CSU GE Advising

California State University General Education (CSU GE)

Transfer students should review the ASSIST website for the most accurate list of approved CSU GE courses and for a list of lower division courses required for a major. In addition, use counseling services to review all transfer requirements—general education, major, units, campus/major selection criteria, and GPA, and to determine if an Associate Degree for Transfer/SB 1440 is suggested to improve transfer success. (See page 68 for more information about the Associate Degree for Transfer/SB1440.) Full CSU GE CERTIFICATION provides official recognition that the GE portion of transfer requirements has been completed and it permits students to transfer from College of San Mateo to any California State University campus without having to take additional lower-division general education courses after transfer. As the last step in the transfer process, students should request a CSU GE CERTIFICATION be sent with the final transcript to the transfer destination. The Office of Enrollment Services is responsible for transcripts and certifications. Students with coursework from other colleges or universities within the United States should use the District Transcript Evaluation service to determine if and how prior coursework can be applied to CSU GE certification.

To track the courses you have completed for certification, the CSU GE Worksheet is available online or on page 411-12 of the 2022-2023 Catalog PDF.

Use DegreeWorks to monitor progress to CSU GE completion

Within WebSMART under Student Services, students can find DegreeWorks. DegreeWorks is a web-based tool to help students monitor progress toward multiple educational goals.

Important information regarding CSU GE

  1. Request a CSU GE CERTIFICATION, through the Admissions and Records Office to be sent to your transfer destination with your final transcript.
  2. Courses listed in more than one area can be used to satisfy only one area, except for courses listed for the U.S. History, U.S. Constitution and California State and Local Government requirement. Any courses used to meet the U.S. History, U.S. Constitution and California State and Local Government requirement can be also used to meet GE areas C, D or F as applicable.
  3. Completion of CSU GE does not guarantee admission to any CSU campus.
  4. A maximum of 39 units of lower division general education units required by CSU can be completed at College of San Mateo. Of the 39 units, a maximum of 30 can be can be certified in Areas B, C, D, E, and F.
  5. Courses applied to meet area A and B4 must be completed with a grade of C- or higher.
  6. Outside of Areas A and B4, up to 9 units of a grade of D can be applied to CSU GE. However, if the campus or major in which you wish to transfer is competitive or selective, grades of D could negatively affect your admissions.
  7. Transfer students pursuing a high unit major that requires extensive lower-division major preparation may not be able to complete all lower division general education requirements prior to transfer. Speak with a counselor about course selections.
  8. Coursework from other accredited colleges/universities, other than California community colleges, may be approved as long as the courses meet CSU standards. However, the Critical Thinking requirement (Area A3) is a course developed with collaboration from the CSU, UC, and CCC systems and, typically, out of state courses will not be considered equivalent.
  9. Generally, CSU campuses urge transfer students to complete all lower division general education and pre-major courses prior to transfer. Use the ASSIST and CSU websites as resources.