Uniform Certificate of General Studies : UCGS, Certificate

Program Code: 695

The Uniform Certificate of General Studies (UCGS) is designed for students who plan to transfer to a four-year public college or university in Virginia. When completed, the UCGS will satisfy lower-division general education requirements at many four-year public and private colleges and universities in Virginia.*

To satisfy the UCGS, students are required to complete the appropriate number of courses in each block as described below. Students should select courses in general education that best align with the major requirements at the four-year Virginia college or university in which they plan to transfer. A grade of “C” or better is required in all coursework for students to earn the UCGS, and only courses completed after May 2020 apply to the UCGS. For more information, visit the Transfer Passport website.

Semester Block I (Written Communication) - Select ENG 111 plus one other course.

Semester Block II (Humanities/Art/Literature) - Select two courses chosen from different categories (please note that the two courses cannot be from the same category).

Semester Block III (Social and Behavioral Sciences) -Select one course.

Semester Block IV (Natural Sciences) -Select one course.

Semester Block V (Mathematics) -Select one course.

MTH 154 - Quantitative Reasoning ⁴
MTH 155 - Statistical Reasoning ⁴
MTH 245 - Statistics I ⁴
MTH 161 - PreCalculus I ⁵
MTH 162 - PreCalculus II ⁵
MTH 167 - PreCalculus with Trigonometry ⁵
MTH 261 - Applied Calculus I ⁵
MTH 263 - Calculus I ⁵
MTH 264 - Calculus II ⁵

Semester Block VI (History) -Select one course.

Semester Block VII (Specialized GE Requirements) -Select two courses.

Program Total Minimum Credits: 31-34

Program Footnotes

*Virginia colleges and universities accepting The UCGS: Bridgewater College, Christopher Newport University, Eastern Mennonite University, George Mason University, James Madison University, Longwood University, Mary Baldwin University, Marymount University, Norfolk State University, Old Dominion University, Radford University, Richard Bland College, Shenandoah University, Sweet Briar College, University of Mary Washington, University of Virginia-Wise, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Community Colleges, Virginia State University, Virginia Tech, Virginia Wesleyan University, William & Mary.

¹Block II - Art Category

²Block II - Humanities Category

³Block II - Literature Category

⁴Block V - Quantitative/ Statistics Pathway

⁵Block V - Calculus Pathway

⁶For Block VII, Student may complete courses from Blocks I-VI above or any additional course below. Students should align their Block VII course selection with their intended transfer destination’s specific general education or programmatic requirements.