A-G Requirements
The A-G requirements are a sequence of high school courses that students must complete with a grade of C or better to be minimally eligible for admission to the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU). They represent the basic level of academic preparation that high school students should achieve to undertake university work. The following chart summarizes the A-G requirements:
| Subject | Years | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (A) | History/Social Science | 2 | Two years of history/social science, including one year of world history, cultures and geography and one year of U.S. history or one-half year of U.S. history and one-half year of civics or American government. |
| (B) | English | 4 | Four years of college-preparatory English that include frequent and regular writing, and reading of classic and modern literature. No more than one year of ESL-type courses can be used to meet this requirement. |
| (C) | Mathematics | 3 | Three years of college-preparatory mathematics that includes the topics covered in elementary and advanced algebra and two-and three dimensional geometry. Approved integrated math courses may be used to fulfill part or this entire requirement, as may math courses taken in the seventh and eighth grades that your high school accepts as equivalent to its own math courses. |
| (D) | Laboratory Science | 2 | Two years of laboratory science providing fundamental knowledge in at least two of these three foundational subjects: biology, chemistry and physics. Advanced laboratory science classes that have biology, chemistry or physics as prerequisites and offer substantial additional material may be used to fulfill this requirement, as may the final two years of an approved three-year integrated science program that provides rigorous coverage of at least two of the three foundational subjects. |
| (E) | Language Other than English | 2 | Two years of the same language other than English. Course in languages other than English taken in the seventh and eighth grades may be used to fulfill part of this requirement if your high school accepts them as equivalent to its own courses. |
| (F) | Visual & Performing Arts | l | Students are expected to complete a single yearlong VPA course (dance, music, theater, visual arts) to satisfy the “f” subject requirement, but they may also fulfill the requirement by completing two semesters of sequentially related and approved “f” courses within a single arts discipline. |
| (G) | College Preparatory Elective | l | One year (two semesters), in addition to those required in "a-f" above, chosen from the following areas: visual and performing arts (non-introductory level courses), history, social science, English, advanced mathematics, laboratory science or language other than English (a third year in the language used for the "e" requirement or two years of another language). |