AB 928, the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act of 2021, made two structural changes to how California community college students move to the state’s public universities. It replaced the two old general education transfer patterns with one 34-unit curriculum called Cal-GETC, and it requires community colleges to place transfer-intending students into an Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) pathway by default. Together, Cal-GETC and the ADT transfer pathway are now the standard route from any of the 115 California community colleges into the CSU and UC systems. The Cal-GETC piece took full effect in fall 2025; the automatic ADT placement rule has been in force since August 1, 2024.
What Cal-GETC Replaces
Before AB 928, transfer students chose between IGETC (accepted by both UC and CSU) and CSU GE-Breadth (CSU only). Picking the wrong pattern, or trying to satisfy both, meant wasted coursework. Cal-GETC is the single replacement, and it satisfies lower-division general education for transfer to both systems.
The curriculum is 34 semester units across six areas:1University of California. Cal-GETC | UC Admissions
- English Communication, 9 units (composition, critical thinking and composition, oral communication)
- Mathematical Concepts and Quantitative Reasoning, 3 units
- Arts and Humanities, 6 units
- Social and Behavioral Sciences, 6 units
- Physical and Biological Sciences, 7 units, including a lab
- Ethnic Studies, 3 units
Cal-GETC completion is codified in Education Code Section 66746 as one of the two core requirements for earning an ADT.2California Legislative Information. California Education Code 66745 – Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act
When Cal-GETC Took Over
Starting fall 2025, Cal-GETC is the only general education transfer pattern available for new students. IGETC and CSU GE-Breadth are gone for anyone starting fresh.3Academic Senate for California Community Colleges. Cal-GETC Version 1.3 Updates
If you were already on IGETC or CSU GE-Breadth before fall 2025, you can finish what you started. Courses previously approved for IGETC can also count toward Cal-GETC certification, so switching patterns does not automatically erase progress.3Academic Senate for California Community Colleges. Cal-GETC Version 1.3 Updates This matters most if you took time off and are returning after the changeover.
Automatic ADT Placement
Since August 1, 2024, every California community college must place a student into an ADT pathway by default when both of the following are true: the student’s education plan lists transfer as a goal, and an ADT exists for their intended major. Education Code Section 66749.8 calls this “placement by default.”4California Legislative Information. California Education Code EDC 66749.8
The ADT bundles Cal-GETC general education with at least 18 semester units of major preparation into a 60-unit degree. The point of the default rule is to keep students on the shortest structured route to a four-year degree instead of leaving them to piece together transferable credits on their own.
The default does not apply if no ADT exists for your major. It also does not apply to students in community college baccalaureate programs or to career technical education students in fields without an ADT equivalent.4California Legislative Information. California Education Code EDC 66749.8
How to Opt Out, and When You Shouldn’t
You can opt out of the default ADT placement. The statute recognizes two main reasons: you want to pursue a local associate degree instead, or you plan to apply to a University of California campus or a private institution.4California Legislative Information. California Education Code EDC 66749.8 Colleges are required to build opt-out procedures into their existing education plan and enrollment processes.5California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office. Guidance for Implementing the New Associate Degree for Transfer Placement Requirement
Here is the nuance worth pausing on. Being on an ADT pathway does not prevent you from applying to UC or to private universities at the same time.4California Legislative Information. California Education Code EDC 66749.8 For most students, staying on the ADT while also applying to UC is the safer play, because it keeps the CSU admission guarantee available as a backup if UC decisions go the wrong way.
What the ADT Actually Guarantees
CSU: A Seat With Junior Standing
Completing an ADT guarantees admission to the California State University system with junior standing. The guarantee is to the system, not to a specific campus or major. You get priority consideration at your local CSU campus and at any campus offering a program designated as “similar” to your ADT field.6California State University. CCC-Associate Degree for Transfer That guarantee is the core reason the law makes the ADT the default: finish it and you have a seat somewhere in the 23-campus system.
UC: Priority Review, Not a Guarantee
UC does not offer the same blanket guarantee. Some campuses run ADT programs, but the benefit is priority admission consideration rather than a guaranteed seat. UCLA’s ADT Pilot Program, for example, gives priority review to ADT completers from select community colleges without guaranteeing admission.7UCLA Undergraduate Admission. ADT Pilot Program If UC is your target, check each campus’s transfer policies individually, and look separately at the Transfer Admission Guarantee program, which operates independently from the ADT.
When Cal-GETC Isn’t the Best Fit
Cal-GETC’s 34-unit block does not fit every major cleanly. Engineering, math, and science programs often carry so much lower-division major preparation that finishing the full Cal-GETC before transfer pushes total units well past 60 and adds time. The Cal-GETC standards themselves acknowledge that full certification may not be appropriate for students in these fields, especially in majors without an approved Transfer Model Curriculum.8California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office. Cal-GETC Standards Version 1.2
If you are in a high-unit STEM major, focusing on major preparation and meeting the minimum general education requirements for your target university may serve you better than completing the whole Cal-GETC pattern. UC applicants in this situation can look at the UC seven-course pattern instead. This is one of the clearest cases where opting out of the default ADT placement makes practical sense, and a counselor can help you decide whether full certification or a partial approach fits your program.
Why the Timeline Matters Financially
Extra semesters at community college are not free even when tuition is low. Federal Pell Grants have a lifetime cap of 600% of a single year’s award, roughly six full-time academic years across every school you attend. Semesters spent on courses that don’t count toward a degree draw down that eligibility.9Federal Student Aid. Pell Grant Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU) Arriving at a four-year university with reduced Pell eligibility is exactly when tuition gets more expensive.
For families using 529 plans, tuition and fees at any community college that participates in federal student aid programs qualify as tax-free withdrawals, including costs tied to ADT coursework.10Internal Revenue Service. 529 Plans: Questions and Answers The structured Cal-GETC and ADT pathway makes unit counts and timelines more predictable than the old two-pattern system, which helps with planning distributions.