DRAFT: Transfer Toolkit - The Transfer Student Journey
Transfer Advising
When should transfer planning begin?
Transfer planning should begin as early as possible, ideally during a student's first semester. Students considering transfer are encouraged to complete ACA 122: College Transfer Success and work closely with advisors to develop an academic plan.
What should advisors discuss with transfer-intending students?
Advisors should help students connect their educational goals with an appropriate transfer pathway as early as possible. At a minimum, transfer conversations should include the student's intended major, potential transfer institution(s), course selection, degree requirements, transfer agreements, and expected timeline to transfer.
Advisors should also encourage students to complete a transfer-focused associate degree when appropriate, use available transfer guides and pathway resources, and understand how changing majors may impact degree completion. Because transfer success depends on both the transferability and applicability of credit, students should be encouraged to regularly review their academic plans and consult with both community college and university advisors throughout the transfer process.
Key advising topics include:
- Educational and career goals
- Intended major
- Intended transfer institution(s)
- Degree and pathway selection
- Course planning and sequencing
- Transfer agreements and guarantees
- Credit applicability
- Financial aid and scholarship considerations
- Timeline for transfer and application deadlines
What resources are available to help students plan for transfer?
Students should take advantage of:
- Academic advisors
- Transfer advisors
- ACA 122: College Transfer Success
- Transfer guides
- Transfer fairs and events
- University admissions representatives
- Institutional transfer websites
Transfer Credit
What are transfer credits?
Transfer credits are college credits earned at one institution that are accepted by another institution and applied toward a degree, diploma, or certificate.
What transfer agreements exist in North Carolina?
North Carolina supports transfer through the Comprehensive Articulation Agreement (CAA), Independent Comprehensive Articulation Agreement (ICAA), Uniform Articulation Agreements (UAAs), bilateral agreements, and institution-specific transfer pathways.
What are transfer guides?
Transfer guides help students identify courses that align with a specific university and major. The UNC System publishes transfer guides that are updated annually.
What is the difference between course equivalency and degree applicability?
A course equivalency identifies how a course transfers to another institution. Degree applicability determines whether that course fulfills a requirement within a specific academic program. A course may have an equivalency and still not satisfy a major requirement.
What is credit loss?
Credit loss occurs when previously earned credits do not transfer or do not apply toward a student's degree requirements.
What is excess credit accumulation?
Excess credit accumulation occurs when students earn more credits than are required to complete a degree, often increasing both time and cost to completion.
How can students see how credits will transfer?
Students can use the UNC System Transfer Credit Tool, institutional transfer websites, and work with advisors or transfer admissions staff to understand transfer and degree applicability.
What happens when a student changes majors?
Changing majors may affect how previously earned credits apply toward degree requirements and can increase time to completion.
Are there any transfer credit issues that can influence transfer or student success?
There are quite a few, specific issues that may affect student decisions:
- Students should be cautioned to not take online science courses (specifically lab) if they intended to go into a medical, dental, vet school.
- A course that is completed by the completion of an Advanced Placement Exam (or other Credit for Prior Learning) may not transfer the same way it was applied to the associates degree.
- There are known issues with transferring coursework that are different academic levels (100- and 200-level courses transferring as 300-level courses) and credit hours (a 3-credit course satisfying a 4-credit course), among others. Students should also review courses with an Admission Counselor or advisor at the four-year institution.
- Program accreditation (such as AACSB/Business, CSWE/Social Work) may influence how courses transfer.
What is reverse transfer?
Reverse transfer allows credits earned after transfer to be applied back toward completion of an associate degree at the originating institution.
Identifying a Transfer Institution
How can students identify their intended transfer institution?
Students do not need to know exactly where they plan to transfer when they begin college, but they should identify potential transfer institutions as early as possible. Different institutions and majors may have different admission requirements, recommended courses, and pathway expectations. Students should:
- Explore institutional websites
- Attend an open house or a transfer fair
- Reach out to an admissions representative
- Talk to students who attended that institution
- Connect with a faculty or staff member in their intended department
What should students know about transfer deadlines?
Transfer applications, financial aid, housing, and scholarship deadlines often occur months before enrollment. Students should begin preparing for transfer at least one semester before they plan to move to a four-year institution.
Choosing the right degree
What Is the Difference Between a Transfer Degree and an A.A.S. Degree?
Transfer degrees, such as the AA and AS, are designed primarily for students who plan to earn a bachelor's degree. As a result, these programs include approximately 45 semester hours of transferable general education coursework that aligns with the Comprehensive Articulation Agreement (CAA) and university degree requirements. Students complete substantial coursework in English composition, mathematics, natural sciences, social and behavioral sciences, and humanities/fine arts.
The Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree is designed primarily for workforce preparation. A.A.S. programs include a minimum of 15 semester hours of general education coursework, with the majority of the degree focused on technical and career-specific courses that prepare students for employment in a particular field.
Because transfer degrees contain significantly more university-aligned general education coursework, they typically provide the most direct pathway to a bachelor's degree. However, North Carolina continues to expand transfer opportunities for A.A.S. graduates through articulation agreements, transfer pathways, and institution-specific partnerships that recognize both technical and academic learning.
What Should Advisors Consider When Helping Students Select a Degree?
When helping students select a degree, advisors should consider the student's career goals, educational aspirations, intended major, transfer plans, workforce interests, time to completion, and financial considerations. By understanding both a student's immediate objectives and long-term plans, advisors can help identify a pathway that supports their goals while preserving future educational and career opportunities.
What are the transfer degrees?
Students can transfer to a four-year institution through several pathways. The most common route is by completing a transfer-focused associate degree, such as the:
- Associate in Arts (AA)
- Associate in Science (AS)
- Associate in Engineering (AE)
- Associate in Fine Arts (AFA)
- Associate in Arts Teacher Preparation (AATP)
- Associate in Science Teacher Preparation (ASTP)
These degrees are designed to align with bachelor's degree requirements and provide the strongest transfer benefits under North Carolina's statewide articulation agreements.
Students may also transfer before completing an associate degree, although they may not receive all of the protections and benefits associated with degree completion.
The Associate in General Education (AGE) is not a transfer degree and does not provide the same transfer protections.
Can A.A.S. students transfer?
Yes. students who earn an Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree can transfer through established pathways, articulation agreements, and institution-specific partnerships. Transfer opportunities for A.A.S. graduates continue to expand, allowing students to build on workforce-focused education while pursuing a bachelor's degree.
Should students complete an associate degree before transferring?
In many cases, completing the associate degree provides the greatest transfer benefits and protections. However, students may transfer before degree completion if it aligns with their goals.
What are the benefits of earning an A.A., A.S., or other transfer-designated degree?
The Associate in Arts (AA) and Associate in Science (AS) degrees are specifically designed for students who plan to continue their education at a four-year institution. These degrees align with North Carolina's transfer agreements and provide the most direct pathway to a bachelor's degree. Benefits of earning an AA or AS include:
- Designed specifically for transfer to four-year institutions
- Alignment with the Comprehensive Articulation Agreement (CAA)
- Greater transfer protections and predictability
- Completion of many lower-division general education requirements
- Reduced risk of credit loss
- Clear pathways into bachelor's degree programs
- Potential savings in both time and tuition costs
What are the benefits of earning an A.A.S. degree?
The Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree is designed to prepare students for immediate employment while also supporting continued education opportunities. A.A.S. programs combine technical, workforce-focused coursework with general education and are aligned with high-demand careers. Benefits of earning an A.A.S. include:
- Direct preparation for employment in a specific career field
- Industry-relevant technical and professional skills
- Opportunities to earn workforce credentials and certifications
- Strong connections to local and regional employers
- Faster entry into the workforce
- Ability to earn while continuing education
- Growing transfer opportunities through A.A.S.-to-bachelor's pathways and articulation agreements
Today, students no longer need to choose between workforce preparation and future education. Many A.A.S. graduates enter the workforce, gain experience, and later continue toward a bachelor's degree through transfer partnerships specifically designed for career-focused learners.
How do career goals influence transfer planning?
Transfer planning should begin with a student's educational and career goals. Whether a student intends to enter the workforce immediately, pursue a bachelor's degree, or do both, selecting the appropriate degree pathway and transfer plan can help them reach those goals more efficiently. This reinforces the idea that transfer planning is really career planning.
How Should Advisors Support Students Who Switch Between a Transfer Degree and an A.A.S. Degree?
When students change pathways, advisors should focus on how completed coursework applies to the new program.
- Students moving from an AA or AS into an A.A.S. program will often find that many of their general education courses continue to count toward degree requirements, although they may need additional technical courses to complete the workforce program.
- Students moving from an A.A.S. into an AA or AS frequently encounter the opposite situation. While their completed general education courses will often apply to the transfer degree, they may need to complete additional general education coursework to meet transfer degree requirements. Because transfer degrees contain approximately 45 hours of transferable general education coursework and A.A.S. degrees require only 15 hours, students may need additional courses in areas such as mathematics, science, humanities, and social sciences before completing the transfer degree.
Before recommending a degree change, advisors should discuss:
- The student's educational and career goals
- The intended transfer institution and major
- How completed credits will apply to the new degree
- Whether an existing A.A.S.-to-bachelor's pathway may be available
- Potential impacts on graduation timelines and financial aid
In many cases, students may not need to switch programs at all. An existing transfer pathway may allow them to complete their current credential while preserving opportunities for future education.
How important is choosing a major early?
While students may change majors, identifying an intended field of study early can help ensure that coursework aligns with transfer and degree requirements. Early major selection often reduces excess credits and improves time to completion.
What transfer agreements exist in North Carolina?
North Carolina supports transfer through several types of agreements and pathways, including:
- Comprehensive Articulation Agreement (CAA)
- Independent Comprehensive Articulation Agreement (ICAA)
- Uniform Articulation Agreements (UAAs)
- Bilateral agreements (many focusing on AAS degrees; a repository is coming soon!)
- Program-specific agreements
- Institutionally developed transfer pathways
Together, these agreements help create predictable pathways between community colleges and four-year institutions.
Why should workforce programs care about transfer?
Many students continue their education after entering the workforce. Strong transfer pathways help students build on workforce credentials and technical education without repeating learning.
What If a Student Is Unsure About Their Goals?
Students do not need to have every detail of their future mapped out before choosing a degree. Advisors can help students explore careers, academic interests, and transfer opportunities while selecting a pathway that provides flexibility as goals become clearer.
Do Students Have to Choose Between Transfer and Workforce Preparation?
No. Increasingly, students can pursue pathways that support both career advancement and continued education. Many North Carolina programs are designed to help learners gain workforce-relevant skills today while preserving opportunities to earn additional credentials and degrees in the future.
What Are Certificate and Diploma Programs?
North Carolina community colleges offer certificate and diploma programs that provide focused education and training in specific career fields. These programs are designed to help students quickly gain the skills needed for employment, career advancement, or further education.
A certificate is the shortest credential and may be completed in a few months to a year. A diploma requires more coursework and provides broader preparation within a career field. Both credentials are commonly offered in high-demand areas such as healthcare, business, information technology, advanced manufacturing, public safety, and skilled trades.
Many certificate and diploma programs are embedded within associate degree pathways, allowing students to earn credentials as they progress toward an Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) or other degree. This approach gives students opportunities to enter the workforce quickly while maintaining the flexibility to continue their education in the future.
Seven Steps to Successful Transfer Advising
North Carolina students have multiple transfer options, including transfer-focused associate degrees, A.A.S.-to-bachelor’s pathways, statewide articulation agreements, independent college partnerships, dual enrollment pathways, and institution-specific agreements. Advisors play a key role in helping students understand these options early, select the right pathway, and reduce unnecessary credit loss.
Step 1: Start Transfer Conversations Early
Transfer planning should begin during a student’s first semester. Early conversations help students connect their career goals, intended major, transfer plans, and personal circumstances to the right academic pathway.
Students considering transfer should be encouraged to complete ACA 122: College Transfer Success early in their program. ACA 122 supports transfer planning, academic decision-making, major exploration, and preparation for transition to a four-year institution. Advisors should use ACA 122 and regular advising appointments to help students understand transfer agreements, degree options, application timelines, and available resources.
Advisors should also identify early whether students are part of a distinct population that may need additional guidance, such as Career and College Promise students, first-generation students, adult learners, military-connected students, or students entering with prior college credit.
Step 2: Help Students Choose the Right Degree
Students should understand the difference between transfer-focused degrees and workforce-focused credentials.
Students whose primary goal is a bachelor’s degree may be best served by a transfer degree, such as the Associate in Arts (AA), Associate in Science (AS), Associate in Engineering (AE), Associate in Fine Arts (AFA), Associate in Arts Teacher Preparation (AATP), or Associate in Science Teacher Preparation (ASTP). These degrees are designed to support transfer to four-year institutions and align with North Carolina’s statewide transfer agreements.
Students seeking direct employment may be better served by an Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.), diploma, or certificate. However, advisors should also explain that many A.A.S. students do continue their education. North Carolina continues to expand opportunities for A.A.S. graduates through bilateral agreements, program-specific pathways, and applied bachelor’s pathways.
When helping students choose a degree, advisors should discuss career goals, intended major, transfer institution, time to completion, financial aid, workforce interests, and whether the student wants to enter the workforce before or after earning a bachelor’s degree.
Step 3: Identify a Major and Transfer Institution
Students do not need to know their final destination immediately, but they should begin identifying possible majors and transfer institutions as early as possible. Major choice matters because different bachelor’s programs may require different prerequisite courses, GPA expectations, application deadlines, or competitive admissions requirements.
Advisors should encourage students to use university websites, and institutional transfer resources to compare options. The UNC Transfer Guides allows students to search by UNC institution and/or major. These guides help students identify community college courses that support associate degree completion, admission into a UNC System major, and progress toward bachelor’s degree completion.
Advisors should also remind students that admission to a university and admission to a specific major may not be the same. Some programs may have separate requirements, competitive entry, minimum GPA expectations, auditions, portfolios, clinical requirements, or prerequisite courses.
Step 4: Use North Carolina’s Transfer Agreements and Pathways
North Carolina has several transfer agreements and pathway tools that advisors should understand and use regularly.
- The Comprehensive Articulation Agreement (CAA) is the statewide agreement between the North Carolina Community College System and the UNC System. It applies to all 58 North Carolina community colleges and UNC System institutions and is designed to support transfer from community colleges to public universities.
- The Independent Comprehensive Articulation Agreement (ICAA) supports transfer from North Carolina community colleges to participating North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU) institutions. The goal of the ICAA is to provide smooth transfer with minimal loss of credit or repetition of coursework.
- Uniform Articulation Agreements (UAAs) provide program-specific pathways from associate degrees to bachelor’s degrees in selected disciplines. These agreements can be especially helpful for students in programs such as engineering, nursing, fine arts, teacher preparation, and other field-specific pathways.
Advisors should also look for bilateral agreements, institutional partnerships, and A.A.S.-to-bachelor’s pathways. These may provide strong transfer opportunities for students in workforce-focused programs that are not fully covered by traditional AA or AS transfer pathways.
Step 5: Focus on Credit Applicability, Not Just Transferability
One of the most important advising conversations is the difference between whether a course transfers and whether it applies.
A course is transferable if the receiving institution accepts the credit. A course is applicable if the credit satisfies a requirement in the student’s intended degree program. A course may transfer successfully but still count only as elective credit or not apply to the major.
Advisors should help students choose courses that meet community college degree requirements and align with the intended bachelor’s degree. This is especially important for students in competitive majors, STEM pathways, health sciences, education, business, fine arts, and A.A.S. programs.
To reduce credit loss, students should be encouraged to follow transfer guides, review degree plans, confirm major requirements, and communicate with both their community college advisor and the intended transfer institution.
Step 6: Review Progress Every Semester
Transfer plans should be reviewed every semester. Students may change majors, transfer destinations, career goals, timelines, or personal circumstances, and each change can affect course selection and credit applicability.
Advisors should review completed coursework, remaining degree requirements, GPA, transfer guide alignment, financial aid implications, and application timelines. Regular review is especially important for:
- Students changing majors
- Students changing transfer institutions
- Students moving from an AA or AS to an A.A.S.
- Students moving from an A.A.S. to a transfer degree
- Career and College Promise students with early college credit
- Military-connected students with military credit or prior learning
- Adult learners returning with prior college credit
- First-generation students navigating transfer for the first time
Advisors should also identify opportunities for reverse transfer when appropriate, allowing students to apply credits earned after transfer back toward completion of an associate degree.
Step 7: Recognize the Needs of Different Student Populations
Different students may need different transfer conversations.
- Military-connected students may bring military training, occupations, certifications, or prior learning that could be evaluated for Credit for Prior Learning. Advisors should help students understand local CPL processes, military transcript requirements, and how awarded credit may apply to their program.
- Career and College Promise students may already have college credit before high school graduation. Advisors should help these students understand how dual enrollment credit applies to community college credentials, CAA protections, and future transfer plans.
- First-generation students may need additional support understanding transfer language, university admissions processes, financial aid, housing, campus culture, and the difference between being admitted to a university and being admitted to a specific major.
- Adult learners and workforce students may bring prior college credit, industry credentials, continuing education, employment experience, or family and work responsibilities. Advisors should help these students identify flexible pathways, Credit for Prior Learning opportunities, and programs that connect workforce preparation with future education.
- A.A.S. students may need advising that connects employment goals with long-term educational advancement. Advisors should help these students explore whether an A.A.S.-to-bachelor’s pathway, bilateral agreement, or institutional partnership may allow them to continue their education without changing programs.
Step 8: Connect Students with Transfer Partners and Resources
Transfer advising should include both the community college and the intended four-year institution. Students should be encouraged to connect with university admissions counselors, academic departments, financial aid offices, transfer fairs, and institutional transfer centers before they apply.
Helpful North Carolina transfer resources include:
- CFNC Transfer Guides
- UNC System Transfer Resources for NC Community College Students
- UNC System Transfer Student Resources
- NCCCS Statewide Articulation Agreements
- NCCCS Comprehensive Articulation Agreement
- NCCCS Independent Comprehensive Articulation Agreement
- NCICU Articulation Agreements
- Institutional transfer credit tools and university admissions pages
- Community college advisors, transfer centers, and career services offices
Students should be reminded that transfer information can change. Advisors should encourage students to verify requirements with the receiving institution before making final course selections.
Step 9: Prepare for Transfer Before Graduation
Students should begin preparing for transfer well before their final semester. Advisors should discuss application deadlines, financial aid, scholarships, housing, transcript requests, major-specific requirements, and remaining associate degree requirements.
Whenever possible, students should understand the benefits of completing an associate degree before transfer. For many students, degree completion provides stronger transfer protections and clearer documentation of completed lower-division coursework.
Before transferring, students should know:
- Where they plan to transfer
- Which major they intend to enter
- Which courses are expected to transfer
- Which courses are expected to apply to the major
- Whether they have met admission and program requirements
- What deadlines they need to meet
- Who to contact at the receiving institution
A strong transfer plan should leave students with clear next steps and confidence about the transition.
Step 10: Keep Transfer Connected to Career Goals
Transfer should not be treated as separate from career planning. Whether a student is pursuing an AA, AS, AE, AFA, AATP, ASTP, A.A.S., certificate, diploma, or bachelor’s degree, advisors should help students understand how each step connects to employment, advancement, licensure, graduate education, or long-term career goals.
The strongest transfer plans are not just about moving credits. They help students move purposefully from learning to credentials, from credentials to employment, and from employment to continued education.