Credit for External Coursework & Exams

Credit for Transfer Courses and External Exams

Credit from Other Institutions

Credit from Other Institutions

Students may use coursework completed at other institutions to fulfill program, general education, and/or elective unit requirements for the Associate Degree, Associate Degree for Transfer or certificate programs at Mission College.

Note: Foreign coursework cannot be used to satisfy requirements for ADTs, CSU or IGETC certifications. See the Foreign Coursework Policy below.

Colleges and universities must ensure the quality of their programs by adhering to specific evaluation criteria established and evaluated by private educational associations called accrediting agencies. Mission College accepts courses from institutions accredited by the following regional agencies: 

  • MSCHE - Middle States Commission on Higher Education (formerly MSA - Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools) 
  • NWCCU - Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (formerly NASC - Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges) 
  • HLC - Higher Learning Commission (formerly NCA - North Central Association of Colleges and Schools) 
  • NEASC-CIHE - New England Association of Schools and Colleges-Commission on Institutions of Higher Education 
  • SACS - Southern Association of Colleges and Schools 
  • WASC-ACCJC - Western Association of Schools and Colleges- Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges 
  • WASC-ACACS - Western Association of Schools and Colleges-Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities 

Mission College recognizes those institutions that are either fully accredited or as listed as a candidate for accreditation as published in the Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs maintained by the U.S. Department of Education. 

Course evaluation for General Education

Courses completed at another California Community College that are approved for an associate degree general education category, for CSU GE-B or for IGETC will be applied to the parallel general education category at Mission College regardless of whether Mission College has an equivalent course. Visit CCC Transfer to locate General Education requirements at other California Community Colleges.

General education courses completed at a regionally accredited institution will be applied to the parallel general education category at Mission College. 

In most cases, these evaluations are granted without an official request.

Reciprocity Agreement

The West Valley Mission Community College District has entered into a mutual agreement with ten other Community Colleges to accept the General Education of these colleges “as completed.” The participating colleges are Cabrillo College, Chabot College, De Anza College, Evergreen Valley College, Foothill College, Gavilan College, Hartnell College, San Jose City College, Ohlone College, Las Positas and Monterey Peninsula College.

This means that students who obtain a certification of completion of the Associate Degree General Education requirements will have both their General Education course work and graduation proficiency accepted "as completed". No additional general education course work will be required if the certification is officially presented.

However, students will still be required to complete all course or prerequisites needed for a major. The agreement also means that the other participating colleges will accept the General Education pattern of Mission if a certification is presented to the member colleges. This agreement will be review periodically.

To obtain certification of Mission College General Education, students must present a General Education Reciprocity Program Certification form to the Records Office.

Course evaluation for Major/Program Requirements

Courses completed with a passing grade (C, P, CR or better) at a regionally accredited institution can be used to satisfy major requirements at Mission College upon approval by the appropriate Department Chair with a Course Substitution request. These are approved on a case-by-case basis. Equivalency may be determined by any one of the following:

  1. Direct articulation between Mission College and the sending institution. 
  2. Indirect articulation between Mission College and other California Community Colleges based on approval of courses for the California Identification Number System (C-ID). 
  3. Indirect articulation between Mission College and a sending institution determined by cross referencing additional public colleges and universities included on ASSIST.org. For example, if a course under review is not approved for C-ID and Mission College does not have direct articulation with the California Community College, a CSU that maintains articulation with both Mission College and the other California Community College could be used to establish indirect articulation. 
  4. A critical evaluation of the course to verify core elements of the course including topics, course objectives, lecture and/or lab hours, and pre-/corequisites are sufficiently aligned with Mission College courses. This review will be conducted by the evaluations staff, the College’s Articulation Officer, appropriate faculty content experts and/or the appropriate department chair. 

NOTE: These approvals may not be honored at other campuses or universities so it is recommended that you work closely with a Counselor or the Articulation Officer.

Course evaluation for Elective Credit

Courses completed at a regionally accredited institution can be used to satisfy elective requirements at Mission College as long as they are associate degree or baccalaureate level. 

In all cases, to receive credit, official transcripts must be submitted to the Admissions & Records Office.

Baccalaureate & Associate Degree Holders

Mission College will accept "as completed" the required units and proficiency of General Education needed for an Associate in Arts or Associate in Science degree from a U.S regionally accreditited institution under the following parameters:

  1. The student has completed all the requirements and has been granted an associate's degree or a baccalaureate degree from a U.S. regionally accredited institution.
  2. Per Title 5, §55063, the earned degree confirms completion of English Composition and Intermediate Algebra (or higher).
  3. Completion of 18 additional units and all major requirements are required to earn an additional Associate in Arts or Associate in Science degree.
AP, CLEP, IB & DLPT

Advanced Placement Exams 

Mission College recognizes high achievements by students who have successfully completed one or more Advanced Placement Examinations as authorized by the College Entrance Examination Board. 

Students who have successfully completed exams in the Advanced Placement Program with a score of 3, 4, or 5 may be granted credit for purposes of general education, graduation, and/or advanced placement in the College’s sequence of courses. 

ADVANCED PLACEMENT CHART

Foreign Coursework

To apply foreign coursework to an Associate degree, the foreign transcript must first be evaluated by an accredited and approved evaluation service, and then reviewed by the Mission College Records Office. Some courses may also require approval by the appropriate department chair. Courses may be used to fulfill prerequisite, program, general education and elective unit requirements only if course descriptions, in English, are submitted for review along with the evaluated foreign transcript. Mission College will not determine course transferability to other colleges and universities.

To have foreign coursework evaluated, students need to contact one of the approved evaluation agencies listed below and request a detailed equivalency report that includes the course level (upper or lower division), its U.S. semester-unit equivalency and the grade the student earned:

  • IERF (International Education Research Foundation | www.ierf.org 
  • NACES (The National Association of Credential Evaluation Services) | www.naces.org 
  • WES (World Education Service) | www.wes.org 
  • IIC (International Institute of California | www.iicus.com 
  • IESCAREE (International Evaluation Service Center) | www.iescaree.com 

The official foreign evaluation along with a Transcript Evaluation form must be submitted to the Admissions & Records Office. For evaluation of general education, obtain the Transcript Evaluation Form from the Counseling Office in SEC 139. For evaluation of program requirements, contact the appropriate Department Chair with a Course Substitution Request.

Note: In most cases, foreign coursework cannot be used to satisfy requirements for Associate Degrees for Transfer (ADTs), CSU GE-B or IGETC certifications. Please contact the Articulation Officer for additional questions.

Upper Division Units

Mission College will accept coursework completed at the upper division level from a regionally accredited college or university if the course is deemed comparable to a Mission College course by the appropriate Department Chair, a designee, or an articulation agreement. Courses may be used to meet a program requirement, an associate degree general education requirement, or a prerequisite but, at this time, will be accepted for subject credit only; units will not be awarded.

In general, non-CCC courses applied to general education and Mission College program requirements should be classified as lower division. However, Mission College will accept coursework completed at the upper division level from a regionally accredited college or university if the course is deemed comparable to a Mission College course by the appropriate Department Chair, a designee, or an articulation agreement or based on one of the following:

  1. A non-CCC course is determined comparable to one taught and approved for A.A./AS, IGETC or CSU GE-B at a CCC.
  2. When a CSU uses an upper-division course in its “lower-division” General Education Breadth Pattern.
  3. When a UC or CSU campus has classified a course or series as upper division but has requested that the system wide offices allow lower division transfer credit because an equivalent course is taught at a community college or because the preparation of the subject is desired prior to transfer from the 2-year institution to the 4-year institution. Current examples include some math, organic chemistry and abnormal psychology courses.

In all cases, these courses should have sufficient breadth to meet of CSU GE-B and IGETC. At this time, only content-credit will be given and units will not be awarded.

To receive credit, official transcripts must be submitted to the Admissions & Records Office.

Military Credit
 Six (6) semester units will be granted to any actively enrolled student with an approved DD-214 that shows completion of basic training in the Armed Services of the United States and any discharge other than dishonorable. An approved DD-214 will satisfy A.A./AS General Education Area E and CSU GE-B Area E. Additional credit may be awarded for military service in accordance with recommendations by the American Council on Education (ACE Military Guide) via the Course Substitution process.

To receive credit, documentation must be submitted to the Admissions & Records Office.