Honors Transfer Program

Frequently Asked Questions

For several years, the program has seen consistent increases in applications from graduating high school seniors. For Fall, 2023, the program received 186 initial applications. 179 students were admitted, 137 enrolled and 17 applications were incomplete. Around seventy-five students graduate each year.

If a student is not admitted for fall because they do not meet the minimum qualifications - or if they missed the deadline - they can apply to the program after completing Cabrillo coursework and, if admitted, enter the program the following semester.

Students whose GPA is not quite 3.5 but who demonstrate a strong desire to join the program, are encouraged to apply and to complete the supplemental essay in the application.

Students who miss the deadline can apply for spring admission. The application period for spring currrent college admission is Oct. 1-Oct. 31.


Many students come into the program once they have already started at Cabrillo. The door does NOT close just because you didn't apply by the March deadline. Please stay in touch with us and meet with an Honors Counselor as you have more questions about the program.

More information for students who missed the deadline and who wish to learn about the honors waitlist process, please go here.

No. How you plan your schedule and whether you enroll in honors courses each semester is a decision you make based on your education plan and with the advice of your Academic Counselor. The requirement to remain in the Honors Program is maintaining a 3.3 GPA in all your transfer-level courses. (Students for whom any administrative disciplinary action is taken may also be dismissed from the program at the discretion of the Director and the Lead Faculty.)

Absolutely not. Once you are admitted, you maintain your active status in the program as long as you are a student in good standing, maintain a 3.3 GPA in your transfer coursework, and do not have any disciplinary or behavioral issues that would disqualify you.

You need to maintain a 3.3 overall GPA in your transfer-level courses to remain in the Honors Transfer Program. If you find you are struggling in any of your courses, see an Honors or other Counselor as soon as possible for advising. You may decide to NOT take an honors course the following semester.

Additionally, you will generally not be dropped from the program for one semester when your GPA dips below 3.3. If you have several semesters in a row with a lower-than required GPA, it may be best for you to just continue as a regular students at Cabrillo and not take the honors courses.

You may repeat a course in which you received a substandard grade (NP, D or F) and if you achieve a passing grade on the 2nd attempt, your substandard grade will be replaced on your transcript with the new grade. New repeatability standards allow you to register for (take) a course only 3 times, and a "W", NP, or a grade each count as a "take".

While it is not required that you complete honors units, if you do successfully complete 15 units of Honors courses and maintain a 3.4 GPA in your transfer-level courses, you will earn the status of Honors Scholar Designation and this will be printed on your official transcript. You will also be honored in a pinning ceremony at graduation before you transfer. Many universities give scholarships, admission priority and other benefits to Honors Scholars. You should meet with an academic ounselor regularly to determine which honors courses fit into your educational plan. To establish Honors Scholar status, you submit the Honors Scholar Designation application to the Honors Director in your last semester at Cabrillo.

The Honors Scholar requirements also meet the requirement for UCLA TAP Certification (Transfer Alliance Program) for priority admission into UCLA College of Letters and Sciences. For more information, see this link.

To learn more about earning honors units, honors scholar status, UCLA TAP Certification, please refer to the Honors Student Handbook.

The requirements to be certified for UCLA TAP are the same as for the Honors Scholar designation: at least 15 units of honors courses (6 units of which may be List B Courses) and a 3.4 (UC transferable) GPA.

When you apply to UCLA in the fall, you will indicate on your application that you expect to achieve TAP certification.

Students from Cabrillo who apply to UCLA and are TAP certified more than double their chances of being admitted to majors in the College of Letters and Sciences.

Being TAP certified gives students a boost in admissions consideration for their 1st choice of major in the College of Letters & Sciences at UCLA. If a TAP Certified student does not get admitted to the1st choice major, UCLA will review for admission to an alternate major. This alternate major cannot be an impacted major and you must have all the major preparation completed. For more information on this, see this link as well as the UCLA TAP page.

If you are transferring to a CSU or UC, you DEFINITELY want to have your general education (CSU or IGETC) certified by Cabrillo. It is the role of the community college to certify your general education completion, either Full or Partial, to the university. This verifies that you have completed the lower-division general education requirements for a bachelor's degree, and thus, the university cannot/will not require you to complete additional lower-division general education classes upon transfer (if you are fully certified). There may be upper-division general education classes required by the university. GE Certification will be noted on your final transcript and sent directly to the university - making it official. Read the info at this link:

https://www.cabrillo.edu/admissions-and-records/ge-certifications/

If you are receiving an AA or AS degree, in WebAdvisor transcript request, you will choose to "hold (the transcript) for Degree" - so that your official transcript states your awarded degree. Once your Spring grades and degree awarded are posted to your transcript, Cabrillo will send the Final Official GE Certified Transcript directly to (this information will be updated soon).

If you are NOT receiving a degree (allowing you to request "hold for degree", which will also automatically also hold until your grades are posted), you must do the following:

  • Wait until your grades are posted in your record/transcript - you can verify this on WebAdvisor after finals are over (probably around the 1st of June in Spring semester).

  • Then request your General Education Certified, Official transcript be sent to your chosen university

  • If you have completed all the requirements - request FULL Certification. UC Berkeley requires FULL certification. Other universities will require Full Certification if you told them in your application that you expected to complete all the general education requirements (IGETC or CSU).

If you are achieving an A.A.-T or A.S.-T Degree, and enrolling at a CSU, you DO NOT Need to have your General Education certified. The A.A.-T/A.S.-T posted on your transcript acts as the "certification".

Cabrillo can partially certify your general education for CSU (you can be missing up to 3 courses) or IGETC (you can be missing up to 2 courses); HOWEVER, if you told the university in your application or updates that you would be achieving FULL Certification by the end of Spring, you should be requesting to send a FULLY certified transcript.

  • See a counselor if you have questions on this.

Note: you do not need to be getting a degree from Cabrillo to have your General Education certified.