General Education Certification
General Education (GE) is one of the key components of earning your Associate degree or transferring to a four-year institution. A general education (GE) certification is an official document from SDCCD which certifies that a student, who is transferring to a four year institution, has met the requirements of a particular GE pattern.
Two types of General Education patterns for certification
- Intersegmental General Education Transfer Pattern (IGETC) – This pattern can be certified for transfer to the University of California (UC) or California State University (CSU) system.
- California State University General Education (CSUGE) – This patter can only be certified for transfer to the CSU system.
Requirements
- A request for certification can only be submitted once a student has been accepted to a transferring university.
- All transcripts from previous colleges and universities attended must be on file. See the Transcript section for detailed information.
- Students with AP/IB/CLEP exams must submit scores if they are using them to meet requirements. Information on the use of Standardized Tests scores for credit and certification requirements can be found in the catalog.
- If students using high school coursework to satisfy the UC IGETC Certification foreign language requirement those High School transcripts must be on file. Unofficial transcripts can be accepted.
- If students have had two years of formal schooling at the sixth grade level or higher in an institution where the language of instruction is not English, may also satisfy the UC IGETC Certification foreign language requirement by providing official or unofficial transcripts from that school.
Procedures
How to request GE Certification
- Students who need certification of completion of lower-division general education requirements for transfer to UC or CSU, must complete the Request for Certification.
Where to request GE Certification
- The Campus Evaluations office in the Student Services Building, room I4-306.
OR
- Save this General Education Petition file to your desktop, complete it, and email back to MesaEvaluations@sdccd.edu
Processing
- Requests require two weeks for processing.
- Students should plan ahead to ensure that they submit their GE Certification request two weeks prior to the deadline of their transferring institution.
- Once the certification is processed, the original certification is sent to the University and address indicated on the request form.
Deadlines
- General Education Certification requires two weeks for process. Be sure to request your certification so that transfer deadlines can be met.
- In order for students to meet the UC IGETC Certification deadline, students must submit their requests to the college Evaluation Office by the last business day in June.
