Complete your general education courses for cheaper! 

Arizona General Education Curriculum courses meet freshman and sophomore general education requirements for the University of Arizona, Northern Arizona University and Arizona State University. This program can be completed at a number of Arizona community colleges and satisfies all the Exploring Perspectives and Building Connections credits, as well as University 101 (Intro to the General Education Experience) and 301 (General Education Portfolio). Furthermore, completing one of the AGECs with a 2.5 GPA or higher at an Arizona community college also guarantees admission to the University of Arizona.

Alyson Penn is a University of Arizona junior majoring in biology and minoring in biochemistry. She attended Pima Community College for her first three semesters of college, transferring to the University of Arizona in the fall of 2023. She will be returning to PCC to take Physics I and II in the future. 

Penn was able to get her Arizona General Education Curriculum – Science certificate after three semesters at Pima (and a few high school credits). In terms of cost, a general comparison using tuition calculators points out that taking 12 credits at Pima costs about $1,104.00 for in-state students, compared to $$7,853.00 at UA. This could be a great way to save money on the introductory courses everyone has to take — and some may argue, have nothing to do whatsoever with their actual majors. 

Class sizes are much smaller. 

Oftentimes, many first year introductory university courses are designed to weed out students to shrink the initial size of classes in each program and expose students to the rigor required for a particular area of study. Smaller classes at community college can offer a more gentle introduction to the college experience and offer a level of connection with peers and the professor that can be difficult to establish in many of the UA lecture halls of 500+ students.

“Professors [at Pima] offered me personalized support for my learning and challenges,” Penn said. “I found these small classes especially helpful for my introductory classes. These small classes allowed me to feel more confident in the knowledge foundation for upper division courses later on.”

Regarding class content at Pima, one transfer student, who preferred to remain anonymous, said “I liked how professors actually provided clear expectations of what we were expected to know [at Pima].”

PCC provides undergraduate research.

In a competitive academic environment, research experience can be a great way to boost your resume. In one of her introductory biology courses at PCC, Penn was able to be part of an undergraduate course-based project doing DNA barcoding on native bees. 

“It was a valuable introduction to research skills in a classroom setting,” Penn said. 

Classes passed at PCC and transferred to UA do not affect your GPA.

As with any community college, some classes taken at Pima are accepted as transfer credit at the UA. Because the GPA itself does not transfer, taking classes at community college can offer students a clean slate, or help relieve pressure in weaker subjects, allowing students to focus more on learning course material, rather than worrying about grades. However, it should be noted that the community college GPA does not simply disappear. It remains separate from your university GPA, and oftentimes graduate programs still take it into consideration.

As a transfer student, 56 units of Penn’s major courses must be taken at UA, and many programs have transfer credit limits. If taking classes at Pima is something you are considering, be sure to have all the available information on credit hour requirements and scholarship eligibility requirements. 

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Kirsten Thomas is a student at the University of Arizona. She loves personal finance and rock climbing.