Cuyahoga Community College—U.S.


This program enables students to begin their music education at Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) in Cleveland, Ohio, and complete an undergraduate degree at Berklee in Boston. Once accepted to Berklee, students may receive transfer credit for certain courses taken at Tri-C.

Visit the Tri-C website to learn more about the credit transfer pathway to Berklee.

Entrance Requirements

Tri-C students who wish to transfer to Berklee are required to go through Berklee's official undergraduate admissions process. Students accepted to Berklee will receive transfer credit for courses taken at Tri-C in accordance with an agreement between the two schools. 

Generally, students must receive a grade of B (3.00/4.00) or higher on core music and performance courses, and a grade of C (2.00/4.00) or higher on all liberal arts or general elective courses. As part of the admissions process, transfer students will be asked to submit an official transcript showing all courses specified as completed with a satisfactory grade before transfer credit will be granted.

See more information about the Berklee core music courses.

Liberal Arts and General Electives

Students transferring to the Bachelor of Music degree program at Berklee College of Music must earn a minimum of 39 credits in liberal arts and may utilize six additional liberal arts credits (two courses) as general elective credit. Students in the professional diploma program at Berklee may utilize up to 12 liberal arts credits (four courses) as general elective credit.

See more information about liberal arts courses at Berklee.

Performance Courses

  • Ensemble: Tri-C transfer student may receive up to six transfer credits in ensembles.
  • Principal Instrument: Principal instrument courses (private lessons) taken at Tri-C will not transfer directly. Students must participate in and pass a minimum of four semesters of principal instrument instruction at Berklee. All transferring students are required to take a Berklee instrumental/vocal proficiency placement examination upon arrival and may receive advanced placement in principal instrument courses. Any credit resulting from advanced placement in the principal instrument will be awarded when all other requirements for graduation have been completed.

Potential transfer credits in ensembles: six credits

Required Courses

Core Music Courses (Potential Transfer Credits = 24)

TRI-C COURSEs BERKLEE COURSEs
MUS 1600 Traditional Theory I PW-111 Music Application and Theory (4 credits)
MUS 1720 Arranging I AR-111 Arranging 1 (2 credits)
MUS 1600 Traditional Theory I HR-112 Harmony 2 (2 credits)
MUS 2650 Jazz Theory II HR-211 Harmony 3 (2 credits)
MUS 1620 Traditional Theory II HR-212 Harmony 4 (2 credits)
MUS 1610 Ear Training I ET-111 Ear Training 1 (2 credits)
MUS 1630 Ear Training II ET-112 Ear Training 2 (2 credits)
MUS 2610 Ear Training III ET-211 Ear Training 3 (2 credits) or ET-231 Solfege 1 (2 credits), depending on Berklee major requirement
MUS 2630 Ear Training IV ET-212 Ear Training 4 (2 credits) or ET-232 Solfege 2 (2 credits), depending on Berklee major requirement
MUS 1620 Traditional Theory II CM-211 Traditional Harmony 1 (2 credits)
MUS 1650 Jazz Theory I CM-212 Traditional Harmony 2 (2 credits)

Liberal Arts (Potential Transfer Credits = 23)

TRI-C COURSEs BERKLEE COURSEs 
MUS 1570 Technology Tools I 
 
MTEC-111 Introduction to Music Technology (2 credits)  
 
ENG 1010/ENG 101H College Comp I/ Honors I (3 credits)
 
LENG-111 Introduction to College Writing (3 credits)
 
ENG 1020/ENG 102H College Comp II/ Honors II (3 credits) 
 
LENG-223 Literature (3 credits)
Additional credits for Communications (3 credits)

LENG-XXX Communications Elective (3 credits)
Mathematics and Data Analysis 1000 level or higher (3-4 credits) LMSC-XXX as appropriate (3 credits) 
Natural and Physical Science (3-4 per course to a total of 9 credits)
 
LMSC-XXX as appropriate (3 credits)
 
Social and Behavioral Sciences (3 per course to a total of 9 credits)
 
LSOC-XXX as appropriate (3 credits)
Additional liberal arts courses (required credits for Associate of Arts degree) LXXX-XXX as appropriate (3 credits)

General Elective Courses (Potential Transfer Credits = 4)

TRI-C COURSEs BERKLEE COURSEs
MUS 1301 Applied Piano Minor I ISKB-211 or ISKB-221 for Mus Ed Majors (1 credit)
MUS 1302 Applied Piano Minor II ISKB-212 or ISKB-222 for Mus Ed Majors (1 credit)
MUS 2301 Applied Piano Minor III ISKB-321 Keyboard Class 3 for Mus Ed Majors (1 credit)
MUS 2302 Applied Piano Minor IV ISKB-322 Keyboard Class 4 for Mus Ed Majors (1 credit)

Total possible transfer credits with the agreement: 57 credits