CSU General Education Requirements, C-ID, and Available Open Educational Resources (OER)

Additional resources will be added to this page as they are identified. If you are using an OER for a general educational course that is not included here, please let us know. If you are looking for resources for a specific course, please consult the appropriate OER by Discipline page.

This document is intended to serve as a resource for California community college (CCC) faculty and colleges that are seeking to develop entire degree pathways that use no-cost OER in lieu of commercial texts. It is not meant to be exhaustive. Courses are specified by C-ID designation, where available. Commonly taught courses not included in C-ID can be added and specified by title. It should be noted that the general education applicability of courses varies across colleges.

Please let us know if you are using a resource you would like to see added. While the focus of this collection is by general education area, you can also find:

Area A. English Language Communication and Critical Thinking – 9 semester (12-15 quarter) units.

At least one course each from A1, A2, A3.

A1 – Oral Communication

COMM 110 – Public Speaking

COMM 120 – Argumentation and Debate

COMM 130 – Interpersonal Communication

A2 – Written Communication

ENGL 100 – College Composition

Additional Resources for College Composition

As this list is extensive, we have devoted a separate page to all textbooks and resources for C-ID English 100.

A3 – Critical Thinking

COMM 120 – Argumentation

COMM 140 – Small Group Communication

ENGL 105 – Argumentative Writing and Critical Thinking

PHIL 110 – Introduction to Logic

PHIL 210 – Symbolic Logic

(All of these texts meet the requirements delineated in this C-ID descriptor but vary in focus, breadth, presentation, and exercises)

Area B. Scientific Inquiry and Quantitative Reasoning – 9 semester (12-15 quarter) units.

At least one course each from Areas B1, B2, B4. At least one of the courses in B1 or B2 must contain a laboratory component. Underlined course numbers have a laboratory component embedded in them, and fulfill the Area B3 requirement. If neither course chosen from Areas B1 and B2 has a lab component embedded in it, then a separate laboratory course must be chosen from Area B3 in the same discipline as one of the courses taken in B1 or B2.

B1 – Physical Sciences

CHEM 110 – General Chemistry for Science Majors I, with Lab

CHEM 150 – Organic Chemistry for Science Majors I, with Lab

GEOG 110 – Introduction to Physical Geography

GEOL 100 – Physical Geology

GEOL 110 – Historical Geology

Historical Geology: A free online textbook for Historical Geology Courses (Affolter et al., 2020) (CC BY-NC 4.0)

GEOL 120 – Earth Science

The Physical Environment: An OER Geography Textbook (Ritter, 2020); The Physical Environment: An OER Geography Textbook (Ritter, 2020) – LibreTexts (CC BY-SA 4.0)

PHYS 105 – Algebra/Trigonometry-Based Physics A

PHYS 205 – Calculus-Based Physics for Scientists and Engineers: A

Courses without a C-ID designation

No resources identified.

B2 – Life Science

ANTH 110 – Introduction to Biological Anthropology

BIOL 115 S – Human Anatomy and Physiology with Lab

BIOL 120 B – Human Physiology with Lab

BIOL 190 – Cell and Molecular Biology

PSY 150 – Introduction to Biological Psychology

Introduction to Biology

Human Biology

Microbiology

B3 – Laboratory Activity

ANTH 115 L – Biological Anthropology Lab

GEOG 111 – Physical Geography, Laboratory

GEOL 100 L – Physical Geology Laboratory

GEOL 110 L – Historical Geology Laboratory

B4 – Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning

MATH 110 – Introduction to Statistics

MATH 140 – Business Calculus

MATH 155 – Precalculus

MATH 851 – Trigonometry

No resources identified.

SOCI 125 – Introduction to Statistics in Sociology

Area C. Arts and Humanities – 9 semester (12-15 quarter) units.

Choose three courses total, at least one course from C1 and one course from C2. Selections must be from at least from two different academic areas.

C1 – Arts

ARTH 100 – Understanding Art

ARTH 110 – Survey of Western Art from Prehistory through the Middle Ages

ARTH 120 – Survey of Western Art from Renaissance to Contemporary

ARTH 130 – Survey of Asian Art

ARTH 140 – Art of Africa, Oceania and Indigenous North Americas

ARTH 150 – Survey of Modern Art

No resources identified.

ARTS 101 – 3-D Foundations

No resources identified.

ARTS 110 – Fundamentals of Drawing

No resources identified.

MUS 100 – Music Appreciation

Understanding Music: Past and Present (Clark, Heflin, Kluball, and Kramer) (CC BY-SA)

MUS 110 – Music Fundamentals

No resources identified.

THTR 112 – Theatre Appreciation

No resources identified.

THTR 113 – Theatre History I

No resources identified.

THTR 151 – Acting I

No resources identified.

C2 – Humanities

ANTH 130 – Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology

No resources identified.

COMM 170 – Oral Interpretation of Literature

ENGL 120 – Introduction to Literature

See the C-ID English 110 list above. As per the course description, C-ID English 110, Argumentative Writing and Critical Thinking Through Literature, is designed to include English 120 content.

ENGL 130 – Survey of American Literature 1

ENGL 135 – Survey of American Literature 2

ENGL 140 – Survey of World Literature 1

ENGL 145 – Survey of World Literature 2

ENGL 180 – Children’s Literature

HIST 130 – US History to 1877

HIST 140 – US History from 1865

HIST 150 – World History to 1500

HIST 160 – World History since 1500

HIST 170 – Western Civilization I

PHIL 100 – Introduction to Philosophy

PHIL 110 – Introduction to Logic

PHIL 120 – Introduction to Ethics

PHIL 130 – History of Ancient Philosophy

PHIL 140 – History of Modern Philosophy

SPAN 100 – Elementary Spanish I

Area D. Social Sciences – 9 semester (12-15 quarter) units. Choose courses from at least two academic disciplines.

D1 – Social Sciences

ANTH 110 – Introduction to Biological Anthropology

ANTH 120 – Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

ANTH 130 – Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology

No resources identified.

ANTH 150 – Introduction to Archaeology

CDEV 100 – Child, Growth and Development

CDEV 110 – Child, Family and Community

ECON 201 – Principles of Microeconomics

ECON 202 – Principles of Macroeconomics

GEOG 120 – Introduction to Human Geography

GEOG 125 – World Regional Geography

HIST 130 – US History to 1877

HIST 140 – US History from 1865

HIST 150 – World History to 1500

HIST 160 – World History since 1500

POLS 110 – Introduction to American Government and Politics

POLS 120 – Introduction to Political Theory and Thought

POLS 130 – Introduction to Comparative Government and Politics

POLS 140 – Introduction to International Relations

PSY 110 – Introduction to Psychology

PSY 120 – Introduction to Abnormal Psychology

PSY 150 – Introduction to Biological Psychology

PSY 180 – Introduction to Lifespan Psychology

PSY 200 – Research Methods in Psychology

SOCI 110 – Introduction to Sociology

SOCI 115 – Social Problems

SOCI 130 – Introduction to marriage and Family

SOCI 140 – Introduction to Gender

SOCI 150 – Introduction to Race and Ethnicity

SOCI 160 – Introduction to Crime

One needs to look through all the resources here. There is sufficient material to create a text, but an instructor would need to organize it to suit their needs.

Area E. Lifelong Learning and Self-Development – 3 semester (4-5 quarter) units.

E1 – Lifelong Learning and Self-Development

CDEV 100 – Child Growth and Development

CDEV 110 – Child, Family and Community

NUTR 110 – Introduction to Nutrition Science

PSY 120 – Introduction to Abnormal Psychology

PSY 180 – Introduction to Lifespan Psychology

​Area F: ETHNIC STUDIES – 3 semester (4-5 quarter) units.

Introduction to Ethnic Studies

  • Introduction to Ethnic Studies (OERI, Forthcoming in fall 2023)

Introduction to Chicanx and Latinx Studies

  • New Directions in Chicanx and Latinx Studies (ASCCC OERI, Forthcoming in fall 2023)

Introduction to African American Studies

  • Introduction to African American Studies: An Anthology of Essays on Radical Black Thought, Intellect, and Culture for the Ethnic Studies Student (ASCCC OERI, Forthcoming in fall 2024)

This page last updated 4-26-23.