How to Use Assist
The ASSIST database is for California Community College transfer credits. For other options, including out of state, see Advising.
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What can I take at a community college to satisfy a GE requirement at Cal Poly?
- Click on one of the two Cal Poly Catalog groups below to find the specific guidelines that apply to you.
- You must know your Cal Poly Catalog to make the correct choice.
- You can find your Cal Poly Catalog listed at the top of your Academics tab in your My Cal Poly Portal (written in large green font) or in your PolyProfile (in the Career Program Plan section).
I am following the 2019-2020 or earlier Cal Poly Catalog.
- Make sure you choose the academic year in which you are taking or took the course.
- Find the "Search below for transferable courses" section and select the community college from the drop-down menu.
- Under Transferable Courses, select: CSU GE-Breadth Certification Courses, then click the View Transferability Lists button.
- In the “View Transferable Courses by” heading, select CSU GE-Breadth Area radio button.
- Select the GE Area you need (see chart below).
- Exclude courses that have a date in the “Date Removed” column.
- 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.
GE on Assist | Cal Poly GE Area |
---|---|
A1—Oral Communication | A2—Oral Communication |
A2—Written Communication | A1—Expository Writing |
A3—Critical Thinking | A3—Reasoning, Argumentation, and Writing |
B1—Physical Science | B3—Physical Science |
B2—Life Science | B2—Life Science |
B3—Laboratory Activity | B4—Laboratory Activity |
B4—Mathematics | B1—Math / Statistics |
C1—Arts | C3—Fine and Performing Arts |
C2—Humanities *NOTE: No more than 8 units total of foreign language acquisition courses can count in Area C. |
C1—Literature C2—Philosophy
|
D0—Sociology and Criminology D1—Anthropology and Sociology* D2—Economics D3—Ethnic Studies D4—Gender Studies D5—Geography D6—History D7—Interdisciplinary Social or Behavioral Science D8—Political Science, Government, and Legal Institutions D9—Psychology |
D2—Political Economy
|
E—Lifelong Understanding and Self-Development |
D4—Self Development (Cal Poly Catalogs prior to 2019-2020) E—Self Development (2019-2020 Cal Poly Catalog) |
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.
- Make sure you choose the academic year in which you are taking or took the course.
- Find the "Search below for transferable courses" section and select the community college from the drop-down menu.
- Under Transferable Courses, select: CSU GE-Breadth Certification Courses, then click the View Transferability Lists button.
- In the “View Transferable Courses by” heading, select CSU GE-Breadth Area radio button.
- Select the GE Area you need (see chart below).
- Exclude courses that have a date in the “Date Removed” column.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
GE on Assist | cal poly ge area | |
---|---|---|
A1 - Oral Communication | A1 - Oral Communication | |
A2 - Written Communication | A2 - Written Communication | |
A3 - Critical Thinking | A3 - Critical Thinking | |
B1 - Physical Science | B1 - Physical Science | |
B2 - Life Science | B2 - Life Science | |
B3 - Laboratory Activity | B3 - Laboratory Activity | |
B4 - Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning | B4 - Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning | |
C1 - Arts | C1 - Arts | |
C2 - Humanities | C2 - Humanities | |
C1 - Arts C2 - Humanities |
Lower-division C elective
|
|
D0 - Sociology and Criminology D1 - Anthropology and Archeology* D2 - Economics D3 - Ethnic Studies D4 - Gender Studies D5 - Geography D6 - History D7 - Interdisciplinary Social or Behavioral Science D8 - Political Science, Government, and Legal Institutions D9 - Psychology |
D2 - Social Sciences
|
|
E - Lifelong Learning and Self-Development | E - Lifelong Learning and Self-Development |
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?
- Cal Poly requires three different subject prefixes in lower-division Area C.
- 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.
- 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.
(Link opens in new window)
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.
What can I take at a community college to satisfy a Major/Support course at Cal Poly?
- Make sure you choose the academic year in which you are taking or took the course.
- Select the community college from the "Institution" drop-down menu.
- Select Cal Poly, SLO from the "Agreements with Other Institutions" drop-down menu, then click View Agreements.
- On the drop-down menu "View Agreements by:" select "Department" or "Prefix" then click View Agreement.
- REMINDER: if you repeat a class you already took at Cal Poly, or you have credit for with AP, you cannot earn units twice or be eligible for grade forgiveness
What can I take at a community college to satisfy GE Area D1 at Cal Poly?
We don't recommend taking D1 courses off campus. At Cal Poly, we require only one course to fulfill D1, and most community colleges require two to three courses to fulfill this requirement.
However, if you want to see the options on ASSIST:
- Make sure you have the correct academic year
- Select the California Community College from the drop down menu.
- Select: CSU US History, Constitution, and American Ideals Courses
- Be sure to read all of the information on the page and contact Evaluations with questions.
What can I take at a community college to satisfy free electives?
The class must be CSU transferable.
- Make sure you choose the academic year in which you are taking or took the course.
- Select the community college from the "Institution" drop-down menu.
- Under Transferable Courses, select: CSU Transferable Courses, then click the View Transferability Lists button.
- On the drop-down menu "View Transferable Courses by:" select "Department" or "Prefix."
If the class appears on the list, it is CSU transferable. If the class does not appear on the list, it is NOT transferable and cannot be used for free electives. You must also check the articulation of the class to be sure you are not repeating a class you already have credit for.
I took the class(es) at a community college. What are my next steps?
Order an official copy of your transcript from the community college and have it mailed to the address below. After we receive your transcript, the units and GPA will be calculated on your Poly Profile, and the credit will show on your DPR. Approximate processing time is 1-2 quarters.
Cal Poly
Transcript Processing
MC 1001
1 Grand Avenue
San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
Still have questions? Contact Evaluations:
Evaluations Unit
evaluations@calpoly.edu
Phone: 805-756-2396
Fax: 805-756-7237