Comprehensive Articulation Agreement

About the CAA 

The North Carolina Comprehensive Articulation Agreement (CAA) is a statewide agreement governing the transfer of credits between N.C. community colleges and N.C. public universities and has as its objective the smooth transfer of students. This agreement has been approved by the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina and the N.C. State Board of Community Colleges. The CAA provides certain assurances to the transferring student; for example, the CAA identifies community college courses that are appropriate for transfer as electives. Courses that will satisfy pre-major and general education requirements are also specified.

The CAA defines a 44-semester credit hour general education core which, if completed at the community college, is fully transferable to University of North Carolina (UNC) institutions and will satisfy general education requirements. This means that a transfer student who completes the general education core at a North Carolina community college will not be required to take other general education courses at a UNC institution, even if his/her 44-semester credit hour core does not completely match the university's. Students should be aware that some universities have graduation requirements that transfer students must satisfy -- such as physical education or a foreign language.

North Carolina community college students who earn an associate's degree according to the guidelines of the CAA will be treated as juniors at the receiving UNC institution.
Students graduating from North Carolina community colleges under the guidelines of the CAA will have 64-semester hours of credit transferred to the UNC institution to which they are admitted. Because UNC institutions differ in their admission requirements, students intending to transfer should contact the UNC institution(s) of their choice to learn about specific admissions requirements.

Institutions that participate in the CAA 

All sixteen UNC public universities endorse the CAA, in addition to the following NC private colleges and universities: Barton, Belmont Abbey, Bennett, Brevard, Campbell, Catawba, Chowan, Gardner-Webb, Johnson C. Smith, Livingstone, Louisburg, Mars Hill, Montreat, Mount Olive, NC Wesleyan, Pfeiffer, Queens, St. Andrews Presbyterian, Saint Augustine’s, Shaw, Warren Wilson, and Wingate. The admissions office of the private institution of interest can be contacted for information.

Comprehensive Articulation Agreement General-Education course equivalencies are available on the Transferable Courses page. Information for UNC institutions is currently available. Information for North Carolina's Independent Colleges and Universities will be added to the site continually.

CAA Grievance Policy 

The CAA Grievance Policy exists to provide transfer students who perceive that the terms of the CAA have not been honored an opportunity to officially file those concerns. A student may file a grievance within the first six weeks of the beginning of the term for which admission was offered at the college or university. The student may terminate the grievance procedure at any point.

To file a grievance, the student should obtain a CAA Student Grievance Form from the admissions office of the college or university to which he/she was admitted or by clicking the preceding link. The student should then follow the instructions listed. From the date the form is received, the student will receive a reply within 45 days.