Sending your official transcripts to UC Merced
Select 'University of California-Merced. Then select 'Registrars'
New Incoming Students: Evaluating your transfer work
The Office of Undergraduate Admissions evaluates all transfer work for new undergraduate students. This process may take 8 to 10 weeks. Transfer work will appear on your unofficial transcript approximately 10 weeks from the date of receipt.
Please refer to the Information on the Admitted Student and Office of Undergraduate Admissions sites.
Continuing and Readmitted Students: Evaluating your transfer work
The Office of the Registrar evaluates transfer credit for continuing students and readmitted students. This process normally takes 2 to 5 weeks for continuing students. During peak periods, at the end and beginning of a semester, processing of a transcript may take 6 weeks. Transfer credit processing is prioritized for graduation candidates. Transfer work will appear on your unofficial transcript approximately 2 to 5 weeks from the date of receipt for continuing students.
Transfer work will be processed within 4 to 6 weeks from the date of approval for readmitted students. If you need a course to fulfill a prerequisite for course registration, please notify your academic advisor.
Transfer Courses: Articulation, ASSIST and TES
What is articulation?
Articulation is the process of determining how courses you've completed at another college or university can count towards your degree here at UC Merced. This helps ensure that transfer students can build on their previous coursework, stay on track, and graduate on time.
How can I find courses that are articulated?
ASSIST
ASSIST is the official transfer and articulation system for California's public colleges and universities. Some independent California institutions are now also included.
ASSIST has search functionality not only for articulation agreements between institutions, but also transferability lists showing community college courses approved for UC transfer and general education.
Course articulation agreements are published annually (and new articulations may be added and published at any time) and are publicly available, including agreements between UC Merced and all California Community Colleges.
To search for articulation in ASSIST, use the "Search below for articulation agreements" box. Set your parameters - the academic year that the course was taken, the Institution (UC Merced) and Other Institutions (the Community College where the course was taken).
Course-to-course articulation can be viewed in several ways:
- By Major agreements give useful transfer information in addition to listing the lower-division courses relevant to that major and area of emphasis, if applicable.
- By Department and By Prefix currently give the same information, searchable either way. Additionally, there is the capability of showing articulation from either the UC Merced or the community college side. This can be helpful when searching for articulation where departments or prefixes may not exactly match, e.g, Statistics and Mathematics.
TES
While articulation priority is given to California Community Colleges, UC Merced has also established transfer equivalencies for select private, non-public, and out-of-state institutions to support our transfer students. These agreements are available in the Transfer Evaluation System (TES).
It is always recommended that articulation (either from ASSIST or TES) be used in conjunction with the relevant UC Merced catalog, which lists the curriculum and transfer student requirements for all academic programs offered.
Transfer opportunities to UC Merced
Transferring from a community college to our university is a smooth and rewarding next step. We honor your hard work with generous credit transfer, clear degree pathways, and dedicated advising. You’ll join a supportive campus community that helps you stay on track, finish strong, and move confidently toward your career goals.
Here are a number of ways in which you can achieve your transfer goals.
Associate Degree for Transfer
If you enroll in an Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) program at a California Community College, you may be able to transfer to UC Merced and complete a Bachelor's program by taking 60 semester units at each institution. There are two types of ADT programs: an Associate in Art for Transfer (AA-T) and an Associate in Science for Transfer (AS-T).
To be able to graduate with an additional 60 semester units and potentially within two years at UCM, it is important to transfer into a bachelor's program that is similar to the major earned at associate degree level. UC Merced staff and faculty are currently reviewing what Associate Degree's will transfer to our campus.
UC Transfer Pathways
The UC system offers Transfer Pathways for students who know the major they wish to pursue. Transfer Pathways give students a roadmap to prepare for their major and graduate on time.
Here are the UC Merced majors currently included in the UC Transfer Pathway program:
Management & Business Economics
Computer Science & Engineering
Materials Science & Engineering
Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) Program
UC Merced is one of six UC campuses that participate in the TAG program.
More information on TAG can be found on our Undergraduate Admissions site here.
UC Merced's Early Transfer Opportunity Program
UC Merced is the only University of California campus to offer an undeclared transfer option to students, meaning if you were eligible to attend a UC from high school you can transfer before you have earned 60 semester or 90 quarter units and complete all of your major preparation.
More information on UC Merced's Early Transfer Opportunity can be found on our Undergarduate Admissions site here.
UC Merced's School of Social Sciences, Humanities & Arts Pilot Program
Currently running through the Fall 2027 application cycle, the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts (SSHA) will waive major-specific transfer selection criteria for a number of their majors. Transfer applicants to these majors will be evaluated using UC Merced’s general transfer admission requirements.
More information on SSHA's Pilot Program, including the majors involved, can be found on our Undergraduate Admissions site here.
University of California Course Repeat Policy
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All courses completed, and grades and units earned, at a UC campus during fall, winter, spring and summer terms are transferable to another UC campus
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This means the UC GPA “follows” the student from one UC campus to another
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For courses in which deficient UC grades (C- or lower) were earned
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Courses may only be repeated at UC (in regular session, summer session, and in some cases at UC Extension)
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Courses completed at a non-UC institution will not remediate the UC GPA
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Please note: the repeat may not necessarily be allowed at the original campus, per guidance of the school/college at the campus in which the student was enrolled.
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