Pima College and Transfer Credits

I'm considering starting at Pima Community College before transferring. How does their credit transfer system generally work, especially for students planning to move on to a four-year university?

A large number of community colleges, including Pima Community College, have articulation agreements with many state universities and some private universities. These agreements clearly outline course equivalencies and pathways to ensure seamless transfer of credits.

As a student planning to transfer, you'll generally aim to complete your general education requirements, and potentially prerequisites for your major, at the community college. These would then be transferred towards your bachelor’s degree at a four-year institution. The specific classes that transfer can be found in your community college's transfer guide or transfer equivalency tool, if available.

It is critical, however, to work closely with your academic advisor at Pima to ensure that the classes you choose align with the credit requirements of the university you plan to attend. You may also reach out to the transfer advisor of the four-year university or check out the transfer student page on their website for more specific guidelines.

For example, if you're considering transferring to University of Arizona or Arizona State University, both schools have extensive transfer resources including course equivalency guides to help you plan. These resources generally help in making your transfer process hassle-free.

Ultimately, each university has its own policies about what courses and how many credits they will accept in transfer. They evaluate transcripts on a course by course basis, and sometimes a credit earned at a community college might not correspond directly to a required course at the four-year university.

In such cases, these earned credits might count as elective credits, or they might not count towards the completion of your degree at all. It's therefore crucial to plan your course selection carefully, with both your associate degree and intended bachelor’s degree in mind.