

Use the full Prefix title in ASSIST to ensure proper mapping. For example, HUMA might refer to Human Development or to Humanities, but when you search in ASSIST by Prefix, it will list “HUMA Human Development” as the full title, and “HUMI Humanities.”

If a course is cross-listed at the transfer school, Cal Poly will transfer the course in using whatever prefix appears on your transfer transcript.

Students on the High Unit GE template (CENG, ARCE, and BRAE) following either the 2020-21 or 2021-26 Catalogs are not held to the prefix requirement in Area D.