Community College to UC Guide · Target UC Campuses
Community College to UC Riverside:Admission and Majors
UC Riverside admitted 69.6% of transfer applicants for Fall 2026, making it a relatively safe UC choice. Each college sets a minimum GPA and major preparation requirements, and the TAG threshold for computer science is 3.6.
- Fall 2026 transfer admission rate
- 69.6%
- Fall 2026 transfer applicants / admits
- 14,915 / 10,382
- Admits from California Community Colleges
- 96%
- Minimum TAG GPA
- 2.7 to 3.6, depending on college and major
- Major excluded from TAG
- Art Studio
Transferring from a community college to UC Riverside is a relatively safe UC choice. For Fall 2026, UC Riverside received 14,915 transfer applications and admitted 10,382 students, an admission rate of 69.6%. Of the admitted transfer students, 96% came from California Community Colleges. Calculated from the applicant and admit counts, this rate is lower only than that of UC Merced among the nine undergraduate campuses. A distinctive feature of UC Riverside is that each college sets its own minimum GPA, and most science, engineering, and business majors require completion of specified major preparation courses.
Transfer Admission Data
This section explains how many transfer students UC Riverside admits each year and the starting GPA for each college.
| Item | Fall 2026 |
|---|---|
| Transfer applicants | 14,915 |
| Admits | 10,382 |
| Admission rate | 69.6% |
| Share of admits from California Community Colleges | 96% |
The University of California describes these figures as an admissions snapshot and cautions parents not to use them to predict an individual student’s chances of admission. The official UC page for Fall 2026 does not publish a GPA range for admitted transfer students, and the UC Riverside admissions office does not publish one either.
The UC Riverside admissions office states that transfer students must complete 60 semester units (90 quarter units) with a transferable GPA of at least 2.4, or at least 2.8 for nonresidents. Some majors require a higher GPA. The minimum transferable GPA listed by college in the UC Riverside Majors Preparation Guide is as follows:
| College | Minimum transferable GPA | Additional requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Bourns College of Engineering (BCOE) | 2.8 | 2.5 GPA in the calculus series and 2.5 GPA in one other major preparation series |
| College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (CNAS) | 2.7 | C or higher in all required courses |
| College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (CHASS) | 2.4 | 2.7 for Psychology and Neuroscience |
| School of Business | 2.7 | 2.5 GPA in all major preparation courses |
| School of Education | 2.4 | C or higher in all required courses |
The GPA includes only UC-transferable courses; the calculation rules are explained in How the Transfer GPA Is Calculated.
Selective Majors and Prerequisites
This section explains which courses popular UC Riverside majors require before transfer.
The UC Riverside Majors Preparation Guide lists selecting major requirements for each major. The course numbers in the table are UC Riverside course numbers; the equivalent community college courses must be looked up in ASSIST, the official course articulation system for California public colleges and universities.
| Major | Courses to complete before transfer | Grade requirements and notes |
|---|---|---|
| Computer Science (B.S.) | Calculus Math 9A, 9B, 9C; CS 10A, 10B; Physics 40A; plus 3 courses chosen from CS 11, CS 10C, CS 61, Math 10A, Physics 40B, 40C | College of Engineering GPA requirements apply |
| Mechanical Engineering (B.S.) | Calculus Math 9A, 9B, 9C; Chemistry 1A, 1B with labs; Physics 40A; plus 3 courses chosen from EE 5, ME 2, ME 9, ME 10, ME 18A, ME 18B, Physics 40B, 40C | College of Engineering GPA requirements apply |
| Data Science (B.S.) | Calculus Math 9A, 9B, 9C; CS 10A, 10B; plus 3 additional courses | 2.7 GPA in the calculus series, 2.5 GPA in one other major preparation series |
| Business Administration (B.S.) | Calculus Math 9A or Math 22; Business 10, 20; Economics Econ 2, 3; Statistics Stat 8 or 10 | 2.7 transferable GPA, 2.5 major preparation GPA |
| Economics (B.A.) | Calculus Math 9A | 2.4 transferable GPA |
| Psychology (B.A. and B.S.) | 1 course chosen from Math 4, 5A, 6A, 9A, 22 | 2.7 transferable GPA |
| Biology (B.A. and B.S.) | Two calculus courses; general chemistry 1A, 1B, 1C with labs; plus one of the Biology 5 series, the Chemistry 8 series, or a physics series | 2.7 transferable GPA |
UC Riverside also offers guidance on general education. The College of Engineering and the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences recommend that students prioritize major preparation courses over Cal-GETC (California General Education Transfer Curriculum). The College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences does not accept Cal-GETC to satisfy its college general education requirements. The School of Business, by contrast, strongly recommends completing Cal-GETC or the UC Riverside School of Business general education pattern.
TAG
This section explains the thresholds of the UC Riverside transfer admission guarantee in each college.
The Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) is an admission guarantee that six UC campuses offer to California community college students. For the Fall 2027 entry cycle, the UC Riverside TAG GPA must be reached by the end of the Summer 2026 term:
| College | Minimum TAG GPA | Exceptions |
|---|---|---|
| College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences | 2.8 | 3.3 for Psychology and for Theatre, Film, and Digital Production |
| Bourns College of Engineering | 3.0 | Computer Science 3.6; Computer Science with Business Applications 3.3; Computer Engineering 3.3; Mechanical Engineering 3.1 |
| College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences | 2.8 | Data Science 3.0 |
| School of Business | 2.8 | None |
| School of Education | 2.7 | None |
| School of Public Policy | 2.7 | None |
Other key points of TAG are as follows:
- All majors in the College of Engineering, the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, and the School of Business, as well as Economics, Business Economics, Psychology, and Neuroscience, require completion of major preparation courses.
- The only excluded major is Art Studio.
- TAG is submitted through the UC Transfer Admission Planner (UC TAP) between September 1 and 30, 2026, and only fall entry is accepted.
- UC Riverside pre-reviews the courses, and the official UC matrix recommends submitting the UC application after receiving the TAG result.
- When all conditions are met, TAG also guarantees the intended major.
At the time of submission, the student must have completed at least 30 semester units, and must complete 1 English composition course (UC-E) and 1 mathematics course (UC-M) by the end of Fall 2026. The full rules are explained in TAG: Transfer Admission Guarantee.
Application Timeline and Materials
This section lists the key dates and campus-specific requirements for transferring to UC Riverside for Fall 2027. The following dates come from the UC Riverside admissions office transfer timeline.
| Date | Task |
|---|---|
| September 1 to 30, 2026 | Submit TAG |
| October 1 to November 30, 2026 | Submit the UC transfer application |
| January 31, 2027 | Deadline for the Transfer Academic Update (TAU) |
| March 2, 2027 | Priority deadline for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or the California Dream Act Application (CADAA) |
| April 2027 | Admission decisions begin to be released |
| June 1, 2027 | Deadline to submit the Statement of Intent to Register (SIR) |
| July 1, 2027 | Deadline to submit official transcripts through spring and other materials |
UC Riverside has two major-specific materials requirements. Art applicants must upload a digital portfolio after submitting the UC application, containing 10 images of original work or up to 3 video or audio clips. Applicants to Education, Society, and Human Development (including the teaching credential option) must take part in an interview during review.
The UC Riverside admissions office reminds transfer applicants that they must answer 1 required question and choose 3 of 7 questions to answer, with a maximum of 350 words per question. Guidance is available in Transfer Personal Insight Questions (PIQ).
EDUBUS Advice
Community colleges that send the most transfer students to UC Riverside
The table below uses 2024-25 academic year data from the University of California Information Center to list the schools in the EDUBUS community college library with the most students admitted to UC Riverside. The number admitted reflects the size of each school’s transfer pipeline and does not indicate any individual student’s chance of admission.
| Community college | Applicants | Admitted | Admit rate | Average GPA of admitted students |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Pasadena City College | 653 | 420 | 64.3% | 3.54 |
 Santa Monica College | 530 | 331 | 62.5% | 3.45 |
 Mt. San Antonio College | 535 | 316 | 59.1% | 3.50 |
 De Anza College | 498 | 301 | 60.4% | 3.55 |
 Irvine Valley College | 486 | 297 | 61.1% | 3.47 |
 El Camino College | 268 | 171 | 63.8% | 3.51 |
 Orange Coast College | 281 | 168 | 59.8% | 3.52 |
 Saddleback College | 229 | 134 | 58.5% | 3.45 |
Frequently Asked Questions
How difficult is it to transfer from a community college to UC Riverside?
For Fall 2026, UC Riverside received 14,915 transfer applications and admitted 10,382 students, an admission rate of 69.6%. Calculated from the applicant and admit counts, this rate is lower only than that of UC Merced among the nine UC undergraduate campuses. Most majors are relatively accessible to transfer students, but majors in engineering, the natural sciences, and the School of Business require completion of specified major preparation courses.
What GPA does UC Riverside require for TAG in computer science?
For the Fall 2027 entry cycle, TAG for UC Riverside Computer Science requires a transferable GPA of 3.6 by the end of the Summer 2026 term. The threshold is 3.3 for Computer Engineering and for Computer Science with Business Applications, 3.1 for Mechanical Engineering, and 3.0 for other majors in the College of Engineering. These thresholds are higher than the minimum GPA for regular admission.
Without TAG, what does a student need to transfer into business at UC Riverside?
The UC Riverside School of Business requires a GPA of at least 2.7 in all transferable courses and at least 2.5 in all major preparation courses. The Business Administration major requires one calculus course, Business 10 and 20, Econ 2 and 3, and one statistics course. These are UC Riverside course numbers; the equivalent community college courses must be looked up in ASSIST. Each major preparation course requires a grade of C or higher.
When are UC Riverside TAG results released?
UC Riverside pre-reviews the courses in TAG submissions. The official UC matrix recommends that students receive the TAG result before submitting the UC application between October 1 and November 30, 2026. The TAG submission period is September 1 to 30, 2026.
Sources and Verification Date5 official sources · Last checked September 26, 2026
- UC Riverside Transfer Admit Data (UC Admissions, Fall 2026)admission.universityofcalifornia.edu
- Majors Preparation Guide (UCR Admissions)admissions.ucr.edu
- Transfer (UCR Admissions, including dates and deadlines)admissions.ucr.edu
- UC TAG Matrix, Fall 2027 / Spring 2028 (June 9, 2026 version)admission.universityofcalifornia.edu
- Basic requirements (UC Admissions, transfer basic requirements)admission.universityofcalifornia.edu
Admission rules, tuition, deadlines, and visa policies change every year. Before applying, confirm the current requirements published by each school and the relevant official agencies.
