General Education Requirements
Students obtaining a bachelor’s degree from a CSU campus must satisfy general education (GE) requirements. A minimum of 48 semester units is required for GE-Breadth: A minimum of 39 units of lower-division courses and at least 9 units of upper-division courses. All of the lower-division courses for GE-Breadth may be completed at MiraCosta before students transfer to a CSU campus. To satisfy the GE-Breadth requirements, students must take specified courses in the following areas:
- Area A - English Language Communication and Critical Thinking (minimum of 9 semester units)
- Area B - Scientific Inquiry and Quantitative Reasoning (minimum of 9 semester units)
- Area C - Arts and Humanities (minimum of 9 semester units)
- Area D - Social Sciences (minimum of 9 semester units)
- Area E - Lifelong Learning and Self-Development (minimum of 3 semester units)
Students may also use Plan C, IGETC, to complete the CSU general education requirements.
Major Preparation
For all CSU campuses, students need to identify a major when applying for transfer. Campuses that are impacted will require completion of articulated courses for major, and will also require a specific grade point average. MiraCosta has articulation agreements with most CSU campuses. These agreements, which can be viewed at www.assist.org, will tell you which courses at MiraCosta can satisfy a major requirement at a CSU campus. CSU campuses are also accepting the Associate Degrees for Transfer, which pertain to various majors at the 23 CSU campuses within the CSU system. Students applying to impacted majors, may benefit from priority admission at certain CSU campuses if they have completed an associate degree for transfer.
Successful transfer planning involves developing an education plan that includes selecting articulated courses for major preparation and articulated course on the general education pattern. Students intending to transfer to the California State University are strongly encouraged to make a counseling appointment at the Transfer Center or to meet with a MiraCosta College Counselor to develop an education plan.
