Which GE is for me?

IGETC | CSU GE | Individual Campus

General Education (G.E.) is a pattern of courses determined by a 4-year institution to represent its "general" or "breadth" philosophy of what constitutes a well-educated graduate. Each college has its own philosophy of education; its own G.E. pattern.

General Education courses are graduation requirements not admission requirements. However, at some schools, completion of the G.E., or certain portions of it may be used as an admission screening criteria for transfer students.

There are several options from which students may choose to satisfy lower division transfer G.E requirements before leaving SBCC. Some campuses may have additional Upper Division G.E requirements that students will have to complete after they transfer.

Finally, SBCC has its own G.E pattern for completion of the Associate of Arts/Science degree. With careful planning, students may be able to complete both the SBCC G.E. for the AA/AS degree and their transfer institution's G.E.

NOTE:
Admission and graduation requirements are often confused. ADMISSION requirements to colleges and universities are based upon:

completion of certain high school subjects,
the college grade point average (GPA) and
the minimum number of transferable units (usually 60).

While some campuses use G.E. completion, or partial completion, as an additional admission screening criteria, meeting G.E. requirements relates to a student's graduation from the transfer institution.

The best choice of a G.E. Pattern varies, depending on a student's choice of school, major, previous course work and personal preference. Students should make an appointment with a counselor or visit the Transfer center to discuss specific situations and be sure to right the choices are made.

IGETC Advantages/Disadvantages
CSU GE Pattern Advantages/Disadvantages
Individual Campus GE Advantages/Disadvantages

IGETC (download pdf)
The most popular of the G.E. pattern options, IGETC (Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum) will complete the Lower Division G.E. requirements for the California State Universities (CSU) and for the University of California (UC) campuses. (Exceptions can be found on the back of the IGETC form). IGETC must be certified at SBCC. Students must request this certification, which is sent to the transfer institution.

Advantages:

Keeps students' options open if they don't know where they are going to transfer.

With careful course selection, closely parallels SBCC G.E. and CSU G.E./Breadth.

Provides flexibility in course selection with most areas.

Competition of IGETC satisfies high school admission requirements, which some students may be missing.

Completion of IGETC satisfies the new (Fall '98) UC transfer admissions criteria.

Disadvantages:

Certain high unit majors (i.e.: sciences) require more Lower Division preparation, leaving little room to complete a G.E. pattern before transfer.

Students completing math admission requirements in high school may not wish to take more math-as required on IGETC- if math is not required for the major they choose.

Must be completed before enrolling at the transfer institution in order to "count" for meeting graduation requirements. If IGETC is not completed, students must fulfill G.E pattern of the transfer campus before graduating from that campus.

No grade lower than a "C" may be used on IGETC. A grade of "C-" will not count.

No foreign work may be used on IGETC.

Should not be used for all majors.

CSU G.E BREADTH (download pdf)
The 23 campuses of California State University System have agreed upon a CSU G.E pattern that can be certified by SBCC to satisfy lower division graduation requirements for any CSU campus. CSU G.E. must be certified at SBCC. Students must request this certification which is sent to the transfer institution.There are still variations among the CSU campuses as to how each views the CSU G.E. Breadth, but the following comments represent the safest course of action.

For most schools, students must complete all of "Area A" and "Area B4" in addition to 30 units of G.E course work before transfer. Completion of these courses will make up any high school deficiencies for admission to a CSU campus.

Advantages:

Pattern usually does not have to be completed before transfer. Students can finish certain areas after transfer.

Grades of "D" may be used except for "Area A" and "Area B4".

Compared to IGETC, CSU G.E./Breadth is more flexible and offers more choices in many of the areas.

Students transferring to most CSUs can double count their Social Science or Humanities and American Institutions if using the pattern. IGETC does not allow this.

Disadvantage:

Students may change their mind and wish to go to a UC campus. Courses taken for CSU may not necessarily count for UC.

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The General Education Breadth Requirements (G.E.B.) for the California State University system (CSU) specifies courses within subject areas that will satisfy the 39 lower division G.E.B. requirements at any campus of the California State University system. Students can transfer up to 70 semester units from a community college..

I. CSU ADMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS- FALL 2006
A Santa Barbara City College student who is planning to transfer to one of the campuses of the CSU system can qualify for admission by meeting the following requirements:

Lower Division Transfers: (1 - 59 semester units) Some campuses may restrict enrollment of lower division transfer students due to heavy enrollment pressure. You are eligible for admissions with fewer than 60 transferable semester units (90 quarter units) if you: 1) Have a college grade point average of 2.00 or better in all transferable college units attempted; 2) Are in good standing at the last college or university attended, i.e., you are eligible to re-enroll; 3) Meet the admission requirements for a first-time freshman or have successfully completed necessary courses to make up the deficiencies you had in high school if you did not complete the 15-unit pattern of college preparatory subjects; 4) Meet the eligibility index required of a freshman. Some campuses may require lower-division transfer students to have completed English composition and general education mathematics prior to transfer. Contact your campus of choice to determine whether there are admission limits on the number of lower-division transfer students.
Upper Division Transfers: (60 - 70 semester units) You are eligible for admissions with 60 or more transferable semester units (90 quarter units) if you: 1) Have a college grade point average of 2.00 or better (2.40 for non-California residents) in all transferable college units attempted; 2) Are in good standing at the last college or university attended, i.e., you are eligible to re-enroll; 3) Have completed or will complete prior to transfer at least 30 semester units (45 quarter units) of courses equivalent to general education requirements with a grade of C or better. The 30 units must include all of the general education requirements in communication in the English language (English composition, oral communication, and critical thinking) and at least one course of at least 3 semester units (4 quarter units) required in college level mathematics.

NOTE: The CSU system is moving toward requiring full completion of lower division general education, and on-line applications. Please consult with your campus of choice for implementation of these requirements.

II. CSU GENERAL EDUCATION BREADTH OBJECTIVES AND REQUIREMENTS
Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) strongly recommends completion of the SBCC-CSU lower division G. E. B. pattern (39 units minimum) prior to transfer. Completion of the G.E. requirements is not required for admission to CSU. However, students who do not complete all the lower division G.E. requirements will not be fully "certified." As a result, these students will be subject to additional G.E. requirements after transfer. Please refer to the respective CSU campus catalogue for campus-specific G.E.B. requirements.

Students may not use the same course to satisfy more than one area (double counting is not allowed) except for A.I.R (see shaded area on next page).

In order to graduate from the CSU, a minimum of 9 additional upper-division semester units from areas "B", "C", and "D" must be completed at the student's CSU campus of choice.

III. SBCC's CSU CERTIFICATION PROCESS

A) Students transferring to the CSU must request that official SBCC transcripts be sent from the SBCC Admissions & Records Office to the CSU of their choice. A separate request for G.E. certification must be submitted to the Transfer Center after the student's last semester in attendance at SBCC.

B) Coursework completed at other accredited two or four-year colleges will be used in the CSU certification process if the content is appropriate to meet GE requirements. Students must attach copies of their transcripts from other colleges to their request for CSU certification. Certification request forms can be obtained in the Transfer Center.

C) Official transcripts from other colleges must be on file in the SBCC Admissions & Records office. The student must request from other accredited colleges or universities that official transcripts be sent to the Admissions & Records office at SBCC.

INDIVIDUAL CAMPUS G.E.
Each independent campus and some colleges of the UC and CSU state system have their own G.E. pattern. Depending upon a student's individual case (math preparation, major, etc.), it may be easier to follow campus college-specific G.E. If students transferring to a UC do not finish IGETC before enrolling, they must revert to the campus G.E. and complete any missing work to graduate.

Advantages:

Pattern does not have to be completed before transfer.

Some campuses allow "D" grades to be used.

Some campuses do not have math on their G.E.

Campus G.E. pattern are not certified by SBCC.

Disadvantages:

Some campuses are heavy on certain subjects (i.e.UCLA in science, UCSB in literature.)

Students following campus G.E. may change their mind or not be accepted at their first choice, thus cutting off options and flexibility.