Glossary Of Terms And Services

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Academic Review and Retention Office - The Academic Review and Retention Office monitors students’ academic status and authorizes registration for students with academic restrictions; processes, tracks, and records Correction of Grade (COG) forms; assists students with registration-related petitions; advises departments on procedures for initiating departmental petitions; and processes all requests for readmission after academic disqualification. The Academic Review and Retention Office is located in FIG 107 can be contacted by telephone at (213) 740-1196 or by email.

See Correction of Grade, Disqualification (academic), Petitions, Probation (academic), Readmission.

Adding and Dropping Courses - See Dropping and Adding Courses.

Accreditation -  USC is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. We accept transfer work and degrees from institutions accredited by one of the six regional accreditation agencies. For details, refer to "Academic Policies" in the USC Catalogue, under "Course Work Taken Elsewhere"

Address - The university maintains up to four addresses for students: local, permanent, billing and temporary. Most departments can correct or change student addresses using SIS.U.ADDR. Students can change their local and permanent address using OASIS. For more information regarding addresses see Change/Correction of Address.

Advanced Placement (AP) Examinations - USC grants up to 32 units of elective credit for scores of 4 or 5 on AP exams, and certain AP exams fulfill GE requirements with scores of 4 or higher. No course equivalency is earned, though departments may use exams to fulfill GE requirements,  prerequisites or degree requirements. Learn more >>

Articulation - The evaluation of transfer course work and its acceptance at USC: Does it transfer as an elective toward a degree? Does it fulfill any subject requirements such as GE? Is it equivalent to a USC course? The Articulation Office evaluates undergraduate courses and institutions within the U.S., while the Office of Admission makes decisions regarding graduate and international course work.

See "Course Work Taken Elsewhere" in the USC Catalogue; Transferring to USC; Articulation Agreement

Articulation Agreement - A list of courses that transfer to USC from another institution, indicating if they transfer as electives or are equivalent to a USC course, as well as if they fulfill general education, diversity or writing requirements. A comprehensive Articulation Agreement lists ALL courses at another institution that transfer (i.e., courses not on the list do not transfer). USC currently has comprehensive agreements with most California community colleges. Copies are available in Degree Progress and can be viewed and printed from the Web.
A partial articulation agreement, also called an articulation history, is a partial list of courses that have transferred to USC (along with their GE, equivalency, etc., as appropriate). Articulation histories with several Southern California universities are available from Degree Progress and on the Web. All other articulation histories may be viewed online by advisors.

Articulation Office - The Articulation office coordinates USC’s transfer policies, as described in the "Academic Policies" section of the USC Catalogue, under "Course Work Taken Elsewhere." The office evaluates undergraduate transfer work from U.S. institutions, develops articulation agreements, maintains a database of transferable courses from U.S. institutions, reviews articulation petitions, and interprets the accreditation status of institutions.
 The customer service area is located in the Registration Building (REG) Lobby and can be contacted at (213) 740-4628 or by email.
See Articulation, Articulation agreement, Articulation petition.

Articulation Petition - A request to change the way a transfer course has been evaluated by the Articulation Office. USC students can use the online petition through OASIS or complete a paper petition form that can be downloaded from the Web.

ASE Application - See Veteran Affairs (ASE Application)

Audit - Students may switch to the “Audit” grade option any time before the deadline to add the course. Any audited course will be assessed at the current tuition rate. A course taken for audit will not receive unit credit and will not appear on the USC transcript or grade report. Students may change the grade option to Audit on Web Registration.