General Education Requirement

General education is an important part of the CSU degree requirements. A little over one third of the minimum total degree requirements are general education courses. General education provides a foundation across the disciplines offered by the CSU upon which major courses and electives are added to build a bachelor's degree.

The CSU has two options for you to begin your general education coursework while enrolled at your California Community College. The first option is a pattern of courses called CSU General Education Breadth. Most students who transfer to the CSU follow the GE Breadth pattern for the lower-division CSU general education requirements. There are 39 lower-division semester units required by the CSU GE Breadth pattern.

CSU GE Breadth includes courses in five areas: English Language Communication and Critical Thinking; Scientific Inquiry and Quantitative Reasoning; Arts and Humanities; Social Sciences; and Lifelong Learning and Self-Development.

A second option for meeting the CSU lower-division general education requirements is the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC). You may be interested in this option if you are also considering study at a UC campus. IGETC can be used to meet lower-division general education requirements for the CSU and UC.

IGETC divides its courses into five areas: English Communication; Mathematical Concepts and Quantitative Reasoning; Arts and Humanities; Social and Behavior Sciences; and Physical and Biological Sciences. The IGETC requires completion of a minimum of 37 semester or 49 quarter units of lower-division work with a C grade or better in each course. (C minus is not allowed.)

From the area titles it may appear that the course requirements may be different, but the reality is that there is a substantial overlap between IGETC and the CSU GE Breadth requirements. Confer with your counselor to determine which pattern is best for you. Refer to the ASSIST website to learn how CCC courses satisfy IGETC and CSU GE Breadth Requirements.