General Education
What is General
Education?
The General Education (GE) requirements at CSULB are the
University's attempt to ensure that you have acquired a certain
breadth of knowledge and vision and certain critical skills during
your years in the University. You follow the GE pattern in effect
when you entered CSULB unless you previously attended another college
or university. In that case, you may be under a different GE pattern
(see below for the different GE patterns). Your admissions notice
and your academic advisor can assist you in determining which GE
pattern you should follow.
Catalog
Rights
What are "catalog rights" and how do they affect GE and the major?
Undergraduates acquire
the right to use the degree requirements specified in a particular
Catalog
by maintaining continuous attendance, that is, attendance at a California
Community College, a California State University, or a University
of California (or a combination of these) for at least one semester
or two quarters each calendar year. As long as students maintain
this attendance in California public institutions, they may elect
to choose the degree requirements in effect when they began their
college careers.
On the other
hand however, students can choose other catalogs for degree requirements.
They can choose the Catalog
in effect when they enter CSULB, when they elect a major, or when
they graduate. Students who change majors have rights to the requirements
in effect at the time of the new major declaration, or they may
choose the Catalog in effect at graduation instead, if
they so desire.
Because of
these regulations, a student's General Education catalog year may
be different from the major requirement catalog year. For example,
if a student entered a California Community College in 1985 and
transferred to CSULB in 1990, declaring a major at that time, the
General Education year is 1985, while the major catalog year is
1990.
Once students
have established catalog rights at CSULB, any absence related to
an approved medical, military or academic leave, or for attendance
at another accredited institution of higher education, anywhere,
will not negate the continuous attendance rule provided the absence
from CSULB does not exceed two calendar years.
For further
information, please see the University Catalog.
Catalog
Years
Five different GE catalog years for GE requirements are
in effect at CSULB:
- a 1979, 40 unit requirement, which does not require the upper
division GE requirement (The upper division requirement is required of students who have not maintained continuous enrollment.);
- a Fall 1981 through Spring 1985, 51 unit requirement which includes
nine upper division GE units including six units of Interdisciplinary ("I") coursework;
- a Fall 1985 through Spring 1993, 51 unit requirement, including nine upper division GE units (including six units of "I"), which adds an international component;
- a Fall 1993 pattern which includes nine upper division GE units (including six units of "I"), and adds, in addition, a Human Diversity
(HD) requirement;
- a Fall 1999, 51 unit GE pattern which sequences skills-building courses as pre-
and co-requisites for all other GE courses and includes nine upper division GE CAPSTONE units.
Transfer students from
CCC, CSU, or UC follow the appropriate GE catalog years and requirements
according to the "Continuous Attendance" ruling for graduation requirements.
Currently, out-of-state or private school transfers follow the Fall
1999 GE requirements as do new entering freshmen.
Returning
students, including adult re-entry students, may have exceptions
to the catalog rights rule. See the academic advisors in the
University Center for Undergraduate Advising for information.
How
do CSULB policies concerning absences or leaves affect the "continuous
attendance" ruling? Students do not break the continuous
attendance rule if they have an approved educational leave or a
medical leave. Other returning CSULB students may also be
considered in continuous attendance if they are absent for up to
two calendar years, providing they attend another accredited institution
(public or private, Title 5 or Non-Title 5, in California or elsewhere
during this period.)
For details
regarding your catalog year, refer to the University Catalog
for the academic year in which you were admitted.
Five
GE Patterns
In the CSULB Admission Notice , notification of
your GE catalog year will state "1979," "1981," "1985," "1993,"
or "1999."
1979
GE pattern - Is a 40 unit pattern which contains two Natural
Science courses (one with lab), two Social and Behavioral Science
courses, one Fine Arts course, one Humanities course, two basic
communications courses, one English Composition course, one US History
course, one Political Science course (US Constitution, California
State and Local Government) and eight optional elective units. (These
students are not required to take the nine unit
upper division GE requirement. The upper division requirement is required of students who have not maintained continuous enrollment.) See General Education Rulings
for those who do and do not. SPECIAL NOTE: Only a few California
Community College transfer students are under this option.
1981
GE pattern - The 1981 GE pattern is a 51 unit requirement, which includes nine upper division GE units (includes six units of "I" courses), divided into Categories A - F:
- A: Communication in the English Language and Critical Thinking,
9 units.
- B: Physical Universe, Science and Math, 12 units.
- C: Humanities and the Arts, 12 units.
- D: Social and Behavioral Sciences and their Historical Background
(which includes US History and three Social and Behavioral Science
courses), 12 units.
- E: Self Integration, 3 units.
- F: Citizenship (U.S. Constitution and Ideals), 3 units.
1985
GE pattern - This 51 unit pattern, includes nine upper division GE units (includes six units of "I" courses), is divided into Categories
A - E, and is the same as the 1981 pattern until Category D. Notice
that Category D now contains 15 units because it has combined the
former Category F (US Constitution and Ideals) into Category D,
eliminating an "F" Category completely. In addition, a minimum
of three units of course work in non-western international
studies has been added, becoming at least one designated course
of the three Social and Behavioral Science courses in that area.
1993
GE pattern - This pattern is the same as the 1985 GE pattern
with one major addition; a Human Diversity (HD) requirement is added.
Students under this pattern are required to take one (3 unit) HD
course before graduation. They are specified in the Schedule
of Classes and denoted with a (diamond
symbol).
1999
GE Pattern - This pattern is the same as the 1993 GE pattern
with a few minor exceptions. The World Societies and Cultures
requirement is deleted from Category D and becomes a broad Global
Issues requirement taken in Categories B - E. Human Diversity (HD)
remains while the nine unit upper division GE requirement becomes CAPSTONE.
Upper Division General Education
All students must take nine upper division units at CSULB
and are taken after students reach junior (60 units) status.
The 1999 GE requirement specifies the nine unit upper division requirement
are CAPSTONE which includes Interdisciplinary, Multidisciplinary,
advanced skills (no more than three units), service learning courses
(no more than three units), and linked courses. Important
information about CAPSTONE are found in the CSULB Catalog.
1979 transfers need not take the nine unit upper
division requirement.
Important
information about the nine unit upper division units needed in GE:
Students who
have been certified , that is have met a 39 unit
General Education transfer pattern at a California Community College
(CCC), can take the required nine upper division units of GE course
work anywhere on the General Education patterns.
Students who
have not been certified from a CCC, or are transferring
to CSULB from any accredited college or university, should use their
nine upper division units (six of which must be "I" units) to fill
their GE pattern holes, that is, where they have unit deficiencies.
Eventually, transfers will use CAPSTONE courses to complete their
CSULB GE requirements. For example, students may transfer courses
that fit under Categories C1 and C2. They, however, may be
unable to fit a course under C3. That is a "hole" in their
pattern. An "I" course or an upper division GE course can
fit there, thereby completing Category C.
Student should
use the nine units of upper division GE requirements to fill in
as many "holes" as possible.
Transfer
CCC students can be unsure of their certification status. Their
transcripts may or may not reflect certification.
GE
Waiver Information for Engineering Majors
Engineering
students (including Computer Engineering), except Computer Science
Majors Code 3-4011, may waive six units of GE as follows:
- Three (3) units must be waived from Category D2.
- Another three(3) units may be waived from Category B1a, Category
C3, or Category E.
- Upper division GE course requirements may not be waived.
For other
information regarding this waiver, contact the College
of Engineering's Recruitment and Retention Center at (562) 985-1800.
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