Assistance on General Education
Electing a Different General Education Pattern
A new General Education pattern is effective Fall 2012. Students who enter Fall 2012 or later must follow this pattern unless they hold catalog rights to a prior General Education pattern. Students who are under a prior General Education pattern may elect to complete the new pattern. Students should see an advisor in the University Center for Undergraduate Advising or their respective department/program area prior to making this decision. The advisor can file an Advisor Request electronically or the student can submit a Problem Resolution Worksheet to formally request the change with Enrollment Services.
Minimum General Education Units Outside the Major
A minimum of 35 units of the student’s General Education courses under the Fall 2012 pattern must be taken outside of the student’s major department. The Academic Requirements Report will automatically monitor this requirement. Students can elect to change which courses the Academic Requirements Report is using by completing a Problem Resolution Worksheet and submitting it to Enrollment Services.
Monitoring Progress
Students should regularly run their Academic Requirements Report on MyCSULB to monitor their completion of all degree requirements including General Education. The report is updated with the latest registration changes, transfer credit evaluations, and advisor approved adjustments every time it is generated. For assistance in understanding the report see "Using Academics - Progress to Degree."
Finding Courses
Students can find courses that meet General Education requirements by:
- Review the list of General Education Approved Courses
- Browsing the Schedule of Classes. This list is updated nightly and includes courses sorted by General Education requirement.
- Search for Classes on MyCSULB. The 'Catalog search' will display current information including course descriptions, pre-requisites and the GE requirements the course is certified to meet. The Additional Search Criteria allows you to search for GE classes being offered in a GE category. The 'Class Search' will also display current enrollment status information. Here is a sample catalog result from MyCSULB:
For More Assistance
The University Center for Undergraduate Advising and other special program and advising centers are great resource for students who need assistance navigating the General Education requirements.