Most students arrive at the community college with the understanding that "General Education" is an important part of the course requirements that they must complete to transfer to a university.
General Education does not have to be completed prior to transfer, in fact there are many majors (mostly in science and engineering) that discourage community college students from completing GE before transfer. Students majoring in a high unit major need to concentrate on completing the major preparation courses and admissions requirements. The universities want students to enter with their Freshman and Sophomore classes completed for their major so they can go into upper division courses to progress toward graduation in a timely manner.
If you are in a major that does not have a lot of major preparation to be done before transfer it is highly recommended that you complete an entire GE pattern. The links below connect you to guides that will show you how General Education courses are grouped together in "patterns" and which SRJC courses can be used to fulfill an entire pattern for the California State University (CSU), the University of California (UC), and some independent (private) colleges in California as well as out-of-state colleges and universities.
The general education patterns listed here are for students who began taking classes at SRJC in 2021 or later. If you began at SRJC before 2021 and haven't taken any breaks, please talk to a Counselor about which general ed pattern makes the most sense for you education plan, as it is likely one of our older GE patterns: https://articulation.santarosa.edu/ge-breadth
The following are GE patterns at SRJC:
- CSU GE Pattern (Option B)
- UC/CSU IGETC GE Pattern (Option C)
- IGETC for STEM (Option D) *Biology AS-T ONLY*
- NOTE for UC-bound students following IGETC for STEM for the Biology AS-T Degree: confirm with an SRJC counselor that your intended UC campus accepts the IGETC for STEM pattern.
No matter your major or transfer university, it is critical that you work with a SRJC counselor to determine your pathway and which classes you need to complete for General Education and major preparation. Sometimes students need a GE course for a semester when SRJC doesn't offer the course. You can take an online class at another school! Follow this link to search online classes at California Community Colleges by IGETC or CSU GE Breadth.
Here are videos explaining the GE patterns at SRJC:
CSU GE