Taxonomy of Program (TOP) Codes

Taxonomy
of
Programs

The Taxonomy of Program (TOP) is a system of numerical codes used at the state level to collect and report information on programs and courses that have similar outcomes and are housed at different California community colleges. The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office designed the Taxonomy of Programs (TOP) in 1979. Currently the Taxonomy of Programs is in the 6th edition (February 2004) with the most current revision June 2012 and corrections in July 2013. The Academic Affairs Division of the Curriculum and Instructional Unit in the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office maintains the TOP system.

The TOP codes are assigned at the college level for the outcomes of programs and course. For example, one college has a program called “Mechanized Agriculture,” another has a program called “Agriculture Engineering Technology,” and a third has one called “Agriculture Equipment Operations & Maintenance.” Because they have similar outcomes, information on all three is collected and reported at the state level under TOP code 0116.00, which carries the standardized title “Agricultural Power Equipment Technology.”

The TOP Code consists of a six-digit code where the first two digits describe the 24 disciplines, the next two describe the subdisciplines, and the last two describe the fields of study. In the example below you can see the three levels of structure. This three-level structure parallels the federal Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code system (the next code we will cover).

Example:
1200.00 Health
1230.00 Nursing
1230.30 Certified Nursing Assistant

Note: Except in the 4930 (General Studies) series, the last (sixth) digit is always a null (zero) for State purposes. It may be assigned a value by colleges or districts for their local purposes. Within the 4930 series, codes are intended to describe stand-alone courses, rather than programs, and TOP distinctions are recognized for State purposes at the sixth-digit level. Thus, the significant levels of structure for describing programs are the two-digit level, the four-digit level, and the five-digit level.