Academic Skills & General Education (FA25)

Academic Skills Requirements for Undergraduate Students

Students Admitted to CSUDH Fall 1998 and After

New students enrolled at the University, fall 2018 and after are subject to E.O. 1110 (2017), which dictates that freshman skills assessment and placement for general education written communication and mathematics/quantitative reasoning shall be informed by systemwide skills assessment standards that include the Early Assessment Program/ Smarter Balanced Achievement Levels, ACT scores and/or SAT scores, high school coursework, high school GPA and math GPA.

Skills assessments are designed to inform entering first-year students of placement in appropriate baccalaureate-level Math and English courses.

For Math courses, this means that students will be placed into an entry-level Mathematics course based on their Multiple Measures Placement Level as follows:

Students in majors not requiring Pre-Calculus or Calculus:

Students in majors that require Precalculus or Calculus:

For more information on Math placement:

Majors that do not require Precalculus or Calculus please visit: https://csustudentsuccess.org/multiple-measures/math/non-stem

Majors that require Precalculus or Calculus please visit: https://csustudentsuccess.org/multiple-measures/math/STEM

For English courses, students are required to complete Directed Self-Placement (DSP) in the University learning management system prior to being placed in a First-Year Composition course. DSP is not a test; it is a short survey including questions about students’ prior reading and writing experiences, which allows students to choose the First-Year Composition course best suited to meet their needs.

The DSP survey can be found and completed here: https://csudh.qualtrics.com/jfe/preview/previewId/791639e0-b127-405b-b563-0d2e35015d82/SV_3gQvTS4aFxHOOea?Q_CHL=preview&Q_SurveyVersionID=current

For additional information and support regarding English and Math placements, students should contact the Student Success Center that houses their major or minor department. Please consult the undergraduate catalog entry for undergraduate academic advisement at CSUDH for a list of these centers with contact details.

General Education Requirements for Undergraduate Students

Students must follow the appropriate General Education (G.E.) pattern.

Students who have maintained continuous attendance at any combination of CSU, UC, or California community college under an earlier catalog may elect to complete the G.E. pattern in effect at the time of:

entrance into CSUDH;
graduation or;
entrance into a California community college or state university.
For additional information and support, students should contact the Student Success Center that houses their major or minor department. Please consult the undergraduate catalog entry for undergraduate academic advisement at CSUDH for a list of these centers with contact details.

The current General Education program is divided into the following areas and includes 43 total semester units:

Area 1 - English Communication (9 units). All courses in this area require a grade of "C-" or higher

Area 2 - Mathematical Concepts and Quantitative Reasoning (3 units). All courses in this area require a grade of ‘C-’ or higher

Area 3 - Arts and Humanities (6 units of lower division, 3 units of upper division)

Area 4 - Social and Behavioral Sciences (6 units of lower division, 3 units of upper division)

Area 5 - Physical and Biological Sciences (7 units of lower division, 3 units of upper division)

Area 6 - Ethnic Studies (3 units)

1 Students must take nine upper division units of G.E. courses within the CSU.

Requirements (43 units) 

The following is the list of courses that are offered in the General Education program. These courses fulfill the objectives stated in the program description. For complete course descriptions, refer to those sections of the University Catalog that describe the programs offering the courses. All Area A courses and the Quantitative Reasoning requirement in Area B must be passed with a grade of "C-" or higher. A grade point average of 2.0 calculated at graduation is required for the entire General Education Pattern.

Area 1. English Communication (9 units required)
Complete one course from each of the following categories (1A, 1B, 1C): ¹

1A. English Composition (3 units):

1B. Critical Thinking (3 units):

1C. Oral Communication (3 units):

¹ Courses in Area 1 must be passed with a grade of "C-" or higher.

² If the stretch course option is selected, completion of both ENG 108 and 109 is required to satisfy 1A. ENG 108 must be completed with a grade of CR. ENG 109 must be completed with a grade of "C-" or higher.

³ Meets Area 1B for the following programs only: BA Computer Technology, BS Computer Science and BS Information Technology

Area 2. Mathematical Concepts and Quantitative Reasoning (3 units required)

Select one of the following: ⁴

⁴ Courses in Area 2 must be passed with a grade of "C-" or higher.

Area 3. Arts and Humanities (9 units required)

Complete one course from each of the following categories (3A, 3B, 3UD).

3A. Arts (3 units):

3B. Humanities (3 units):

3UD. Integrative Studies in the Arts & Humanities (3 units):

Area 4. Social and Behavioral Sciences (9 units required)

Complete one course from each of the following categories.  Please note that 4A, 4B, 4UD courses must be taken from more than one department (e.g., if you are satisfied with 4A and 4B with anthropology courses, then 4UD cannot be satisfied with an anthropology course).

4A. Perspectives on Individuals, Groups and Society (3 units):

4B. Global and Historical Perspectives (3 units):

4UD. Integrative Studies in Social and Behavioral Sciences (3 units):

⁵ Restricted to Nursing Majors

Area 5. Physical and Biological Sciences (10 units required)

Complete one course from each of the categories (5A, 5B, 5C, 5UD):⁶

5A. Physical Science (3 units):

⁶ Students majoring or minoring in one of the natural sciences (Biology, Biochemistry, Biophysics, Chemistry, or Physics) may substitute more advanced science courses. These students should see a faculty advisor.

⁷ Meets area 5A and 5C for the following programs only: BS Biochemistry, BA Chemistry: Biochemistry Option, BA Chemistry: General Chemistry Option, BS Chemistry, BA Biology, BS Biology, Minor in Biology, Minor in Microbiology, Minor in Organic/Biochemistry, BS in Clinical Science, BS in Earth Science, BA in Physical Education: Pre-Physical Therapy Option, BS in Physics

⁸ Meets Area 5A and 5C for the following programs only: BS Biochemistry, BA Biology, BS Biology, BA Chemistry: Biochemistry Option, BS Earth Science, BA Physical Education: Pre-Physical Therapy Option, BS Quality Assurance

⁹ Meets Area 5A and 5C for the following programs only: BS Biochemistry, BS Biology, BA Chemistry: Biochemistry Option, BA Chemistry: General Chemistry Option, BS Chemistry, BS Computer Science, BS Mathematics, BS Physics, Minor in Physics

5B. Biological Science (3 units):

¹⁰ Meets Area 5B for the following programs only: BS Biochemistry, BA Biology, BS Biology, Minor in Biology, Minor in Microbiology, BS in Clinical Science, BS Earth Science, BA Physical Education: Pre-Physical Therapy Option

¹¹ Meets Are 5B for the following programs only: BS Biochemistry, Ba Biology, BS Biology, Minor in Microbiology, BS Clinical Science, BS Earth Science

5C. Laboratory (1 units): 

The laboratory must be associated with one of the two lower-division courses  taken for Area 5A and 5B.  

¹² Concurrent enrollment in BIO 102 General Biology or prior life science course recommended.

¹³ Meets Area 5C for the following programs only: BS in Biochemistry, BS Biology, Minor in Biology, Minor in Microbiology, BS Clinical Science, BS Earth Science, BA Physical Education: Pre Physical-Therapy Option

¹⁴ Meets Area 5C for the following programs only: BS Biochemistry, BA Biology, BS Biology, Minor in Microbiology, BS in Clinical Science, BS Earth Science

¹⁵ Concurrent enrollment in EAR 100 Physical Geology or prior earth science course recommended.

5UD. Integrative Studies in the Natural Sciences (3 units):

¹⁶ Course restricted to Nursing majors

Area 6. Ethnic Studies (3 units)

Select one of the following. 

Statutory Requirements (6 units)

Students must satisfy requirements in U.S. history and U.S California government by completing the following:

General Education Certification

Accredited community colleges and public four-year colleges may sanction (certify) that all or part of General Education requirements (post 1980), have been met.  Transfer students with complete certification of California State University General Education breadth requirements, the CSU version of the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) requirements, or Cal-GETC are not required to complete additional lower division courses in general education. Transfer students should request General Education certification from their community colleges. An additional nine-semester units of upper division General Education courses must be completed at CSU Dominguez Hills.

Double Counting General Education Courses

General Education courses may be double counted in either the major or the minor. Even though students may double-count certain General Education courses, they will not receive additional unit credit towards graduation by double-counting. For example, a double-counted course counts three units (not six) towards graduation. Please consult the University Catalog and/or an academic advisor for more information.

Graduation Requirement in Writing Proficiency (GWAR)

The California State University requires that all undergraduate students demonstrate competency in writing skills at the upper division level as a requirement for graduation.

Undergraduate students must first complete their lower division English composition courses in Area 1A, General Education, before attempting to complete this upper-division requirement. Fulfillment of GWAR should be undertaken at the beginning of the junior year (or 60 units) and can be met by completing an upper-division GWAR-certifying course in the major or a closely related major. Many departments and programs offer GWAR-certifying courses for their majors. Students should contact their major department to determine if such a course is offered. Students must earn a grade of C or higher to satisfy the GWAR. 

Those students whose major department does not offer an upper-division GWAR-certifying course may elect to take one of the following after consulting with their major department: 

Transfer Certification

Students who have satisfied the Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR) at another CSU campus in 1984 or later, but prior to matriculation at CSU, Dominguez Hills, may petition for fulfillment of GWAR at CSUDH. Students must complete a Petition for Fulfillment of GWAR, attaching a copy of the certifying test score or copy of an official transcript and the catalog description of the pertinent coursework.