Satisfying General Education Requirements
Other Pages In General Education Program
All undergraduate students must complete the
General Education requirements appropriate to their college and degree (B.A., B.S.,
B.F.A., or B.M.) in order to qualify for graduation. Specific General Education requirements for each college can be found here:
In addition, as the General Education programs for the College of Letters and Science and the College of Engineering share many of the same subject areas and course lists, those are outlined in this section.
Requirements may be satisfied with courses completed on the UCSB campus. Except
for the writing requirement, they may also be satisfied with equivalent courses
completed at another accredited institution, or by means of College Entrance
Examination Board Advanced Placement credit. Lists of courses that satisfy the
various area requirements in the General Education Program can be found below under "General
Subject Area Requirements" and "Special
Subject Area Requirements." See other guidelines under General Provisions Governing All Degree Candidates.
Students entering UC Santa Barbara as transfers from California community
colleges may have their General Education requirements considered satisfied by
virtue of completion of the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum
(IGETC). This is a program of at least 34 semester-units of articulated
coursework spread across six liberal arts subject areas. If fully completed
prior to matriculation at UCSB and certified by the community college, IGETC
will be accepted in satisfaction of the General Education Program. Normally,
unless transfer students have fully completed the IGETC program at the time of
transfer, they must satisfy all requirements within the General Education
Program. However, students admitted fall 2000 or later who have partially
satisfied IGETC are entitled to substitute IGETC for General Education Program
requirements if they meet the following criteria: (1) they lack no more than two
courses in IGETC areas 1 through 6 at the time of matriculation; (2) the
community college provides partial IGETC certification. Eligible students
should consult their college to determine how they may
complete their partial IGETC program.
Beginning in fall 2014, some students may partially complete IGETC with “IGETC for STEM” certification. This is similar to partial IGETC in that some courses to complete the General Education Program may be completed after matriculation at UCSB. These students must meet the following criteria: (1) they lack no more than three IGETC courses in Area 3, Area 4 or Area 6 only, lacking at most one in each of those areas and (2) the community college provides “IGETC for STEM” certification. Eligible students should consult their college to determine how they may complete the General Education Program.