The Geography Program at Santa Barbara City College provides a liberal education and prepares one for positions in business, government, environmental consulting, resource management, service in foreign areas and teaching. Many geography courses satisfy General Education requirements and appeal to the major and non-major alike. Coursework in geography, which includes Geographic Information Systems (GIS), prepares students for a wide range of jobs that employ computers to gather, manipulate, analyze and report spatial data. There is rapid growth in the use of GIS in natural resource management, urban planning, marketing, real estate, criminology, emergency services, public health, scientific research and many other areas.

The Associate in Arts for Transfer degree in Geography provides students with the foundational knowledge necessary to make a successful transition into a Baccalaureate Degree at any of the CSU campuses.  The Associate Degree for Transfer (AA-T or AS-T) is a special degree offered at California Community Colleges. Students who earn an AA-T or AS-T degree are guaranteed admission to a campus within the California State University (CSU) system in a similar major, although not necessarily to a specific campus. Students who complete an AA-T or AS-T are given priority consideration when applying to a particular program that is similar to the student’s community college major and will be given a special GPA advantage when applying to CSU impacted campuses or majors. Students who are planning to pursue an AA-T or AS-T are strongly advised to meet with a counselor for additional information about this transfer program. Visit https://adegreewithaguarantee.com/ for more information about these degrees. 

Associate Degree for Transfer Graduation Requirements

Complete all of the following:

1. All Department Requirements listed below with a “C” or better or "P" in each course.
2. IGETC-CSU or the CSU GE Breadth pattern.
3. A total of 60 CSU transferable semester units.
4. Maintain a minimum cumulative CSU transferable GPA of 2.0.
5. A minimum of 12 units through SBCC. 

¹

 ERTH 171/172 are the same as GEOG 171/172.

Students are advised to meet with an academic counselor to discuss the best combination of courses to take for the AA-T and to meet the requirements of the transfer institution to which they are intending to transfer.  

1. Describe and assess Earth’s physical processes and their impacts on human culture and activities.
2. Describe and assess human cultural and economic activities and their impacts on Earth’s physical environment.
3. Identify and implement the methods and technologies used in geographic spatial analysis (ex. GIS, remote sensing, spatial statistics, cartography and map analysis).

Make an appointment with your SBCC academic counselor through Starfish to create a Student Education Plan that reflects a recommended course sequence for this program that is tailored to your individual needs.

How to schedule an Academic Counseling appointment.