The university understands that students who entered USC before fall 1997 and those who began their college careers elsewhere before that date had already begun to satisfy their general education requirements on the basis of earlier plans. To allow these students to graduate in a timely manner, the university has set forth a transitional set of general education requirements. These requirements are not as fully integrated as those of the new general education program, and all students who can do so are encouraged to follow the regular program. For those students whose schedules will not permit them to do so, the following requirements are permissible, if they were enrolled at USC before summer 1997, or began college elsewhere before summer 1997 and entered USC before summer 2000.
| I. Cultures and Civilizations I | II. Cultures and Civilizations II | III. Scientific Principles | IV. Investigations in Science and Technology | V. Arts and Letters | VI. Social Issues | New Writing Requirement |
| Western Culture I | Non-Western Cultures | Natural World Earth Sciences | Natural World Earth Sciences | Literature | American Public Life | Students who began college before Fall '97 will be considered to have met the new writing requirement when they have satisfied their original writing requirement. |
| Natural World Life Sciences | Natural World Life Sciences | Empirical Approaches | ||||
| Western Culture II | Natural World Physical Sciences | The Arts | Ethical Approaches |
The “transitional” requirements call for six courses in at least five of the six categories identified by Roman numerals on the chart above. Each course must come from a different old Area of Study (such as “Ethical Approaches” or “Empirical Approaches”). Of these, at least two courses must be in the natural sciences for all students in the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering, the School of Policy, Planning, and Development and students earning Bachelor of Arts degrees in other schools.
Students majoring in engineering or natural sciences (including biological sciences, chemistry, earth sciences, environmental studies, kinesiology, mathematics and physics) must take at least four general education courses outside the natural sciences. Diversity and foreign language requirements remain the same, as they do for students under the current general education program.
Beyond the category requirements, students following the transitional general education plan must observe the rules which governed the general education program under which they began college, including two limits: students may count no more than two courses from any one academic department toward their general education requirements; and each natural science course must come from a different department and a different old Area of Study.