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Course Numbering

Course Numbering System Transition

Starting in Fall 2025, American River College is adopting a Common Course Numbering (CCN) system (AB 1111). This system assigns common course numbers for comparable courses across all community colleges in the state. The goal of CCN is to facilitate a smoother transfer of credits between colleges and four-year institutions.

Current Course Numbering System

Most courses at American River College follow this numbering system:

Course Numbers 1 to 99: Developmental or basic skills courses. These courses are for credit but do not count toward an associate degree or transfer credit.
Course Numbers 100 to 299: Courses that apply toward an associate degree but are not transferable to a four-year institution.
Course Numbers 300 to 499: Courses articulated for transfer to four-year institutions, meeting major, general education, or elective credit requirements.

New Common Course Numbering System

To simplify course transfers, all California community colleges are adopting Common Course Numbering (CCN). This system ensures that similar courses across all California community colleges share the same names and numbers, providing consistency and clarity for students planning to transfer to California State University (CSU), University of California (UC), or other institutions. The CCN system uses the following structure:

Subject Code: Four-letter abbreviation (for example, ENGL for English).
Course Type Identifier: CCN courses begin with "C" but local courses do not (for example, C1000 vs. 300).
Course Number: Standardized 4-digit number (for example, C1000 vs. 300).

As an example, ENGWR 300 becomes ENGL C1000 in the new CCN system.

What This Means for Students

Starting in Fall 2025, some courses will transition to the new CCN system. See a full list of CCN courses at American River College.
The transition will happen in phases, so you'll see both types of courses in the class schedule.

We encourage students to check course listings carefully and consult with academic counselors to ensure a smooth transition.