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Transfer Course Criteria for

Journalism


Along with the general selection criteria, every major has required and recommended coursework for transfer students to have completed in order to be considered competitive during the selection process.

Required Courses

Before applying to a major, you should successfully complete or be in the process of completing the required courses to maximize (but not guarantee) your chance of selection. You must complete these units by the spring of the term before your intended fall enrollment to receive consideration during the selection process.

Desired Courses

Because the San Luis Obispo campus at Cal Poly is highly impacted and selection to all majors is very competitive, desired courses should also be successfully completed or in progress when you apply for admission.

Evaluating Your Courses

All the courses listed are Cal Poly courses. You can use www.assist.org to identify the course equivalencies between Cal Poly and the California Community Colleges. Be sure to use the corresponding academic year in which you completed the course. If you are out-of-state or a transfer student from another four-year institution, you may have to compare your catalog course descriptions with Cal Poly’s catalog to identify the equivalent courses. Cal Poly is unable to evaluate transcripts for you prior to selection.

Course Listings

Fall 2027

Required Courses

English Communication

  • Oral Communication
  • English Composition
  • Critical Thinking and Composition

Major Related 

  • JOUR 2203/News Reporting and Writing
  • JOUR 2228/Media, Self and Society

Desired Courses

Arts, Literature, Philosophy, and Foreign Languages

  • Any CSU GE Area 3 course

Literature/Philosophy course strongly encouraged as preparation for the analytical reading that typifies 
upper-division major and GE courses in the College of Liberal Arts. 

Statistics

  • STAT1000/Statistical and Data Literacy
    or STAT1110/Applied Statistical Concepts and Methods
    or STAT 1210/Business Statistics I 
Fall 2026

Required Courses

English Language Communication and Critical Thinking

  • Oral Communication
  • Written Communication/English Composition
  • Critical Thinking

Major Related 

  • JOUR 203/News Reporting and Writing

Desired Courses

Arts, Literature, Philosophy, and Foreign Languages

  • Any CSU GE Area C course

Literature/Philosophy course strongly encouraged as preparation for the analytical reading that typifies
upper-division major and GE courses in the College of Liberal Arts.

Statistics

  • STAT 130/Statistical Reasoning
    or STAT 217/Introduction to Statistical Concepts and Methods
    or STAT 218/Applied Statistics for the Life Sciences
    or STAT 251/Statistical Inference for Management I

All information is subject to change without prior notice.