American History and Institutions*

All undergraduate degree programs at UC require study in American History and Institutions, often referred to as the “AH&I” requirement. This requirement may be met through examination or enrollment in specific courses. Students can fulfill this requirement in one of the following ways:

Satisfying AH&I Through High School Coursework

Many students will have already satisfied the American History and Institutions requirements with a high school American history or government course. Common pathways:

Completing a one-year high school course in U.S. history or a half-year course in U.S. history and a half-year course in American government

Achieving a score of 550 or higher on the SAT Subject Examination in U.S. History
Achieving a score of 3, 4, or 5 on the College Board Advanced Placement Examination in U.S. History, or by achieving a score of 5, 6, or 7 on the IBH History of the Americas Examination
Completing a college-level course in U.S. history and institutions
Certification of completion of the requirement on a transcript from an accredited California institution of higher education

Students who may have taken an applicable course, but do not see this requirement satisfied can submit a Review of Transfer Credit form to have Admissions review their file. Junior transfer students may need to take additional action to ensure high school transcripts are sent to UC Santa Cruz (high school transcripts are not always required for transfer admission).

Satisfying AH&I at UC Santa Cruz

Students can search for courses that satisfy the American History and Institutions requirement in the “Class Search,” under the General Education pulldown menu.

As of spring 2025, the following courses satisfy the American History and Institutions requirement:

Education 164
History 10A, 10B, 12, 15, 82, 110A , 110B, 110D, 110E, 110H, 115A, 115B, 116, 128
John R. Lewis College 135
Legal Studies 120A, 120B, 120C
Literature 81F
Politics 20, 120A, 120B, 120C
Sociology 170

AH&I Options at Community College

It's possible to find American History and Institutions courses at California community colleges by using the transfer resource ASSIST.org:

In ASSIST, for each community college there is a list called "CSU U.S. History, Constitution and American Ideals Courses." There are three areas:

U.S.-1: Historical development of American institution and ideals
U.S.-2: U.S. Constitution and government
U.S.-3: California state and local government

Any course that meets U.S.-1 or U.S.-2 is acceptable to clear the University of California American History and Institutions requirement. A course that meets U.S.-3 and either U.S.-1 or U.S.-2 is also acceptable. However, a course that only meets U.S.-3 would not be acceptable to clear the American History and Institutions requirement.

* Revised: 1/31/25