UC A-G requirements can be earned as early 7th grade

Darlene Willis

Marsha Dodson

Empowering Parents answer your parenting and education questions each week. Email them your question or upload your question as a video using the form below.

Dear Empowering Parents: My son’s band teacher told me that Spanish did not count in the 8th grade toward fulfilling the University of California’s A-G college requirements and that I should allow him to take band instead. I attended one of your parent workshops and I thought you said foreign language did count. Please clarify.
– A Confused Parent

Dear Confused Parent: Good news. Eighth grade Spanish does count toward the A-G requirements. As you’ll see below, the University of California system confirms that 7th grade Spanish counts as well. This is from the University of California’s Web site:

“College prep courses in languages taken in 7th and 8th grades with grades of “C” or better may be counted toward the subject requirement. Alternately, when an applicant has successfully completed advanced work in an area of sequential knowledge (mathematics, language other than English) with a grade of “C” or higher, the student is presumed to have completed the earlier course work even if the earlier courses do not appear on the student’s academic record.”

See the University of California Web site for the specific requirements. In addition to foreign language, your child can begin fulfilling the A-G college requirements in the math area as long as he or she earns a “C” or better in algebra I or above courses.

Empowering Parents Thoughts: In San Diego County, only 38 percent of students are fulfilling the A-G college requirements. These are the required courses for your child to be admitted to a four year college or university. In last week’s article, we mentioned we would give you the statistics for the San Diego area. Please see this information below.

Percentage of Students Who Fulfill the A-G College Requirements (Seven Year Average)

Carlsbad 50%
Coronado 48%
Escondido 30%
Fallbrook 28%
Grossmont 40%
Murrieta 31%*
Poway 57%
San Diego 40%
San Dieguito72%
San Marcos 39%
Sweetwater 32%*
Temecula 36%*
Valley Center 37%
Vista 22%*

*= 5 year average

Marsha R. Dodson and Dr. Darlene V. Willis travel around the country empowering parents by using music, poetry, scripture if applicable, and “reality statistics” to help parents and families navigate the educational system while taking back control of their households. For more information visit Empowering Parents’ Web site.

Tags: darlene willis, empowering parents, marsha dodson, SDNN

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