Please review each term below to learn more about Transfer Path core elements and review a description or explanation of each.
Cognate courses are typically taken in a discipline or subject outside a student's major but support the major program and/or specialization. These courses may be explicitly identified in transfer paths, and campuses will also identify Core Courses that can fulfill cognate requirements.
According to policy, identified courses are guaranteed to transfer to any applicable cognate requirements. When a student completes a Core Course at their home SUNY campus, it will satisfy the same requirement at the destination SUNY campus.
Core Courses are foundational lower-division/level courses included in SUNY Transfer Path major requirements and associated cognate requirements. These courses equate to lower-division courses required across SUNY campuses, ensuring guaranteed transfer between them. According to BOT policy, identified courses are guaranteed to transfer for applicable major and/or cognate requirements. When a student completes a Core Course at their home SUNY campus, it will fulfill the same path requirement at the destination SUNY campus.
Starting in 2025, the campus transfer liaison will be the primary campus-level contact for maintaining Core Courses, although they may not be responsible for the lists. The individuals responsible for core course maintenance and reporting will vary by campus, typically handled by a campus director or coordinator of curriculum/program development.
The campus chief academic officer (CAO) or provost is responsible for internal policy and decision-making regarding core courses and ensuring faculty and staff regularly maintain and review the paths. Any issues, errors, or appeals related to transfer path core courses or course equivalencies will be referred to the transfer liaison and the CAO/provost.
The Core Course Navigator is a simplified lookup tool giving students, faculty and staff the ability to review Core Courses on each SUNY campus. Course information is provided by the campus.
Core Courses are foundational, lower-division/level requirements typically pursued during the first two years (or 60 credits) of undergraduate study. These courses, usually at the 100/1000 or 200/2000 level, provide foundational knowledge of a subject, and prepare students for advanced coursework usually at the 300/3000+ level.
Campuses should review policies and upper-level credit requirements (if applicable) before designating a 300/3000+ level course as a Core Course. Core Courses must be accepted as equivalents upon transfer, regardless of numbering or level differences between campuses. SUNY policy allows lower-division/level courses to count as upper-division/level if the learning outcomes, mastery level, and effort are aligned.
SUNY's Transfer Paths are structured program plans designed to help students seamlessly transfer from one SUNY to another - particularly from a community college (or two-year program) to a baccalaureate program. Beginning in 2010, the SUNY faculty developed and agreed on transfer path common requirements and developed commonly defined, foundational courses Core Courses that will apply to the major. When SUNY Transfer Paths were initially developed, the paths numbered several dozen undergraduate majors, and applied to almost 95 percent of all transfer students.
Transfer Paths provide students with specific courses they should pursue during their first two years (60 credits) that will help them achieve the associate degree, complete general education requirements, and complete a sufficient number of major course requirements that will apply to the baccalaureate program. Per the BOT resolution and policy, courses are guaranteed to transfer into specific requirements, versus just electives. Program development and planning must show that a student can complete the path within the first two years of study and achieve the associate degree, and then spend an additional two years of study at the destination campus to achieve the baccalaureate degree.
Policy Information: Seamless Transfer Resolution December 2012
Students, faculty and staff are able to use the Transfer Path Planner to find courses at a student's current (or first) SUNY campus that are equivalent to the lower division major requirements listed in the SUNY Transfer Path. The tool is designed to be used by transfer students and advisors as they plan their coursework and/or consider their next steps in the pursuit of a baccalaureate degree.