Articulation Type: Lower Division Major Prep Agreements

Lower-Division Major Preparation Agreements

Lower-Division Major Preparation Agreements specify courses at a sending institution that fulfill lower-division requirements for a specific major at a receiving institution. Catalog descriptions, official course outlines of record, and baccalaureate lists, as well as recommendations from the discipline-specific faculty curriculum review projects (e.g. IMPAC, LDTP), may be used in the development of lower division major preparation articulation agreements. In addition, unique or supplemental major requirements may be included on agreements such as: pre-major requirements, supplementary admission requirements for selected majors, and/or information pertinent to admission in impacted or over-subscribed majors.

As with GE-breadth and course-to-course agreements, lower-division major preparation agreements are developed from the list of courses accepted for baccalaureate credit. Agreements within and between the CCC, UC, and CSU are published on ASSIST. At this time, it is not common for independent institutions to maintain lower division major preparation agreements with community colleges.

Major preparation agreements may be considered the most beneficial for students because they enable students to fully prepare for transfer - and be "competitive". Students entering impacted programs are often held to completing lower-division major prep coursework prior to transfer, so it's important that we not only establish these major preparation agreements BUT that the articulated courses are offered regularly.

Sample Major Preparation Agreements

UC Berkeley - Business (via ASSIST)
Menlo College - Management, Liberal Arts, Mass Communications

Where to start:

1) Research ASSIST and university websites to see what types of courses are required by the 4- years for specific majors.

2) Consider where our students transfer to and in what majors to assess the NEED for the course. Here's a link to transfer statistics.

3) Determine if there are enough universities requiring the course to make this a viable project.

4) Determine if this course could also be considered for general education.

5) See if other CCC have developed agreements and check OSCAR to see what outlines may be available to download. OSCAR directions.

6) If cross-listing seems appropriate, make sure the other department is involved in the development of the course

7) Run the course concept by the AO early on for tips and suggestions.

8) Network. Attend professional conferences and discipline-based local meetings to meet your 4-year colleagues. Contact these individuals to discuss alternative ideas re: major preparation.

Articulation Process - Data and Communication Flow
Articulation Overview Matrix