General Education that accommodates transfer is as much a part of career and technical education as the academic programs. Yet, the General Education requirements for career and technical education are different because of the way these courses fit into a career and technical education program. Career and technical education students need a general education program that prepares them for the workforce and/or transfer to a four-year institution. Such preparation has to take into consideration three basic facts: career and technical education programs are high-unit majors; the academic nature of general education needs to fit into a training program that prepares a student for work; and the quality and intensity of such college courses should help to build the scope of knowledge and self-confidence of a career and technical education student.

Since the certificates being offered assures an employer that a student is prepared to take up full-time employment in a skilled occupation, the average unit load for a career and technical education student usually exceeds 18 college credits. Also, since such education is taken at a two-year institution, the expectation is that a student will finish in a reasonable length of time. This expectation suggests that units taken above the certificate requirements should take into consideration the total time needed to complete both an Associate Degree and the certificate.

Many career and technical education students follow an educational career that reveals an awareness of the need for academic as well as professional training. The student begins class seeking a certificate, then shifts to seeking an Associate Degree, and finally discovers that they want to transfer to a four-year institution after he/she has begun a new job based on his/her career and technical education. Thus, the philosophy that shapes General Education at LBCC must have sufficient flexibility to meet all three factors.