Oregon State University values transfer students.
Along with OSU's established transfer credit policies, OSU values collaboration with colleges and universities aligning with statewide policies and programs while maintaining the integrity of OSU academic programs. Providing a smooth transition for transfer students into our curriculum is a priority.
Oregon State University (OSU) strives for a dynamic and collaborative partnership with Oregon's Community Colleges, aimed at fostering education excellence, accessibility, and innovation across the state. By leveraging each institution's respective strengths, we seek to create seamless pathways for students success, enhance workforce development, and contribute to the economic and social vitality of Oregon according to the following principles:
Student-Centered Collaborations:
OSU and community colleges working together to ensure smoot transitions for students, providing comprehensive support and clear academic pathways that facilitate timely degree completion and career readiness.
Innovative Education Programs:
Commitment to development and implementation of innovative education programs that address the evolving needs of our communities, industries, and the broader economy, and when appropriate, build those programs collaboratively. This includes aligning curricula, sharing resources, and promoting experiential learning opportunities.
Workforce Development:
Focusing and encouraging collaboration between OSU and Community Colleges on workforce development initiatives preparing students for high-demand careers, support local industries, and contribute to the state's economic growth. This includes offering targeted training programs, alternative credentials, internships, and more.
Community Engagement:
Together, we will engage with local communities to address their unique opportunities, needs, and challenges. By fostering strong relationships with community leaders, business, and organizations, we aim to enhance community development across Oregon.
Equity and Inclusion:
Our partnerships will prioritize equity and inclusion, ensuring all students,regardless of their background, have access to high-quality education opportunities and social mobility. We will work to eliminate barriers and create an inclusive environment supporting diverse learners.
Are you a student who has recently transferred, or is thinking of transferring to Oregon State University?
Connect with our OSU Transfer Admissions team and check out next steps for admitted transfer students!
Associate Director of Transfer Pathways and Success, Erin Bird
As the Associate Director of Transfer Pathways and Success, within the Division of Academic Affairs, Erin Bird collaborates with campus partners to assess and support efforts to increase and equalize retention and graduate rates for undergraduate students, with special consideration to the transfer student population.
Through assessment of the undergraduate transfer student experience, the Associate Director will advocate for consideration of equitable transfer articulation processes, university-wide policies and timelines, and other challenges that transfer students may encounter.
Schedule a meeting with Erin Bird
Office: Kerr Admin building B211K Office phone: (541) 737-4742
Oregon State University Policies
The transfer of credits to OSU is governed by academic regulations outlined in the Academic Catalog. Undergraduate course transfer according to Academic Regulations 2, 3, and 28, while transfering credit into a graduate program is outlined by Graduate School Policy. Professional programs have established transfer policies for Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy. The recently launched Doctor of Physical Therapy program offered at OSU-Cascades does not admit transfer students at this time.
Within the state of Oregon, there are several pieces of legislation and subsquent programs to help with undergraduate student transfer mobility.
- Associate Degrees: The Associate of Arts - Oregon Transfer and Associate of Science - Oregon Transfer degrees guarantee all lower-division general education requirements at OSU are statisfied by these programs.
- Major Transfer Map: The Major Transfer Map states that students at an Oregon community college who transfer into the appropriate major at OSU (or another Oregon public university) are guarenteed to only have two years of coursework remaining at OSU.
- Core Transfer Map: Oregon's Core Transfer Map is a body of work legislated under the Oregon Transfer Compass program that guarantees thirty credits from a community college will apply toward general education requirements at a four-year institution.
- Common Course Numbering: Oregon Senate Bill 233, passed in 2021, established a statewide 15-member transfer council, of which OSU's senior vice provost for Academic Affairs, Alix Gitelman is a member. The council is charged with developing a common course number system, working on Major Transfer Maps, and addressing other transfer credit issues. Many faculty and staff have participated in common course number efforts, and the Faculty Senate Curriculum Council has approved numerous commonly numbered courses.
Transfer Credit Central
A Transfer Credit Central website houses multiple tools to facilitate clear communication with undergraduate transfer students about their transfer credits. These tools are especially helpful for students co-admitted under OSU's Degree Partnership Program where students can be jointly admitted and concurrently enrolled at OSU and Oregon (or participating Hawaii) community colleges.
These tools include:
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A single course search tool.
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Transfer equivalency self-service, a degree audit tool that displays how specific transfer courses fulfill university degree requirements for specific majors.
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Major-specific transfer guides for each of the seventeen community colleges in Oregon.
Undergraduate students can review their official transfer credits via the Advanced Standing Report, the unofficial Oregon State transcript, or a degree audit through MyDegrees.
The Office of Undergraduate Admissions website also outlines information about the university's credit for prior learning programs, including Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, College Level Examination Program, and military credit as recommended by the American Council on Education.
Community College Partner - Updates - February 18, 2025
In academic year 2025-2026, in addition to implementing the newest set of aligned courses through Common Course Numbering (CCN), OSU will launch Core Education, our new general education program. The below information was shared to the community colleges on February 18th, 2025 concerning changes to our courses and programs related to both CCN and Core Education.
Common Course Numbering
The third round of the statewide Common Course Numbering (CCN) courses was officially approved. We've included below a quick summary of changes to our courses, and we suggest you reference the CCN Course List for OSU.
Impacts of the 2024 CCN courses at OSU:
- Courses with increases in credit count:
- SOC 204Z, SOC 205Z, and SOC 206Z will move from three to four credits.
- BI 221Z, BI 222Z, and BI 223Z will move from four credits to five credits.
- Courses with course number changes:
- OSU's BA 131 (Microsoft Excel) will be discontinued and the newly aligned BA 169Z will be developed and offered at OSU.
- Introduction to Business Law changed from BA 230 to BA226Z.
- The General Chemistry series lecture changed from CH 231, CH 232, and CH 233 to CH 221Z, CH 222Z, and CH 223Z.
- The General Chemistry series lab changed from CH 261, CH 262, CH 263 to CH 227Z, CH 228Z, and CH 229Z
- The remaining CCN courses, listed here, will have information revisions only (adding the "Z" designator, changing a course title, etc.).
- ECON 201Z, ECON 202Z, and MTH 251Z, MTH 252Z, and MTH 253Z
Core Education
In preparation for the Core Education launch, all OSU undergraduate programs made changes to accommodate the new general education program. While we anticipated majors would make small modifications (expected at the upper division level), many elected to use the transition to Core Ed to make broader changes. We are excited to see programs enthusiastic about updating the curriculum, but it also means that we are processing more program proposals and, in some cases, more complex curricular changes. In addition, many programs created new courses to be included in Core Ed.
To support your access to information related to Core Education while we are processing proposals, we are sharing the following resources:
- Approved Undergraduate Program Changes and Core Education Courses: As programs are approved, a PDF of the final curriculum will be added to a Box folder accessible through June 2, 2025, when our catalog goes live. Real-time information on which courses have been approved in this Box Folder.
If you have students completing Bacc Core requirements, the students must be admitted to OSU or the Degree Partnership Program by Spring 2025 for those requirements to be included in their bachelor's degree program. As a reminder, OSU's deadline for Spring 2025 application and materials is March 3rd. The OSU Transfer Admissions team will be hosting a virtual application workshop on Wednesday, February 19th. For those unable to attend the workshop, please encourage students to schedule an appointment with the transfer services manager affiliated with their community college.
We want to reiterate our commitment to supporting our shared transfer students and recognize Community Colleges as valuable partners in this endeavor. We hope you'll share these changes with your faculty and academic advisors to ensure students have the information they need about courses at your institution that will complete bachelor's degree requirements post-transfer to OSU. To learn more about OSU's implementation and next steps, please visit OSU's Common Course Numbering and External Advisors website.