The following is copied from an email by Sean Madden at the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, June 2026.
CSU Systemwide Credit by External Examination Policy – 2026 Updates
This email provides guidance for International Baccalaureate (IB), College Level Examination Program (CLEP), and Advanced Placement (AP) examinations. Please see CSU’s announcement regarding updated charts for 2026 below.
Title 5, §55052.5 requires the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, in collaboration with the Academic Senate of California Community Colleges, to develop guidelines for minimum passing scores and requires each community college district to implement a uniform policy regarding IB and CLEP credit on an annual basis.
In accordance with the regulation, the policy stipulates that any student who passes an International Baccalaureate examination and/or a CLEP examination with a minimum passing score in the subject matter is awarded general education area credit. Where no general education area credit matches are available, the college may award elective credit.
Title 5, §55052 requires a uniform policy regarding AP examinations. Each community college shall also note on the student’s academic record that the credit was earned through an IB, CLEP, and/or AP examination.
The units and CSU general education equivalencies in the CSU Systemwide Credit for External Examinations charts shall be applied to CCC local degrees and certificates. The alignment between CSU General Education and CCC General Education (CCC title 5 section 55061) is as follows:
| CSU GE Area | CCC GE Area |
|---|---|
| 1A | 1A English Composition |
| 1B (no credit given in this GE Area) | |
| 1C (no credit given in this GE Area) | |
| 2 | 2 Mathematical Concepts and Quantitative Reasoning |
| 3A /3B | 3 Arts and Humanities |
| 4 | 4 Social and Behavioral Sciences |
| 5A /5B | 5 Natural Sciences |
| 6 (no credit given in this GE Area) | |
| US-1/US-2 | Not a statewide CCC GE requirement |
Please note that the UC only accepts AP and IB with their own minimum scores and credit application caveats. Also, Cal-GETC only accepts AP and IB. See Cal-GETC Standards 1.3, Section 6, Credit by External Exam, for Cal-GETC applicability and limitations. As a courtesy, we are providing the following links, which should prove helpful:
Please also note that individual CSU and UC campuses may apply exam credits differently.
Questions or concerns may be sent to transfer@cccco.edu.
Thank you,
Sean
Sean Madden
Community College Program Assistant
Academic Affairs
Educational Services and Support Division
O (916) 445-3898
smadden@cccco.edu
California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office
1102 Q Street, Sacramento, California 95811
www.cccco.edu