Enrolling in Community College Courses

Wondering if you can take CC courses as a Cal student?

The short answer is yes! Enrolling in a California community college can be a great way to fulfill lower-division degree requirements while potentially giving you more freedom in course selection, which can free up time for extracurricular activities, research, non-major courses, and more. Choosing this option is often a smart way to balance your academic and personal goals!

Considerations for Community College Coursework:

Concurrent Enrollment refers to when students enroll in courses at another institution while also taking a regular (Fall or Spring) semester at UC Berkeley. For L&S undergraduate students, Concurrent Enrollment does not require approval from L&S Advising, meaning no petition is necessary.

Summer Enrollment allows students to take courses at another institution during the summer semester. In this case, the minimum unit requirement for Berkeley does not apply, as summer enrollment is outside the regular academic terms.

Unit Consideration: Units earned through Concurrent Enrollment do not count toward the minimum enrollment requirement at Berkeley during Fall and Spring. Students must still register for at least 13 units at Berkeley during the Fall or Spring semester, unless approved for a reduced course load.

Transfer Credits: Community college courses will transfer as lower-division units and cannot be used to satisfy upper-division university or Cognitive Science requirements.

GPA: Grades from these courses will not affect your UC Berkeley GPA.

Cognitive Science Courses Eligible at Community College 

Below are the courses eligible for equivalents at community colleges. It is important to check Assist.org to confirm the course is an approved equivalent for a Cognitive Science lower-division degree requirement. 

  • Statistical Thinking: Computer Science/Statistics/Data Science C8, Stat 20, Stat 2 

  • Calculus: Math 51 10A OR Math 16A

  • Computer Programming: Computer Science 61A, Engineering 7, Data C88C

  • Discrete Math: Math 55, Computer Science 70 

  • Neuroscience: Molecular Cell Biology/Psychology C61, Molecular Cell Biology C64, Molecular Cell Biology W61, Psych 110 
  • Philosophy: Philosophy 3; 12A; 25A; 25B

Searching for Community College Courses on Assist.org

Searching for California Community College Courses

  1. Go to Assist.org

  2. Select the California Community College you're interested in. 

    Check to see if the course is available at a CC that is accessible to you

  3. To view how courses apply to general education or major requirements, choose UC Berkeley from the drop-down menus and click "View Agreements."

  4. Choose one of the following agreement types: Major, Department, or General Education/Breadth. Click on "Major" and search for Cognitive Science.

  5. If the agreement you're looking for isn’t available, adjust the Academic Year on the left side of the page to find the most recent agreement.

  6. Review the agreement to see which courses from the chosen California Community College are preapproved for your selected requirements. If you don’t find the course you’re looking for, it may not be offered at this college but might be available at another one.

After Completing the Course 

Please review the Central Evaluation Unit (CEU) Submit and Review Transcripts website (link is external)for more detailed information. 

  1. Contact your CA community college to request your transcript be submitted to UC Berkeley. See the Central Evaluation Unit’s website for Submitting Transcripts.(link is external)

  2. Review of your transcripts may take 2-4 weeks after UC Berkeley receives your transcripts and will appear in your Transfer Credit Report once reviewed. After this time, if your credit is not in your Transfer Credit Report and you would like to check the status, open a case(link is external) with Cal Student Central.