De Anza College to UCSB
Nursing Transfer Plan
Quarter-by-quarter courses, IGETC requirements, and major prerequisites — verified from real articulation data.
From
De Anza College
To
UC Santa Barbara
NursingGPA Reality Check
The UC minimum GPA to transfer is 3.0 for California residents, but the mid-50th percentile of admitted UCSB transfers spans 3.46 to 3.91 — and Nursing is among the more selective health science programs on campus. Your science GPA matters most: admissions readers look hard at your grades in CHEM 1A, CHEM 1B, BIOL 6A, BIOL 6B, and BIOL 40A/40B, because those courses signal directly whether you can handle the clinical coursework you'll face after transfer. A B+ average in those courses is a floor, not a ceiling, if you want to be competitive.
Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG)
De Anza students can lock in a guaranteed admission offer to UCSB through the Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) — one of the most powerful tools available in the California transfer system. To get certified, you need a minimum 3.4 cumulative UC-transferable GPA, at least 45 quarter units of UC-transferable coursework completed, and your UC-M (math) and first UC-E (English) courses done before your TAG submission in September. Submit your TAG through UC TAP between September 1 and September 30, and make absolutely sure your TAG major matches the major you list on your UC application — a mismatch voids the guarantee.
Major Requirements
Nursing B.S. — School of Nursing Major Preparation
Nursing B.S. — School of Nursing at UC Santa Barbara
Courses at De Anza College that satisfy UC Santa Barbara's Nursing major preparation, verified via ASSIST.org.
Some students aiming for nursing accidentally plan for UCSB's Biological Sciences B.S. or Physiology B.S., which share several prereqs but lead to different careers. Neither of those majors grants a nursing license — only the Nursing B.S. through the School of Nursing does. If your goal is RN licensure and a clinical nursing degree, make sure your ASSIST agreement explicitly says 'Nursing' and not a biology major.
| Course at De Anza College | Satisfies at UCSB | Units |
|---|---|---|
| EWRT 1A — Composition and Reading | Writing 1 (UC-E English Composition requirement) | 5 |
| BIOL 6A — Kingdoms Monera, Protista, Fungi, and Plantae | MCDB 1A — Cell and Developmental Biology (Introductory Biology sequence, first quarter) | 5 |
| BIOL 6B — Introduction to Animal Biology | MCDB 1B — Introductory Biology sequence, second quarter | 5 |
| CHEM 1A — General Chemistry | CHEM 1A — General Chemistry | 5 |
| CHEM 1B — General Chemistry | CHEM 1B — General Chemistry | 5 |
| BIOL 40A — Human Anatomy and Physiology | EEMB 2 / Anatomy & Physiology preparation for Nursing | 5 |
| BIOL 40B — Human Anatomy and Physiology | EEMB 3 / Anatomy & Physiology preparation for Nursing (second quarter) | 5 |
| BIOL 26 — Microbiology | MCDB 11 — Microbiology for Nursing | 5 |
| MATH 10 — Elementary Statistics | PSTAT 5A — Statistics | 5 |
| No equivalent at De Anza College | Nutrition course required for Nursing (e.g., UCSB FAMST / Nutrition prerequisite) — no De Anza course is articulated for this requirement on ASSIST | — |
Courses with no equivalent must be taken at UC Santa Barbara after transfer. Factor this into your first-year course plan.
General Education
Foundation GE at De Anza College
Complete these five courses at De Anza College to start your UCSB GE pattern. Finishing full IGETC/Cal-GETC at the CC is ideal — these five give you the broadest head start, and CCN-tagged courses stay portable if you switch community colleges.
BIOL 10
Introductory Biology
CHEM 10
Introductory Chemistry
HIST 17A
History of the United States to Early National Era
ENGL C1000
Academic Reading and Writing
ENGL C1001
Critical Thinking and Writing
| Area | Course at De Anza College | Units |
|---|---|---|
Life Science | BIOL 10 — Introductory Biology | 5 |
Physical Science | CHEM 10 — Introductory Chemistry | 5 |
Humanities | HIST 17A — History of the United States to Early National Era | 4 |
English CompositionCCN | ENGL C1000 — Academic Reading and Writing | 5 |
Critical ThinkingCCN | ENGL C1001 — Critical Thinking and Writing | 5 |
CHEM 1A → CHEM 1B
CHEM 1A is a hard prerequisite for CHEM 1B — you cannot register for 1B until 1A is complete. If you delay CHEM 1A past your first Fall quarter at De Anza, you risk finishing your chemistry prep too late to report it on your transfer application, which directly weakens your admissions file for a science-heavy program like Nursing.
Preview
Your First Quarter
A preview of what Pipeline generates — exact courses, in the right order, every quarter.
Watch Out
Common Mistakes for This Transfer Path
De Anza Has No Articulated Nutrition Course for UCSB Nursing
UCSB's Nursing B.S. requires a nutrition course as part of its lower-division preparation, and De Anza College currently has no articulated equivalent on ASSIST for this requirement. That means you can't simply pick a De Anza course and assume it will count — you need to contact UCSB's School of Nursing directly and verify whether any De Anza health or biology elective satisfies the requirement, or plan to complete it after transfer.
TAG Voids If Your Application Majors Don't Match
UCSB is explicit about this: if the major on your TAG application (submitted via UC TAP in September) doesn't exactly match the major on your UC application (submitted October–November), your TAG guarantee is automatically voided. Double-check that both say 'Nursing' — not 'Pre-Nursing' or 'Biological Sciences' — before you hit submit on either application.
Start Chemistry First Quarter — Not Later
CHEM 1A is the gateway to CHEM 1B, and both are required for UCSB Nursing. De Anza's quarter calendar gives you three terms per year, but if you push CHEM 1A to Winter quarter, you won't finish CHEM 1B until Spring — and that leaves no buffer if you need to retake anything before your transfer application deadline. Put CHEM 1A in your very first Fall quarter at De Anza.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use TAG to transfer from De Anza College to UCSB for Nursing?
Yes — UCSB's TAG program is available for Nursing and De Anza students are eligible to apply. You'll need a minimum 3.4 cumulative UC-transferable GPA and at least 45 quarter units of transferable coursework completed by the time you submit your TAG through UC TAP each September. Make sure your TAG major and UC application major both say 'Nursing' — a mismatch automatically voids the guarantee.
What GPA do I need to transfer from De Anza to UCSB Nursing?
The minimum UC GPA is 3.0 for California residents, but UCSB's mid-50th percentile of admitted transfer students ranged from 3.46 to 3.91 in the most recent cycle. For a competitive health science program like Nursing, you'll want to be toward the top of that range, especially in your science courses like CHEM 1A, CHEM 1B, and BIOL 6A.
What courses do I take at De Anza to prepare for UCSB Nursing?
Core lower-division prep includes BIOL 6A and 6B (introductory biology), CHEM 1A and 1B (general chemistry), BIOL 40A and 40B (human anatomy and physiology), BIOL 26 (microbiology), MATH 10 (elementary statistics), and EWRT 1A (English composition). Note that De Anza currently has no articulated nutrition course for UCSB Nursing, so you should confirm that requirement with UCSB's School of Nursing directly.
Does IGETC apply to UCSB Nursing from De Anza College?
IGETC is accepted at UCSB and covers lower-division general education requirements for all three colleges including the School of Nursing. However, Nursing is a course-intensive major, and UCSB advises students to prioritize completing major prep courses — like BIOL 6A, BIOL 40A, and CHEM 1A — before worrying about finishing every IGETC area. Use IGETC to double-dip where possible, but don't sacrifice science prerequisites to fill GE boxes.
How many applicants apply to transfer to UCSB and what are my odds?
For Fall 2024, UCSB received 18,421 transfer applications and admitted 11,386 students — an overall transfer admit rate of about 61.8%. California community college students like those from De Anza get a significantly higher admit rate of around 92.1% campus-wide, though selective programs like Nursing will be more competitive than that average suggests. Your strongest tool is a TAG, which converts admission from competitive to guaranteed if you meet the 3.4 GPA threshold.
Explore More
Related Transfer Plans
Transferring from De Anza College to UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) as a Nursing major is one of the most structured and achievable pathways in the California community college system — if you plan early and understand the specific requirements. UCSB's School of Nursing offers a B.S. in Nursing that admits transfer students at the junior level, and De Anza's quarter-based calendar gives you three terms per year to complete the intensive lower-division major prerequisites before you apply. Transfer planning for this pathway starts with locking in your science sequence: courses like CHEM 1A (General Chemistry) and BIOL 6A (the first quarter of De Anza's introductory biology series) need to be in your first Fall quarter, because both open prerequisite chains that take multiple quarters to complete. De Anza students also have access to UCSB's Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG), which provides a contractual guarantee of admission for students who earn a minimum 3.4 UC-transferable GPA and complete at least 45 quarter units of transferable coursework before the September submission window. UCSB received 18,421 transfer applications in the Fall 2024 cycle, and the mid-50th percentile GPA of admitted students ranged from 3.46 to 3.91 — meaning the published 3.0 minimum is not a realistic target for Nursing. Students should also be aware that IGETC is accepted for this program, though completing major prerequisites takes priority over GE breadth courses. One critical articulation gap unique to De Anza: there is currently no De Anza course articulated on ASSIST for the nutrition prerequisite in the Nursing program, so students need to verify that requirement with UCSB directly. Tools like Pipeline can help De Anza students build a personalized quarter-by-quarter plan that maps ASSIST articulation agreements, tracks IGETC completion, and flags these kinds of course gaps before they derail a transfer timeline.
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