Transparency
How TransferU Verifies Course Equivalencies
Every equivalency on TransferU has a source. Here's what that means, how we get it, what our confidence tiers tell you, and where our coverage currently has gaps.
1. Data sources
TransferU aggregates equivalency data from official state-level articulation systems, statewide compacts, and bilateral institutional agreements. Each source is maintained by its respective state higher education agency or institution registrar.
New Jersey Transfer
NJ TransferNew Jersey Office of the Secretary of Higher Education
Official portal →North Carolina Comprehensive Articulation Agreement
NC CNSUNC System & North Carolina Community College System
Official portal →Missouri Core 42
Core 42Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development
Official portal →Washington State Course Numbering System
WA CCNWashington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
Official portal →South Carolina Commission on Higher Education
SC CHESouth Carolina Commission on Higher Education
Official portal →Pennsylvania Transfer and Articulation Center
PA TRACPennsylvania Department of Education
Official portal →Bilateral Articulation Agreement
AgreementParticipating Institutions
Ohio State University Quick Equivalencies
OSU EquivOSU Office of the University Registrar
Official portal →2. Confidence tiers
Every result on TransferU is labeled with one of three confidence tiers:
Sourced directly from an official articulation agreement, state policy database, or bilateral institutional agreement. Safe to rely on for enrollment planning — but always confirm with your registrar, as policies can change.
AI prediction based on course title, description, subject area, and credit hours. Not officially confirmed — verify with the destination institution's registrar before enrolling.
Lower-confidence AI prediction. Use as a starting point for your registrar conversation, not a definitive answer.
3. How our AI matching engine works
When no confirmed equivalency exists, TransferU uses a rule-based scoring engine to predict potential matches on a 0–100 scale using five factors:
- Subject area match — Exact subject code scores highest. Known synonym groups (ECON ≈ ECO ≈ ECONOMICS) score next.
- Course number proximity — Exact match scores highest. Same-level courses (both 100-level) also score positively.
- Credit hour alignment — Matching hours score positively; large discrepancies score negatively.
- Title keyword overlap — Shared significant words between course titles are rewarded proportionally.
- Description overlap — For indexed courses, shared topic keywords contribute a bonus.
4. Data freshness and the 18-month threshold
TransferU tracks an updatedAt timestamp on every equivalency record. When you view a confirmed equivalency, the source chip tooltip shows "Last verified X months ago" (relative for records under 12 months) or the calendar month for older records.
Records older than 18 months are flagged with an amber Verify with advisor badge on pair pages. If more than 30% of a school-pair page's equivalencies are stale, a page-level banner appears.
The /equivalencies browse page shows a live "Data current as of [date]" line reflecting the most recently updated source in the database.
5. Current limitations
TransferU is expanding rapidly, but some institutions and systems are not yet fully indexed:
- WAF-protected catalogs — Some institutions use web application firewalls that block automated indexing. We work around these where possible.
- Coursedog / Curriculog systems — Dynamic curriculum management systems with SPA architectures are harder to index reliably.
- Banner SPA portals — Several institutions serve course catalogs through Ellucian Banner SPAs that require JavaScript execution.
- Private institutions — Bilateral agreements with private colleges are indexed where publicly available, but coverage is less comprehensive than for public systems.
- Graduate and professional programs — TransferU currently focuses on undergraduate transfer. Graduate credit transfer is out of scope.
If your institution is missing or has outdated data, contact us via the institution portal.
6. Always verify with your institution
TransferU is a research tool, not an official advising system. Even Confirmed equivalencies should be verified with the destination institution's registrar before you rely on them for enrollment decisions. Policies change; individual circumstances vary; some institutions have department-specific overrides not captured in state databases.
For each major source system, confirm directly with the official portal:
- Ohio Transfer 36 →
- Indiana Core Transfer Library →
- New Jersey Transfer →
- Michigan Transfer Network →
- Maryland Articulation System →
- MassTransfer →
- Texas Common Course Numbering System →
- Illinois Articulation Initiative →
- North Carolina Comprehensive Articulation Agreement →
- SUNY General Education →
- Washington State Course Numbering System →
- Missouri Core 42 →
- South Carolina Commission on Higher Education →
- Pennsylvania Transfer and Articulation Center →
- Tennessee Transfer Pathways →
- Tennessee State University Banner →
- Florida Statewide Course Numbering System →
- CUNY Pathways to Degree Completion →
- Ohio State University Quick Equivalencies →