Courses From Other Institutions

Academic Advising and Career Education has prepared a Guide for New Transfer Students that provides an overview on upper-division General Education (GE).

If you are transferring from another CSU (e.g., San Jose State University), the GE Areas you satisfied there will transfer here directly.  Our “overlay” requirements may differ from theirs, however, even if they have a similar name.  You might need to check with an advisor. 

If you went to a California Community College (such as Chabot College or Diablo Valley College), you can check which GE areas you have satisfied there in the past two years using the lists on this page.  For courses more than 2 years old, you might use TES, outlined below.

If you have not sent in a final official transcript, you should have an unofficial copy for your major advisor.  It will also help your major advisor if you have an idea of how your previous college courses align with ours.  (We call this "articulation”.)  CSUEB uses the "Transfer Equivalency System" (TES) to officially articulate courses with other colleges and universities.  We have a video outlining the instructions below.

  • Suppose that you took BIOSC 102 at Diablo Valley College and want to know how it articulates at CSUEB.  In "Institution Search," you might type "Diablo Valley" and click on the "search" button.  
  • Then, select "Diablo Valley College".  Click on the "search" box, and type "Biosc".  
  • For "BIOSC-102", there are 3 entries.  The first indicates that the course satisfies the B2 requirement of our GE program.  The second and third indicate that the course would be considered equivalent to either BIOL 100 or BIOL 101 AND BIOL 102.  (If you are a Biology major or in another major that requires BIOL 101/2, you would get that equivalency;  otherwise, it would count like BIOL 100 for you.)  If your course is not listed, it might not have been articulated yet.  This is common for out-of-state schools.  For major courses, your major advisor might request a new articulation.  Sometimes, courses that do not articulate are allowed as substitutions;  contact your major advisor.

Course substitutions are when a student takes a course either at a community college or other institution and would like to use that course instead of a Public Health course as stated in the catalog. 

  • Students may request a course substitution only for elective courses in BS in Health Sciences (Health Policy concentration) or BS in Public Health. Students with BS in Health Sciences (No Concentration) must meet with their advisors to discuss electives to be completed. 
  • Course substitutions are not permitted for lower/upper division core courses or any required Health Policy concentration or Public Health courses. Students will be asked to provide justification for the substitution. Any course substitutions must be discussed in advance with your Faculty Advisor. Faculty advisors may need to consult with other faculty in the department before approving a course substitution.


Course equivalents are when a student takes a course at another institution and believes the course may be the same or equivalent to a Public Health course. If you would like to have a course evaluated for equivalency, please contact your faculty advisor. You will need to submit a course syllabus, course description and other course information (link to the catalog) so that it can be evaluated. This process can take several weeks as it involves multiple stakeholders.