2. The "a–g" subject requirements
represent the 15 minimum
academic preparatory courses
that freshman applicants
must have to be eligible for
admission to the University of
California. Applicants must
complete 11 of the 15 "a–g"
requirements by the end of their
junior year. For more
information on these requirements,
please visit the UC a-g interactive
Web site. The University of
California also maintains a list of
certified "a-g" courses for high
schools in California.
3. "a-g" Subject Area Requirements
The intent of the "a-g" Subject Requirements is to ensure
that students can participate fully in the first-year program
at the University in a wide variety of fields of study. The
requirements are written deliberately for the benefit of all
students expecting to enter the University, and not for
preparation for specific majors. UC faculty consider the
Subject Requirements to be effective preparation, on many
levels, for undergraduate work at the University. This
pattern of study assures the faculty that the student has
attained a body of general knowledge that will provide
breadth and perspective to new, more advanced study.
Fulfillment of the "a-g" pattern also demonstrates that the
student has attained essential critical thinking and study
skills.
On an annual basis, public and private California high
schools use the "a-g" Online Update web site to submit to
UC requested updates to their existing "a-g" course list. It is
recommended that new schools develop an "a-g" course
list by the time their first class of students are Juniors.
4. Every year, the Director of Undergraduate Admissions
for the University of California will send an Update
Letter request via email to every California high school
asking them to submit updates to the schools' UC
certified "a-g" course list.
This section of the web site is designed to fully explain
the course list update process and describe the faculty's
guidelines for approval of new courses. The entire
section is available in a printable PDF format (see link
above). We recommend that you become familiar with
this basic information before proceeding to other
sections of this web site.
Validation Changes. The University uses a process
known as validation to allow students to clear, or
validate, a course omission or "D" or "F" grade in certain
subject areas. In 2004 UC faculty clarified a couple of
validation rules: (a) a passing grade in the second
semester of chemistry will no longer validate a "D" or
"F" grade in the first semester, and (b) statistics will no
longer validate geometry, but will continue to validate
beginning and intermediate algebra.
5. (a): History/Social Science
2 years required - Two years of history/social science
including one year of world history, cultures, and geography;
and or one year U.S. history or one half year U.S. history and
one half year of civics or American government.
(b): English
4 years required - Four years of college preparatory
English that include the reading of classic and
modern literature and frequent and regular writing.
No more than one year of ESL-type courses can be
used to meet this requirement.
(c): Mathematics
3 years required, 4 years recommended - Three years of
college-preparatory mathematics that include 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 all of this
requirement, as may math courses taken in the
seventh and eighth grades that your high school accepts as
equivalent to its own math courses.
6. (d): Laboratory Science
2 years required, 3 years recommended - fundamental
knowledge in at least two of these three foundational
subjects: biology, chemistry, and physics. Advanced
laboratory science courses that have biology,
chemistry, or physics as prerequisites and offer
substantial new material may be used to fulfill this
requirement. The last two years of an approved three-
year integrated science program that provides
rigorous coverage of at least two of the three
foundational subjects may be used to fulfill this
requirement.
(e): Language other than English
2 years required, 3 years recommended - Two years of
the same language other than English. Courses should
emphasize speaking and understanding and include
instruction in grammar, vocabulary, reading,
composition, and culture. Courses in languages other
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.
7. (f): Visual and Performing Arts (VPA)
1 year required - A single year-long approved
arts course from a single VPA discipline: dance,
drama/theater, music, or visual art.
(g): College Preparatory Electives
1 year required - 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, and
a language other than English (a third year in
the language used for the "e" requirement or
two years of another language).