CSU Eligibility Requirements

Upper Division Transfer Requirements

To be admissible for transfer in fall, these requirements must be completed by the end of the spring immediately prior to the fall term. To be admissible for transfer in spring (if offered), these requirements must be completed by the end of the fall immediately prior to the spring term. Official transcripts will be required to ensure the requirements have been completed.

1. Attain Junior Standing (upper-division transfer)

Complete 60 or more transferable semester units or 90 or more quarter units. Applicants seeking a second bachelor’s degree will not be considered. To learn more about transfer planning, including courses that are accepted at SJSU from other colleges and universities, view our articulation information.

2. Complete the four basic skills classes (General Education Areas A1, A2, A3 and B4).

Complete the four basic skills courses as early as possible for a letter grade; it is acceptable if in Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall 2020 or Winter, Spring and Summer 2021 only the basic skills course was completed with a “Pass / No Pass” or “Credit / No Credit” score. You must earn a “C-” or higher grade in each basic skills course. The four basic skills courses and 60 transferable semester units (90 quarter units) must be completed by the end of the spring term to be eligible for admission to the fall term. 

Area 

Course Description

A1

One course in oral communication or public speaking

A2

One course in written composition or literature

A3

One course in critical thinking or literary analysis

B4

One course in college-level mathematics or quantitative reasoning, with intermediate algebra as a prerequisite

3. Earn an overall college grade point average of at minimum 2.00 in all transferable courses

Please note that while an overall 2.0 GPA is sufficient for admission to some majors at SJSU, many competitive majors require a higher overall GPA for admission. We strongly advise applicants check the Transfer Impaction data from prior terms for the minimum GPA required for admission to specific majors.

4. Be in good standing at the last college or university that you attended. 

5. Submit official test scores from an approved English Language Proficiency test (TOEFL, IELTS, Duolingo or PTE) unless exempt.

Only official test scores are acceptable. For TOEFL, SJSU’s institution code is 4687. 

Lower Division Transfer Requirements

You will be considered a lower division applicant if you have fewer than 60 semester or 90 quarter units of transferable credits, completed at a college or university by the time of enrollment. While SJSU does not offer preliminary evaluations of coursework completed at other institutions, evaluators at SJSU will verify applicants’ official transcripts for transferable credits.

To be admissible as a lower division transfer student, the criteria below must be completed by the end of the spring term immediately prior to the fall for admission, or by the end of the fall term immediately prior to the spring for admission (if offered):

  1. Have earned less than 60 semester/90 quarter transferable units.
  2. Meet all Freshman Admission Requirements.
  3. Earn an overall grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 or greater in all U.S. college/university work and an overall “B” average equal to 80% or 3.0 GPA in high school (secondary school) coursework.
  4. Submit official test scores from an approved English Language Proficiency test (TOEFL, IELTS, Duolingo or PTE) unless exempt.
  5. Complete a transferable A2 and B4 college course with a grade of "C-" or higher.
  6. Be in good standing at the last institution you attended

SJSU Admission Selection Process (Impaction)

Once we determine you are CSU Eligible, you will be reviewed through our admission selection process, called impaction.