What the California General Education Transfer Curriculum (Cal-GETC) means for You

Good news, if you are a brand new student in Fall 2025 the transfer process has been made easier! You can now use the new Cal-GETC general education (GE) pathway to transfer to a UC and CSU.

What is Cal-GETC?
The California General Education Transfer Curriculum (Cal-GETC) is the singular transfer general education pathway for California Community College (CCC) students to fulfill lower-division general education requirements for transfer and admission to the CSU and UC systems.

When does Cal-GETC start?
Beginning Fall 2025 Cal-GETC shall be used for new incoming students, dually enrolled high school students, and concurrently enrolled high school students. 

Cal-GETC applies to the following:
Students in Fall 2025 and thereafter who do not have continuous enrollment (no catalog rights) within the California Community College system.

1. Students from UC, in-state-private and/or out-of-state institutions with no claim to catalog rights.
2. Students who have catalog rights prior to Fall 2025 may elect to complete Cal-GETC but it is not required.
3. High school students who took college courses through dual or concurrent enrollment, because catalog rights to transfer institutions are different than Peralta’s catalog rights.
   https://ccctransfer.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/calgetc-administrative-implementation-guidance-memo-20240214-a11y.pdf

If you were enrolled prior to Fall 2025, you may have catalogue rights and use either the IGETC or CSU GE Breadth transfer pathway. You may also choose to use the new Cal-GETC pattern if it is appropriate for your educational path. Meet with a counselor to help ensure you are on the best pathway. Below is a table outlining the lower division general education requirements for each path.

The following are explanations of situations when the automatic placement onto a transfer pathway may not be the best option for students. Please see a counselor to discuss what is right for you.

Assembly Bill 928 or Cal-GETC requires that students who declare a goal of transfer be placed on an Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) pathway if one exists at your home college. This is intended to increase your success and minimize units to completion.

If an ADT pathway exists, transfer-intending students will be placed into it unless they meet the statutory exceptions. Statutory exceptions from auto-ADT placement include:

Exceptions to the ADT mandatory placement: 

• An ADT pathway does not exist in the chosen major at the college.
• The students educational pathway is better served by a local degree
• The student plans to apply to transfer to a UC campus or an independent college or university.
• The student is seeking to complete a community college baccalaureate degree program.
• The student is seeking to complete a career technical education program that does not have an ADT pathway.

Cal-GETC may not be appropriate for students who:

• are not transferring and only getting the AA/AS degrees using a Local GE pattern
• maintained continuous enrollment at CR or another CCC prior to Fall 2025
• have already completed the Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT)
• met the full GE Certification for CSU GE Breadth or IGETC, whether transcribed on   the official CCC transcript or in other forms

If you were enrolled prior to Fall 2025, you may have catalogue rights and use either the former general education requirements or the new general education requirements. You may also choose to use the new Cal-GETC pattern if it is appropriate for your educational path. Meet with a counselor to help ensure you are on the best pathway. Below is a table outlining the lower division general education requirements for the former general education requirements, the new general education requirements, and the Cal-GETC pathway.

Catalogue Rights allow a student with continuous enrollment prior to Fall 2025 to use the previous IGETC or CSU GE Breadth transfer pathway. See Appendix A below: 

Appendix A: Cal-GETC, CCC, CSU system Catalog Rights Chart

Cal-GETC certification is NOT required for:

• Students with continuous enrollment prior to Fall 2025 (see Title 5, section 41401)
• Students with official transcripts indicating GE certification:
  • Conferral of an Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT)
  • Full GE certification for CSU GE Breath or IGETC

Cal-GETC certificaiton applies to the following:

• Fall 2025 and thereafter if students do not have continuous enrollment (no catalog rights)
• Students from UC, in-state-private, and/or out-of-state institutions with no claim to catalog rights
• Students who have catalog rights prior to Fall 2025 may elect to complete Cal-GETC but it is not required

What maintains a student’s catalog rights within the in the CCC system?
Maintaining catalog rights within the CCC system requires continuous attendance in at least one course for at least one regular semester or two regular quarters in each calendar year at any California Community College campus. Please keep in mind, individual community colleges maintain their own local catalog rights. Note: Within this guide, all references to catalog rights are for CCC system catalog rights unless otherwise noted.

What if a CCC student has catalog rights to use CSU GE Breadth or IGETC?

• The CSU GE Breadth is still an option for students with continuous enrollment who meet the requirements so long as they don’t stop out/lose catalog rights.
• The IGETC pattern is still an option for students with continuous enrollment who meet the requirements so long as they don’t stop out/lose catalog rights. This pattern is similar to Cal-GETC and is highly advised for students who are unsure about the UC/CSU.

If a student takes a new course for a Cal-GETC Area and wants to use it toward their old CSU GE Breadth or IGETC GE pattern, can the student do that?

• Students with catalog rights to the CSU GE Breadth or IGETC pattern cannot use new Cal-GETC approved courses to satisfy previous CSU or IGETC requirements.
• Cal-GETC is only available for students starting in the Fall of 2025 and cannot be used in any form to satisfy GE or program requirements for previous catalog years.

Can students returning to a Peralta College in Fall 2025 after a break and who no longer have catalog rights to IGETC or the CSU GE pattern use previously completed coursework to satisfy Cal-GETC?

• Until California legislature determines otherwise, if a student completed a GE course that satisfied an IGETC area at the time of completion, it can be used to satisfy the corresponding Cal-GETC area.
• Whether or not a course satisfied an IGETC area at the time of completion can be verified through orgin the “IGETC for UC and CSU” transferability lists here.
• Returning transfer students not completing Cal-GETC but wishing to use previously completed coursework to satisfy individual campus admission requirements should consult with their target transfer institutions.

Can CSU-bound transfer students still satisfy American Institution (AI) requirements while at Peralta Colleges?

• While these requirements are outside Cal-GETC, counselors/advisors will still highly recommend “double counting” through the completion of specific History and Political Science courses toward the CSU American Institution (AI) graduation requirements and social science Cal-GETC areas.
• Per Cal-GETC standards, CSU campuses have the discretion on whether to allow courses used to satisfy the CSU AI requirements.
• UC AI requirements are determined by each individual campus, and may be met with high school or college coursework. Students should consult their target UC campus’ catalog for AI graduation requirements.

Can UC-bound transfer students still meet Language Other Than English (LOTE) requirements while at Peralta Colleges?

• While these requirements are outside Cal-GETC, counselors and advisors will still highly recommend transfer students to complete the LOTE for UC-bound students who do not meet the requirements through Advanced Placement, high school coursework, or others listed in the Cal-GETC standards.
• Per Cal-GETC standards, UC campuses have the discretion on whether to allow courses used to satisfy GE requirements to also count for UC LOTE.

If a student is unsure if they want an Associate of Arts/Science Degree for Transfer (ADT) or a local Associate of Arts (AA) or Associate of Science (AS) degree, what should they do?

• Counselor/advisors can assist students in navigating which degree offered at Peralta Colleges is the best pathway to a student’s educational goal. There are many criteria that a counselor or advisor reviews with the student, such as, but not limited to:
  1. Is the ADT accepted (deemed similar) by the institution the student wants to apply and transfer to?
  2. Are there additional pre-requisite requirements not captured in the ADT students must first complete prior to transfer?
  3. Did the student complete CSU/UC units and intends to return to a CSU/UC and earn a baccalaureate degree?
  4. Are there other AA/AS degrees offered at CR that might benefit the student more than an ADT?
• If completing additional coursework causes undue hardship, increases units, and lengthens the student’s time at Peralta Colleges, the student may be exempted from the Auto-ADT placement and meet statutory exceptions, “The student’s educational pathway is better served by a local associate degree.” The student would be placed on a local degree pathway instead.

Can students request a partial Cal-GETC Certification?

• Only a full Cal-GETC Certification may be forwarded to the CSU and UC with all areas completed.
• No partial Cal-GETC Certification will be accepted.
• At this time, no decision has been made with Cal-GETC for STEM majors.

Will a D grade satisfy any Cal-GETC GE requirements?

• Courses for Cal-GETC must be passed with a minimum grade of “C,” where a “C” grade is defined as a 2.0 on a 4.0 GPA scale.
• A “Credit” or “Pass” is acceptable in some GE areas, providing that it is equivalent to a grade of “C” or higher. A college transcript must reflect this policy.