COURSE SUBSTITUTION AP 4227
Merced College requires all students to master the competencies for a pursued program of study as outlined in the appropriate
Merced College Catalog per the student’s date of entrance into the college.
Course substitutions may only be requested for the major core of a degree program. For course exceptions to the rule
concerning Associate of Art/Associate of Science (AA/AS) Breadth and Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) General
Education (GE) patterns, students must file a general petition which is reviewed by the Academic Exceptions Committee in the
Admissions Office.
Transfer Model Curriculum
A course with Course Identification (C-ID) approval that was successfully completed at another institution will be awarded the
equivalent C-ID approved course at Merced College.
Courses completed at another California Community College may be substituted for an approved ADT course at this institution
following the guidelines below:
1. The proposed course has a C-ID designation that is specified on the Transfer Model Curriculum (TMC) for the ADT that
is being awarded, regardless if Merced College includes this course on the ADT.
2. Courses taken at another California Community College and appearing on an approved ADT but that do not have C-ID
approval may request course substitution(s).
3. Non-C-ID Coursework completed at an accredited out-of-state institution will be reviewed by faculty on a case-by-case
basis to ensure that rigor of the transfer degree is upheld.
Course Substitution Procedure for Lower Division Coursework
1. For a course substitution of a required course within a major, the student must submit a completed course substitution
form to the Admissions and Records (A&R) Office. The form will then be routed to the appropriate faculty member(s) for
approval/denial.
2. It is recommended that course substitution forms are submitted one semester prior to when the student applies for
graduation with a degree or certificate.
3. It is recommended to work with a counselor when proposing a course substitution.
4. When the course is not in the same discipline as the program, a representative of the program faculty and a
representative of the discipline faculty must sign the course substitution form. The student is responsible for submitting
all supporting documentation with the course substitution form. When the course is from another institution, the student
must include supporting documentation, which may include course outlines, transcripts, course descriptions, and/or
course syllabi.
5. Course substitutions will not be considered if the courses are not from an regionally accredited institution. Official
transcripts from the transferring institution must be on file in the Merced College Admissions Office at the time the
course substitution form is submitted.
6. Once a course substitution form has been returned by the faculty to A&R, A&R staff will send a copy to the dean of the
program being awarded, a copy will be sent to the faculty who was initially sent the request, a copy should be mailed
and/or emailed to the student, and one copy will remain in A&R.
7. Course substitutions that have been denied are final. No appeal is available. One negative response from faculty or
instructional dean indicates a denial.
Request for Review of an Upper Division Course to Meet a Lower Division Requirement
Students wishing to receive course credit for previously completed upper division work must apply to Merced College for
approval. A student may request credit for a major, a competency, or a general education breadth. In such instances, students
must submit the following to A&R:
An official transcript from the college
A catalog description of the course
For Major Course Substitution(s), students must follow the process outlined above in Course Substitution Procedure for Lower
Division Coursework.
For Competency and/or GE Breadth, students must file a general petition which is reviewed by the Academic Exceptions
Committee.
In all instances, the decision of the faculty is final; no appeal is available.
Adopted 07/11/17
Request for Course Substitution
PRINT CLEARLY FOR MAILING:
Merced College
Admissions and Records
Associate Degree Major Requirement
Certificate Requirement
Student Name (Last, First)
Student ID Number
Address Today’s Date
City, State, Zip Daytime phone number
Term
entered
Merced
College?
Expected
graduation
date?
Declared
Major?
Catalog
Year
for
Award?
Award Type? AA-T/AS-T AA/AS CERTIFICATE
NOTE: FOR FULL CONSIDERATION OF YOUR COURSE SUBSTITUTION REQUEST, YOU MUST ATTACH TRANSCRIPTS, COURSE
DESCRIPTIONS AND/OR SYLLABUS IF SUBSTITUTING COURSEWORK IS FROM ANOTHER INSTITUTION.
A substitution is requested for the following course(s) or requirement(s):
Required Course:
Requested Substitution:
Name/Title
Units
Name/Title
Units
Reason for Request: (submit course descriptions and documentation if appropriate)
Student
Signature:
Date:
************************************************************************************************************
Counseling Department Use Only:
Date: Student Self-Advised
Printed Counselor Name: Counselor Signature:
Comments:
************************************************************************************************************
For Department Use Only: NOTE: BOTH SIGNATURES REQUIRED; UPPER DIVISION COURSE USE REQUIRES TWO DISCIPLINE
FACULTY SIGNATURES AND A DEAN.
Identify additional information requested:
Request Approved Request Denied Request for more Information
Printed Name/Signature Discipline Faculty/Date
Request Approved Request Denied Request for more Information
Printed Name/Signature Program Faculty*/Faculty Lead/Date
Request Approved Request Denied Request for more Information
Printed Name/Signature Area Dean/Date
Received by Evaluations/Date
* When the course is not in the same discipline as the program, a representative of the program faculty and a
representative of the discipline faculty must sign the Course Substitution form.
MC FORM-853: Rev. July 2017 White-Records Copy Canary-Area Copy Pink-Student Copy Gold-Discipline Faculty Copy
Student Merced College Email