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International Baccalaureate (IB) Exams

A score of 5, 6 or 7 on International Baccalaureate (IB) Higher Level (HL) exams is required to grant credit for Cal-GETC certification. An acceptable IB score for Cal-GETC equates to 3 semester units for certification purposes. Students who have earned credit from an IB exam should not take a comparable college course because transfer credit will not be granted for both. 

Exam CAL-GETC/AA GE/AS GE AREA CAL-GETC/AA GE/AS GE Units Degree Elective Units Total Units For Degree Completion
IB Biology HL 5B 3 3 6
IB Chemistry HL 5A 3 3 6
IB Economics HL 4 3 3 6
IB Geography HL 4 3 3 6
IB History (any region) HL 3B or 4 3 3 6
IB Language A: Literature (any language - except English) HL 3B 3 3 6
IB Language A: Language and Literature (any language - except English) HL 3B 3 3 6
IB Language A: Literature (any language) HL 3B 3 3 6
IB Language A: Language and Literature (any language) HL 3B 3 3 6
IB Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches HL 2 3 3 6
IB Mathematics: Applications and Interpretations HL 2 (may not be at all UC) 3 3 6
IB Physics HL 5A 3 3 6
IB Psychology HL 4 3 0 3
IB Theatre HL 3A 3 3 6

Note: IB courses that have been discontinued are not shown on this table. A student with catalog rights may be able to use a now discontinued course if accepted under the directly comparable area of IGETC or under Cal-GETC at the time the course was taken. 

Example:  History IB HL at a CCC is approved for Cal-GETC Area 3B (Humanities). History IB HL may be used in Cal-GETC Area 3B (Humanities) or Cal-GETC Area 4 (Social and Behavioral Sciences). 

Actual IB transfer credit (including possible differences in units to be awarded beyond those used for Cal-GETC certification) awarded for these and other IB exams at admission is determined by the CSU and UC.