Applicants are considered transfer students if they have attempted or enrolled in any college-level course work (at another college or university, or other campus of the University of Colorado), full time or part time, since graduating from high school. Applicants are not considered transfer students if the only college-level classes they have taken were while enrolled in high school. To be considered for admission, transfer students must report all previous college work and have a high school diploma or its equivalent.
Transfer applicants are considered for admission on the basis of transfer as well as freshman criteria, including minimum academic preparation standards (MAPS). All transfer applicants who graduated from high school in spring 1988 or later are expected to have completed MAPS requirements before enrolling at CU-Boulder.
A number of factors are considered when the transfer application is evaluated. The types of courses taken are as important as the grade point average. Only courses completed at the time the application is reviewed are considered in computing the cumulative, or overall, GPA. Complete personal essays are required.
Competitive criteria may vary from term to term depending on the overall quality of the applicant group and the number of transfer spaces available for a given college or school. Successful completion of prerequisite or recommended courses is also considered in the admission decision (see specific college and school sections below). For more information on competitive transfer admission guidelines, visit admissions.colorado.edu/undergraduate/apply/transfer.
A cumulative college GPA of 2.50 or better in appropriate general education courses is required. Students who complete 60 semester hours of transfer-level work with a cumulative GPA of 2.50 at a Colorado community college and who apply by the equal consideration deadline are assured admission to the College of Arts and Sciences. Students must complete all of the Minimum Academic Preparation Standards (MAPS) to be guaranteed admission.
NOTE: This information applies to students who entered college after spring 1988. For those students who entered college prior to summer 1988, contact the Office of Admissions.
A cumulative college GPA of 3.00 or higher is required. Preference is given to students who have completed finite math (or college algebra), calculus, microeconomics, and macroeconomics with competitive letter grades.
Students who have completed a bachelor’s degree may apply for admission directly to the School of Education. All other undergraduate students must be admitted to another college or school before applying to a CU-Boulder teacher education program.
Visit www.colorado.edu/education/prospective/undergrad.html for additional information.
A college GPA of 2.75 or higher is required. Admission preference is given to students who have taken college-level courses in the areas of architecture, planning, or environmental studies. Completion of courses in related fields of social science, natural science, fine arts, or humanities is also considered in the admission review.
A college GPA of 2.900 or higher for four-year institutions; 3.100 or higher for community college and junior colleges is required. Transfer applicants must have taken courses relevant to an engineering curriculum, including at least two semesters of college-level calculus, along with two semesters of calculus-based physics with lab and/or college-level chemistry with lab. Chemical engineering and chemical and biological engineering applicants should have completed two semesters of college chemistry. Grades in math, science, and engineering courses should be B or higher. (Exception: Students [resident or non-resident] who apply for admission for a semester that occurs within 18 months of their high school graduation date may also be competitive without having taken the above coursework, as long as the high school academic record meets the current Guaranteed Admission for Colorado Freshmen criteria. In addition, if any college-level work has been completed, the overall GPA should be 3.100 or higher.)
The college guarantees admission to any of its baccalaureate degree programs to students transferring from Colorado public institutions of higher education who meet the College of Engineering and Applied Science Guaranteed Admission Criteria for Colorado Transfers.
Admission to the Program in Journalism and Mass Communication requires a transfer student to have a minimum of 30 semester hours of appropriate college-level course work completed or in progress and an overall GPA of 3.00 as well as a 3.00 average GPA in journalism course prerequisites. Applicants must have completed or be in progress two introductory courses:
A college GPA of 2.75 or higher and an audition of all applicants is required. More information may be found in the Undergraduate Admission and College of Music sections.
Transfer students are required to submit SAT or ACT scores, except those who have completed 24 or more semester hours of transferable college-level work at the time they apply.
Students’ highest scores are used in the admission decision. If the same test is taken more than once, the scores on each subsection are combined to give the highest overall score. SAT subject test scores are not required. For more information, see the How to Apply for Undergraduate Admission section.
Effective with students who graduated from high school in spring 1988 or later, CU expects all transfer students to have completed courses that meet certain minimum academic preparation standards (MAPS). For MAPS requirements for specific CU-Boulder colleges and schools, click here.
MAPS requirements not met in high school may be met through equivalent college-level course work before or after transfer to CU-Boulder. A semester course completed at the college level substitutes for a year of work in high school.
A list of transferable state-guaranteed general education courses has been established for students pursuing arts and sciences majors. Contact your current Colorado school, the CU-Boulder Office of Admissions, or visit our website for more information.
Course equivalency information is available online at www.colorado.edu/admissions/undergraduate/apply/transfer/courseequivalency, and also through Colorado community college advising offices. This includes information on CU-Boulder admission requirements, graduation requirements, and course equivalencies.
Students transferring to a program outside of the College of Arts and Sciences need to work with community college advisors and use the transfer information to assure that appropriate courses are taken prior to transfer. Students wishing to enter the College of Architecture and Planning or the College of Engineering and Applied Science should be aware that because of the structure of the curriculum, they are encouraged to transfer as early as the beginning of the sophomore year. Academic programs vary in terms of the maximum number of hours that may be transferred from a community or junior college.