Nearly half high school graduates don’t qualify to apply to a California university

The Orange County Register

Annika Bahnsen and Teri Sforza

April 5, 2024

Before a graduating high school senior can even consider going to a four-year school in either the California State or University of California systems, he or she must take some specific classes.

Dubbed the “A-G requirements,” the courses represent more than what’s needed for a high school diploma but they’re a bare minimum for both of California’s public university systems. Think of them as keys to a golden door that students must pass through before they can be accepted or rejected by California’s best public universities.

Currently, the A-G list includes at least two years of history, four years of English, three years of math, two years of science, two years of a world language, a year of performing or visual arts, and one year of a college-prep (Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or a dual-credit) course. What’s more, a grade of “C” or higher is required for any of those classes to count.

But even in an era when federal data shows workers with a college degree earn at least $1 million more than a non-college degree worker over a typical lifetime, barely half the kids graduating from California high schools are qualified to apply to a four-year state school.

In the last academic year, 51.7% of high school seniors statewide graduated with a transcript that would allow them to apply to a Cal State or UC school, according to data released in January by the California Department of Education. In Orange County the qualification rate was slightly higher, 57%.

The numbers haven’t changed much in recent years. In the 2016-’17 academic year, 49.5% of graduates statewide left high school with transcripts that might get them into a Cal State or UC school.

Continue Reading