General Education Requirements
Students in the College of Letters and Science must complete the General Education requirements appropriate to their degree (B.A., B.S., B.F.A., or B.M.) in order to qualify for graduation.
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 by using the General Subject Area and Special Subject Area filters on the Courses Page.
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 the College of Letters and Science to determine how they may complete their partial IGETC program.