1. (a) District governing boards shall confer the baccalaureate degree upon students who have fulfilled the course requirements of Sections 55061 and 55091, and who have met the following conditions:

   1. (1) Completion of a minimum of 120 semester or 180 quarter units.

   2. (2) Completion of a minimum of 36 semester or 54 quarter units of general education that includes:

      1. (A) Completion of the requirements in Section 55061 and 55062 to align with the lower division general education patterns of the associate and baccalaureate degrees;
      2. (B) Completion of the upper division general education requirements in Section 55091;
      3. (C) Completion of additional general education courses to meet the minimum total units that may be lower division, upper division, or any combination of lower and upper division.
   3. (3) Courses designated as an upper division major requirement must be completed with a minimum grade of “C” (or “P”);
   4. (4) Satisfactory completion of at least 12 semester units (18 quarter units) of upper division courses at colleges within the awarding district. Governing boards shall adopt policies that permit students to obtain waivers of this requirement in order to alleviate undue hardship; and
   5. (5) Completion of the requirements for the baccalaureate degree with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 in the degree-applicable courses. If units accumulated beyond those required for the degree lower a student's cumulative grade point average below 2.0, colleges may compute the grade point average based solely on those courses used to satisfy the degree requirements, provided that the coursework used to compute the grade point average fulfill all major and general education requirements.
2. (b) Courses shall be counted toward baccalaureate degree unit requirements if they were completed within a California segment of higher education or, if they meet district standards of rigor, were completed at another institutionally accredited institution.
3. (c) Courses may meet multiple requirements, including general education, a major, and additional requirements stated in Sections 55061 and 55091 when courses are locally approved to meet multiple requirements. However, one course may not be counted in more than one general education area, even if the course is approved in multiple general education areas.
4. (d) Students may receive credit for knowledge or skills acquired through a district's procedures for awarding credit for prior learning as per Section 55050.
5. (e) Students who have been awarded a bachelor's degree from an institutionally accredited institution shall be deemed to have fulfilled the general education course requirements for the baccalaureate degree.
6. (f) Students who have completed the California General Education Transfer Curriculum (Cal-GETC) shall be deemed to have fulfilled lower division baccalaureate degree requirements, and shall not be required to complete further lower division general education courses.
7. (g) District governing boards shall establish procedures for students to petition to have completion of a noncredit course counted toward satisfaction of the requirements for a baccalaureate degree, if such degrees are offered in the district.

Note: Authority cited: Section 70901, Education Code. Reference: Sections 70901, 70902, 78040, 78041, 78042 and 78043, Education Code.

History

1. New section filed 7-9-2025; operative 8-8-2025. Submitted to OAL for filing and printing only pursuant to Education Code section 70901.5 (Register 2025, No. 31).