Education
Starting at a community college and transferring
A route that can reduce the cost of a degree substantially, and the part that decides whether it works happens before enrolment.
The saving comes from completing early credits at a lower cost and transferring them. It only materialises if those credits are accepted by the destination institution toward the specific degree, which is a narrower question than whether they transfer at all.
Many states operate articulation agreements between public institutions that commit to accepting a defined set of credits, and some commit to admission on completing an associate degree with a particular average. Where one exists, it is the thing to plan around.
Transfer advisers at both institutions will map a course of study against the destination degree. Doing that in the first term rather than the last is what prevents credits that count toward graduation generally but not toward the major.
Confirm it in writing. An adviser's verbal assurance is given in good faith and is not something the receiving institution is bound by.
What to do next. Ask both institutions to map your intended courses against the destination degree, in writing, in your first term.
studentaid.gov outranks this page. Rules, figures and dates change
between academic years. This is written to help you read the official sources, not to
stand in front of them. Start there.
Nothing here is a determination. We cannot tell you what you qualify
for, and no website can. The programme and the office that runs it decide that, after
you apply.
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Describe what you are trying to work out and a member of the team will answer, or direct you to the office that makes the decision.