Credit from Other Colleges & Articulated High School Courses

Credit for Courses Completed at Other Colleges

MiraCosta College grants degree credit for courses completed at other institutions accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education. In addition, MiraCosta reserves the right to evaluate work completed at other colleges. If an institution is fully accredited, the credit earned at a time when an institution was a candidate for accreditation may also be accepted for credit.

Courses from other institutions accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency are evaluated for counting toward degree requirements based on C-ID number, course description, comparable or equivalent content, student learning outcomes, and appropriate prerequisites, to ensure they meet or exceed the standards of the California Community Colleges. Students may be required to provide a course outline and/or a syllabus to determine course comparability and an official transcript.

Courses completed at another California community college and from other other institutions accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education are applied to the MiraCosta College General Education (MCGE) pattern using the following criteria:

The course completed was approved for the same general education subject area as the MiraCosta general education subject area.
The course completed was approved for a comparable general education subject area.
The course completed is comparable to a course offered by MiraCosta in a general education subject area.

Courses are placed on the transferable general education pattern, Cal-GETC, according to the policies set by the California State University (CSU) and the University of California (UC).

MiraCosta evaluates transfer credits from quarter-system institutions as follows: one unit in a quarter-length term is equivalent to two-thirds of a unit in a semester-length term (e.g., 3 quarter units = 2 semester units).

Credit for International Coursework

MiraCosta College evaluates international coursework for counting toward associate degree requirements, including prerequisite requirements, when course descriptions are submitted in English along with a transcript evaluated by an approved foreign transcript evaluation service. Only courses that were taught in the English language are considered for satisfying the writing competency requirement.

Credit for Articulated High School Courses

MiraCosta College offers college Credit for Prior Learning: Credit by Exam to high school students through agreements with select high school courses that align with MiraCosta College career education courses. Agreements are established after MiraCosta College faculty have formally agreed that the high school course's outline, syllabus, textbook, and final assessment are comparable to those in a course of the same subject at MiraCosta College. These agreements between high school and MiraCosta College were formally called articulation agreements.

High school students may earn credit by exam if they enroll in a high school career education course with a MiraCosta College agreement, are admitted as a current MiraCosta College student, petition for college credit, and earn a grade of A or B in the high school course and on the assigned final assessment. MiraCosta College will transcript the student’s final assessment grade with a notation of “Prior Learning: Credit by Exam.”

While most credits earned through Credit by Exam are accepted by transfer institutions as elective credit, it is the discretion of each institution if they will accept the credit and how it will be applied toward a student’s education goal. Students should seek guidance from a MiraCosta College counselor on how different institutions accept Credit by Exam.

Currently there are more than 30 MiraCosta College courses with established high school agreements in the following Academic and Career Pathways: Business & Technology, Creative & Applied Arts, Health Sciences, Math & Sciences, and Social & Behavioral Sciences.