UC A-G Requirements: Complete Guide for California Students

What Are A-G Requirements?

A-G requirements are the minimum high school coursework that UC and CSU campuses require for freshman admission. They are called "A-G" because each subject area is labeled with a letter (a through g). Simply graduating from a California high school is not enough — you must complete these specific courses with a grade of C or better in each. Falling short of A-G requirements disqualifies you from UC and CSU admissions regardless of your GPA or test scores.

This is the single most common structural mistake in California admissions: a student with a 3.8 GPA discovers senior year that one of their science classes was never A-G approved, or that they took only one year of art when a full year in a single discipline was required. Because the requirements are checked automatically against your transcript, there is no essay or extracurricular that can compensate for a missing course. Understanding A-G early — ideally freshman year — is the cheapest insurance in the entire admissions process.

The Seven Subject Areas

• (a) History/Social Science — 2 years: One year of World History (or equivalent) and one year of U.S. History (or U.S. History combined with a half-year of American Government)
• (b) English — 4 years: College-preparatory English composition and literature every year of high school
• (c) Mathematics — 3 years required, 4 recommended: Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II/Trigonometry. A fourth year of math (Pre-Calculus, Statistics, or Calculus) is strongly recommended and required for competitive UC applicants
• (d) Laboratory Science — 2 years required, 3 recommended: Biology and either Chemistry or Physics must be covered. A third lab science is recommended for STEM majors
• (e) Language Other Than English — 2 years required, 3 recommended: Two years of the same language. Native speakers can often fulfill this with a heritage-language course
• (f) Visual and Performing Arts — 1 year: Dance, drama/theater, music, or visual arts from an approved list
• (g) College-Preparatory Electives — 1 year: An additional year in any of the above areas, or from an approved list including computer science and social science courses

Two details trip students up. First, area (f) requires a full year in the same discipline — a semester of ceramics plus a semester of choir does not count. Second, area (e) requires two years of the same language; one year of Spanish followed by one year of French satisfies nothing.

What GPA Do You Need?

Eligibility minimums and competitive reality are very different numbers:

• UC: California residents need a 3.0 GPA in A-G courses taken in 10th and 11th grade, with no grade below C. Out-of-state applicants need a 3.4. These are floors for eligibility — admitted-student averages at Berkeley, UCLA, and San Diego run far higher (weighted GPAs of 4.2+ are typical at the most selective campuses).
• CSU: California residents need a 2.5 A-G GPA for guaranteed consideration (2.0–2.49 may be evaluated with supplemental factors). Impacted campuses and majors — San Diego State, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, San José State computer science — effectively require much higher GPAs.

Only A-G courses count toward these GPAs. PE, health, and non-approved electives are excluded entirely, which surprises students whose overall GPA differs from their UC-calculated GPA.

How Honors and AP Courses Count

Honors, AP, IB, and dual-enrollment courses fulfilling A-G requirements receive an additional grade point for each semester of an A, B, or C earned — up to 8 semesters total for UC. This is the source of "weighted GPA." A B in AP Chemistry counts as an A in the weighted calculation. UC uses a weighted GPA capped at 8 honors points; CSU uses a slightly different calculation.

Checking Your Coursework

Your high school's UC-approved A-G course list is publicly available on the UC A-G Course List at hs-articulation.ucop.edu. Not every class on your school's schedule is A-G approved. Before enrolling in a course you're counting toward A-G, confirm it appears on that list. Courses transferred from community college or online programs must also be on the approved list.

The portal search works by school name: look up your high school, and you'll see every approved course organized by subject area, including which years it was approved. If a course you took doesn't appear, talk to your counselor immediately — schools can sometimes get courses approved retroactively, but only through the school's official A-G submission process, not by student request.

What Happens If You Fall Short

Students who are deficient in one A-G subject area may be admitted on condition that they complete the missing course before enrolling. This is rare for competitive UC campuses but more common at CSU. Two or more deficiencies typically result in ineligibility. If you discover a gap junior year, community college summer courses or accredited online providers (UC Scout, for example) can fill single-course gaps before your senior year transcript is reviewed.

Your repair options, in rough order of preference:

• Summer school at your high school — free, automatically on your transcript, and pre-approved.
• California community college courses — free for most high schoolers through dual enrollment; one college course generally satisfies a full year of the A-G requirement in that subject.
• UC Scout and other approved online providers — flexible pacing, but confirm the specific course is on the A-G list before enrolling.
• Grade repair — a D or F in an A-G course must be repeated for UC purposes, but UC uses the new grade when the course is repeated, so a bad semester is recoverable.

Common A-G Mistakes

• Assuming every class at school counts. Business math, most journalism classes, and many "tech" electives are not A-G approved even when they sound academic.
• Splitting the arts year. Two unrelated semester arts classes do not satisfy area (f).
• Stopping math after junior year. Three years meets the minimum, but selective UC campuses expect four — and senior-year schedule rigor is reviewed.
• Missing a D repair. A D grade satisfies high school graduation but not A-G; students often don't realize the course must be repeated.
• Waiting until senior year to audit. By then only one repair window (summer before senior fall, or senior year itself) remains.

CSU vs UC Requirements

CSU requires the same A-G subjects but with slightly lower minimums: a 2.5 unweighted GPA for California residents, no test score required as of 2023. UC requires a 3.0 unweighted A-G GPA for California residents (though competitive campuses effectively require 3.5–4.0+). Both systems use the same A-G framework, so completing UC-eligible courses satisfies CSU requirements as well.

A-G Checklist by Grade Level

Freshman year: Enroll in English, math, a lab science, and ideally a language. Look up your school on the A-G course portal once so you know it exists. Nothing you take this year counts toward the UC GPA (which uses 10th–11th grades), but the courses themselves still count toward the subject requirements — and a D freshman year still has to be repaired.

Sophomore year: Grades start counting toward the UC A-G GPA now. Keep the language sequence going (this is the year students most often drop it — don't). Add your second year of history and second lab science if your schedule allows.

Junior year: This is the heaviest-weighted year in admissions review. Take the most rigorous A-G load you can genuinely handle, including honors/AP where available for the GPA bonus. In spring, sit down with your counselor and audit your transcript against all seven areas — this is your last low-cost repair window.

Senior year: Fill any remaining areas (arts and the (g) elective are the usual stragglers). Maintain rigor — UC admissions are provisional on your senior grades, and a D senior year can rescind an acceptance. When you fill out the UC application in fall, you'll self-report every course and grade, so have an exact copy of your transcript in hand.