General Education and IGETC

If you have time and units remaining at the community college after you've completed the UC Transfer Admission Eligibility requirements and your lower-division major preparation requirements, then you should also complete as many of your remaining General Education/Breadth requirements as possible.

• Some majors require completion of all of your lower-division General Education requirements before you transfer
• Some majors allow you to complete your lower-division major preparation requirements after you transfer

You have two ways to complete your lower-division GE/Breadth coursework before you transfer; community colleges courses that are applicable to a UC campus-specific GE pattern, or community college courses that are applicable to the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC).

IGETC is a pattern of lower-division GE requirements that is accepted at all UC and CSU campuses. You can see the specific community college courses that fulfill IGETC on ASSIST.

The UC campus-specific GE patterns mirror the GE requirements of the students that enrolled at UC as freshmen. If you follow the campus GE/Breadth pattern, you must complete community college courses that are specified in the GE/Breadth articulation agreements on ASSIST.

While IGETC is popular with transfer students, it may not be the best choice for you. Depending on your major, it may be best to follow the UC campus GE pattern. The UC Transfer Preparation Paths on this site and the ASSIST Exploring Majors feature include information about the specific UC majors that do and do not accept IGETC.