Although Saturday is the last day to enroll in a regular session class at Peralta Community College District (PCCD), students can still enroll in online classes at many community colleges in California through the California Virtual Campus (CVC) Exchange.
Through the CVC Exchange, PCCD students can take courses at other colleges across the state and receive credit at their home campus. This provides students with additional options if the equivalent class at PCCD is full, not currently offered, or otherwise unavailable. The last day to register for a class is determined by the college offering the class. Many community college classes are still available after Peralta’s last day to add a regular session class, including late start classes at Peralta.
Signups are conducted through cvc.edu, and the classes will appear in student’s Peralta Canvas alongside any other classes that student is taking.
When viewing a class on the CVC Exchange website, the website will state the courses’ equivalent at Peralta, along with which transfer and other degree requirements it counts towards.
Amy Marshall, PCCD’s Associate Director of Public Safety, is also a Leadership Studies major at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt. Marshall was able to use the CVC Exchange to find a single course at another college which met multiple of her credit requirements.
Although classes at PCCD remain free this spring semester, using the program is enrollment at another college and accordingly classes taken outside Peralta will have their associated costs, which are displayed before alongside the other enrollment information. Classes can also be sorted to find “zero cost textbook” courses.
Lucia Kenworthy, a psychology major at Laney College, said she had previously had some difficulties finding an available section for a class she wanted to take. The Citizen described the CVC Exchange and asked about her thoughts on the program.
“That would be fantastic. That would cut a lot of red tape,” Kenworthy said.
Since Nov. 16, 2023, the program also allows students outside of PCCD to enroll in courses at any of the four colleges.
Correction 2/14/24 9:05 A.M.: This article has been updated to reflect that late start classes at Peralta are still available through CVC.
Laurie Allen-Requa • Feb 14, 2024 at 10:13 am
Thank you for this article. As Distance Education and POCR Co-coordinator at Laney, I have been a small player in a larger group working hard to ensure smooth transitions for students using the exchange and on educating our faculty about the exchange. In the district we have approximately 150 students from other colleges joining our online classes through the exchange. I appreciate knowing all sides of how this exchange is working. I look forward to future articles on this topic. Specifically, on the long-term benefits and costs to Laney and Peralta’s presence on the exchange.
Terri Berry • Feb 14, 2024 at 9:44 am
Thanks for this write up, my fellow Bay Area native Ian Waters.
Good to know about this new California Virtual Campus Exchange.