Courses Taken Elsewhere
Transfer credit can come to UC Santa Cruz in many ways. It may be from courses you took before, during, or between your time as a student here, and from schools in the U.S. or other countries. UC and UCSC have specific rules that depend on when and where you took the courses. Our goal is to review your transfer credit as quickly and accurately as possible. This page gives a general overview, but it doesn’t cover every situation. If you have questions, email transfercredit@ucsc.edu.
Sending your transcripts
Credit cannot be awarded without official transcripts sent directly from the institution you took the course(s). Transcripts, be they high school or post-secondary, can be sent to UC Santa Cruz via:
- An electronic transcript service such as Parchment.
- Via paper mail to:
Undergraduate Admissions
University of California
1156 High Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
Tracking evaluation status
You can track the evaluation of your transcript through your MyUCSC portal. Once logged in click on My Academics then select External Transcripts from the left-hand menu. You will see something similar to the screenshot below. Any transcripts we have received will display and include the date it was received. If a staff member has viewed your transcript a review date will display. Once a transcript is fully evaluated and credit is posted to your account, the evaluated box will be checked and any comments by the evaluator will be included in the comments.
Processing times
Processing times can vary greatly depending on when, how, and where your transcript is sent. Below are rough estimates of processing times for the most common scenarios:
- New transfer and frosh students: 6-8 weeks after transcript is received. Evaluation begins in early July.
- Continuing students with “add-on credit”: 3-5 business days after transcript is received.
- Study Abroad: 3-5 business days after transcripts are received. It often takes several weeks or even a few months to receive transcripts and course information for study abroad programs.
- Readmitted students: 3-5 business days after transcript is received, however credit is not posted until student is term activated.
Reviewing your transfer credit
It’s important to review your transfer credit to see what you have been awarded. You can review your transfer credit through your MyUCSC portal. Once logged in, click on the My Academics tile. On the next page, from the left hand navigation menu, click Transfer Credit Summary. You will see something similar to the screenshot below.
Issues with your credit
If something looks off with the credit you’ve received you can fill out a Review of External Credit form in myUCSC.
Contact the Degree Progress Unit
Get answers to questions about external credit.