What is General Education (GE)?

General Education is a set of courses through which you will become broadly educated by taking classes that cover a wide range of disciplines. GE courses are usually introductory in nature and provide you with fundamental knowledge in English, mathematics, the arts and humanities, social sciences, and physical and biological sciences. You will complete the majority of GE coursework needed to receive a bachelor's degree while you are a lower division (freshman/sophomore) student at a community college. After transfer to the upper division (junior/senior) at a university, you will be required to take only a few GE courses, so you can focus on your major. GE courses are divided into subject areas and GE patterns describe the number of courses that you must take in each subject area to meet total GE requirements. Each institution has its own GE (sometimes called breadth or core) pattern. Students who are undecided on transfer schools should follow the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) which can be used to satisfy lower division general education requirements for any CSU or UC and some private colleges. The IGETC General Education pattern may not be right for all UC campuses. Most UC campuses do not recommend IGETC for students majoring in engineering or science. For more information come to the Transfer Center or see a counselor.