Purpose: The Uniform Certificate of General Studies (UCGS) is a one-year college program in which all courses are transferable and satisfy lower division general education requirements at any Virginia public institution of higher education. The UCGS consists of seven course blocks. To satisfy the UCGS, students are required to complete the appropriate number of courses in each block as described below. Student course selection should be carefully considered since the UCGS program is not designed to capture the complexities of individual programs of study at the four-year institutions. Students should be advised to take the UCGS course that best suits their intended program of study at the four-year institution.

The UCGS Course Roster for the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) is below. 

Students enter the UCGS program by meeting the usual general admission requirements established by the College. To earn the Certificate, students must complete the required number of college-level courses from each block with a grade point average of at least 2.0 (grade of C) or better, and all courses must be completed after May 2020.

Admission Requirements: All students will be required to demonstrate college readiness through transcript review or informed self-placement. Based on this review students may request or be required to enroll in prerequisite or corequisite math and/or English courses. Students must select and complete 30 total credit hours to be eligible for the Uniform Certificate of General Studies.

Educational or Occupational Objectives: As the objective of this Certificate is to document the completion of a core of general education courses, this Certificate does not lead to a specific job or career. However, it helps affirm to potential employers that a student has a solid, valuable foundation in a number of critical employment skills such as quantitative reasoning, spoken and written communication, critical thinking, technical knowledge, and professional readiness.

Note: This program is not eligible for financial aid but is stackable within and will be earned as one pursues any associate of arts or associate of science degree, which are eligible for financial aid.