General Education Patterns

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General Education Patterns & General Education Certification

The conditions that define the newly established LBCC-GE (Long Beach City College General Education) and Cal-GETC (California General Education Transfer Curriculum) patterns (Fall of 2025) are based on Title 5 California Code of Regulations and the Cal-GETC Standards. These guidance and regulatory concepts are interpreted by the LBCC Office of Academic Services and the College Curriculum Committee. The Cal-GETC pattern was established based on Policies and Procedures created in response to the requirement that ICAS (Intersegmental Committee of the Academic Senates) establish a singular lower division general education pathway that meets the academic requirements necessary for transfer admission to the California State University and the University of California per AB 928 (Berman, 2021). These two sources have limited and reshaped LBCC-GE and Cal-GETC patterns.

The LBCC-GE pattern defines and distributes GE courses to meet associate degree requirements while the Cal-GETC pattern prepares students for transfer to the CSU or UC systems and meet lower-division general education requirements.

The strategy behind the LBCC-GE pattern is to introduce students to the various disciplines identified in the definition of GE as cited above, and are distributed by discipline into broad areas defined as English Composition, Oral Communication and Critical Thinking, Mathematical Concepts and Quantitative Reasoning, Arts and Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Natural Sciences, Ethnic Studies, Lifelong Understanding and Self-Development, and American institutions and Ideals.

The GE certification process lies at the heart of the Cal-GETC general education pattern.

GE certification is defined as a process by which LBCC verifies that a student has completed all the lower-division GE courses that are required by the CSU or UC systems. Both the CSU and UC system required Cal-GETC certification (Beginning Fall 2025), which identifies 34 units prescribed by the Cal-GETC Standards, which are distributed by discipline into broad areas defined as English Composition, Critical Thinking and Composition, Oral Communication, Mathematical Concepts and Quantitative Reasoning, Arts and Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Physical and Biological Sciences, and Ethnic Studies. Both CSU and UC may require additional upper division GEs to be completed after transfer. CSU also requires US History and Government as a graduation requirement that be fulfilled at LBCC. 

The associate degree is comprised of two major components: a GE pattern and a major field of preparation.

A transfer program is comprised of three major components: admission requirements, a GE pattern, and a major field of preparation.

Students have two GE patterns (LBCC-GE and Cal-GETC) to choose from, but are strongly encouraged to consult with a counselor for assistance in selecting the GE pattern that is most appropriate for their educational goals.

Under the LBCC-GE, students can complete the GE requirements for an associate degree and may combine that degree with one of LBCC’s certificate programs or in some cases prepare for transfer. If a student wants to complete an associate degree and transfer to a B.A. or B.S. program, then the student should follow the Cal-GETC pattern.

Cal-GETC will prepare students for transfer to either the University of California or the California State University systems .

Although an associate degree for transfer (A.A.-T or A.S.-T) recognizes the completion of lower-division course requirements, it does not guarantee admission eligibility to a four-year college or university. Students are encouraged to see a counselor early in their academic career to establish an educational plan that will meet the student’s educational goals.

While a single course might satisfy more than one GE requirement, no course may be counted in more than one GE area. However, courses may be used to satisfy both a GE requirement and a major requirement.

Students should be aware that starting one GE plan does not preclude students from changing to another at a later date. Changing plans is possible with proper counseling.

LBCC-GE: Completion of LBCC GE Requirements

LBCC-GE sets the GE requirements for the associate of arts (A.A.) and associate of science (A.S.) degrees. The minimum GE requirement for the A.A. and A.S. degree is 24 units.

Students who complete an associate degree and who later choose to transfer must make up the difference in units between the LBCC-GE and Cal-GETC patterns when they transfer to four-year institutions. However, LBCC-GE is designed so that a student may select courses to meet the associate degree requirements while at the same time completing as many units as possible that are also located on Cal-GETC. Hence, both plans are designed to complement each other and minimize the total unit load for students.

Cal-GETC: Completion and Certification of University of California and California State University Intersegmental GE Transfer Curriculum

Cal-GETC is designed for students to earn an associate degree and also transfer to the UC/CSU systems. Courses acceptable at the University of California are identified as such at the end of each catalog description in the “Courses of Instruction” section of this catalog. A student may transfer up to 70 CSU or UC transferable semester units from LBCC. The Intersegmental Committee of Academic Senates for the combined public university and community college systems in the state of California approves the Cal-GETC, which was first implemented Fall of 2025.

  1. The Cal-GETC is a series of courses that community college students can use to satisfy lower-division GE requirements at any CSU or UC campus.

  2. The Cal-GETC provides an option to satisfy the California State University lower-division GE requirements in lieu of the University of California lower-division transfer core curriculum.

  3. Completion of the Cal-GETC  is not a requirement for transfer to a CSU or UC, nor is it the only way to fulfill the lower-division GE requirements of the CSU or UC prior to transfer (Note: Please talk to your LBCC counselor regarding specific UC schools and transfer majors which may require completion of Cal-GETC). In some cases, students may find advantages in taking other courses at the community college to fulfill CSU’s GE requirements or those of a particular UC campus.

  4. To achieve a non-transfer associate degree with this program, a student must complete a field of concentration, the associate degree GE and proficiency requirements.

  5. Students must maintain continuous attendance.