Earl Warren College

Earl Warren College opened in the fall of 1974, and currently enrolls more than four thousand students. The college is named for the only three-term governor of California and former Chief Justice of the United States. A native Californian, Justice Warren earned his college and law school degrees at the University of California. During his governorship, he served as an ex-officio member of the Board of Regents of the University of California for eleven years. He also saw public service as District Attorney of Alameda County and as Attorney General of California.

As governor during an era of lightning growth for California, Earl Warren developed the State Department of Mental Hygiene and led reforms of the prison system in California by establishing the Board of Corrections and the Prisoner Rehabilitation Act. In his final role as a public servant, he served as Chief Justice of the United States. Under his leadership, the Supreme Court elaborated a doctrine of fairness in such areas as criminal justice, voting rights, legislative districting, employment, housing, transportation, and education.

The college derives its core values from Earl Warren’s judicial examination of the relationship between the individual and society. All students in the college explore this critical nexus and its profound implications in two required core courses in Ethics and Society. Earl Warren College also administers two campuswide interdisciplinary minors, Law and Society and Health Care–Social Issues (open to all UC San Diego students). The college employs the scales of justice in its logo, and the symmetry of this image represents the college’s philosophy, Toward a Life in Balance. Warren College strives to encourage students in the discovery of that essential balance through their undergraduate years and beyond.

Whether students wish to continue their education in graduate or professional school, seek an immediate career, or pursue other options, the college stands ready to assist. The Earl Warren College administration encourages students to identify their abilities and interests, examine career possibilities, and prepare for the future. The required, two-course Warren College Writing Program provides a strong grounding in written argumentation and prepares students for the demands of crafting college-level analytical papers. The Warren College Writing Center offers all Warren students extracurricular assistance in honing their writing skills. The college-administered Academic Internship Program affords students the opportunity to explore classroom theory in a professional work environment. In addition, Earl Warren College is a strong supporter of international education and encourages students to pursue the many opportunities that are available for study abroad.

Warren College’s students and faculty represent all disciplines offered at UC San Diego. Graduation requirements, which include a major and two additional areas of academic focus, enable students to cover a wide range of material while concentrating on specific topics in depth. The diversity of its academic program has made Earl Warren College an exciting home for students who seek flexibility in designing their own educational paths.

General-Education Requirements

The Earl Warren College faculty firmly believes that each student should have the opportunity to develop a program best suited to his or her individual interests within a framework that ensures both depth and breadth of study. All students are required to have significant exposure to the social sciences, arts and humanities, and the sciences. The faculty and staff of the college provide extensive advising on individual academic programs and possible career implications within each program. Students who enroll at Earl Warren College are required to work within the following academic plan:

Warren College Writing Program: Following successful completion of the UC Entry Level Writing requirement, each student must complete a two-course sequence in writing, Warren Writing 10A-B, for a letter grade.  

Ethics and Society: After completion of Warren Writing 10A-B, all students must complete two courses in Ethics and Society, offered jointly by the Departments of Political Science and Philosophy (Political Science/Philosophy 27 and 28) for a letter grade.  

Formal Skills: All students must satisfy the formal skills requirement by completing two courses chosen from an approved list that includes calculus, computer programming, statistics, and symbolic logic.

Programs of Concentration/Area Studies: All students are required to complete two focused collections of courses outside the areas of their majors to ensure a significant exposure to the three disciplines: humanities/fine arts, sciences, and social sciences.

For students other than BS engineering majors, two Programs of Concentration are required. Each program consists of six courses outside the discipline of the major. A minimum of three courses must be upper division. A student may choose to declare a minor in lieu of a Program of Concentration.

For BS engineering majors, students are required to complete two Area Studies, one in the humanities/fine arts and one in the social sciences. Each Area Study consists of three courses. A minimum of two courses must be upper division. A student may choose to declare a minor in lieu of an Area Study.,

An interdisciplinary Program of Concentration or Area Study must be approved by the Earl Warren College Academic Advising Office. A minor must be approved by the academic department or program.

Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Credit

Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) units may be substituted for corresponding lower-division course work in a Program of Concentration or Area Study. A maximum of twelve units may be applied toward each Program of Concentration and a maximum of four units may be applied toward each Area Study.

Majors

Earl Warren College students may pursue any major(s) offered at UC San Diego. For details on the specific major department requirements, refer to Courses, Curricula, and Faculty. A student may declare a double major upon the approval of both departments and the Warren College Academic Advising office. If the two majors are from noncontiguous disciplines, one Program of Concentration or Area Study from the third discipline will be required. If the two majors are from the same discipline, two Programs of Concentration or Area Studies will be required from each of the remaining noncontiguous disciplines.

Earl Warren College Individualized Studies Major

This major is designed to meet the needs of students who have a definite academic interest for which a suitable major is not offered at UC San Diego. The student must submit a written proposal explaining the merits of the program and why it cannot be accommodated within existing UC San Diego majors. The proposal must first be approved by a faculty adviser and then approved by the Warren College Executive Committee of the faculty.

Minors

In lieu of a Program of Concentration or Area Study, Earl Warren College students may pursue a minor to fulfill general-education requirements. A minor applied toward the general-education requirement will be posted to the student’s official transcript. Upper-division courses taken for the minor may not overlap with courses in the major, the Programs of Concentration, or the Area Studies.

Pass/Not Pass Grading Option

Programs of Concentration and Area Studies courses may be fulfilled by courses taken on a Pass/Not Pass basis. Major prerequisites and requirements must be taken for a letter grade. The total number of Pass/Not Pass units may not exceed one-fourth (25 percent) of a student’s total UC San Diego units.

Graduation Requirements

To receive a BA or BS degree from Earl Warren College, a student must

  1. Satisfy the University of California requirement in American History and Institutions, and the UC Entry Level Writing Requirement. (See Undergraduate Admissions, Policies, and Procedures.)
  2. Fulfill the general-education requirements described above.
  3. Complete one course, chosen from an approved list, in Cultural Diversity in US Society. This course may overlap with the major, the general-education requirements, or be taken as an elective.
  4. Complete a major chosen from those regularly offered at UC San Diego or, with prior approval, an Earl Warren College Individualized Study major.
  5. Attain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0. Major GPA requirements may differ by department.
  6. Satisfy the senior residency requirement that thirty-five of the last forty-five units passed must be completed at UC San Diego.
  7. Pass a minimum of 180 units for the BA/BS degree, 60 units of which must be taken at the upper-division level.

Transfer Students

Students who completed their lower-division general-education requirements at an accredited four-year college or completed an approved core curriculum in a California community college prior to entering UC San Diego, must complete three upper-division courses, noncontiguous to the discipline of the major, to satisfy the Warren College general-education requirements. All other transfer students must complete the Earl Warren College general-education requirements (see Earl Warren College).

Warren College Honors Program

The Warren College Honors Program offers students educational, cultural, and social experiences designed to broaden their intellectual interests. The activities vary annually and are planned to foster student interaction and promote a sense of community. Entering freshmen with a high school GPA of 3.8 or above and SAT I scores of 700 reading/700 math/700 writing, or the ACT equivalent, are eligible to participate in the Honors Program. Students must maintain a cumulative UC San Diego GPA of 3.7 to remain in the program. Students who do not qualify for the Honors Program at the time of admission, and all transfer students, may join as soon as a cumulative GPA of 3.7 is attained on twelve or more graded units completed at UC San Diego.

Warren College Scholars Seminar

Freshmen who meet the Warren College Honors Program requirements may qualify for admission to the Scholars Seminar by submitting a writing sample. Students who are invited to participate in the two interdisciplinary seminars enroll in Warren 11A-B. The seminars replace the required Warren College writing courses (WCWP 10A-B) and must be taken for a letter grade.

Honors

Quarterly Provost’s Honors, honors at graduation, department honors, and Phi Beta Kappa honors are awarded. For additional information, see Honors.

Warren College Interdisciplinary Programs

Law and Society

The Law and Society Program at UC San Diego offers courses, speakers, and events that emphasize the interrelationship and complexity of legal, social, and ethical issues in their historical context. The interdisciplinary minor offers students the opportunity to examine the role of the legal system in society and study specific legal issues from the perspectives of the social sciences and the humanities. Students benefit from the program by learning how to analyze and understand legal implications related to policy and decision making. The program is administered by Warren College and is open to all undergraduate students with an interest in law.

Health Care–Social Issues

The Health Care–Social Issues Program at UC San Diego is designed to enhance student competence in analyzing complex social and ethical implications related to health-care issues. This interdisciplinary minor offers students an understanding of how the economy, culture, and social and psychological processes affect modern health care. The program is administered by Earl Warren College and is available to all students with a general interest in health care.

Academic Internship Program

The Warren College Academic Internship Program (AIP) is open to students from all six colleges. The program is based on the conviction that academic learning is enriched when opportunities exist for students to apply classroom knowledge and analytical skills in diverse corporate and community settings. AIP counselors work closely with students to help them identify and secure internships that are aligned with their major areas of academic study and individualized career goals. Students may enroll for four, eight, or twelve units per quarter, with a maximum of three internships allowed (not to exceed sixteen units). To be eligible for the program, students must have completed at least ninety units of credit with at least two upper-division courses and have a minimum 2.5 GPA at the time of application. Although most placements are in the San Diego area, the Academic Internship Program is national in scope and diverse in offerings. Students might work for a senator in Washington; the governor in Sacramento; a legal-aid office in Los Angeles; a business, TV station, research lab, or social service agency in San Diego; a public relations firm in London; or any number of other possibilities. Working closely with faculty advisers, students complete research papers or projects that draw on both their academic backgrounds and internship experience. For more information, see Academic Internship Program.

Educational Enrichment

Students are encouraged to earn credit toward graduation by studying abroad through the University of California’s Education Abroad Program (EAP). Earl Warren College offers students an option to complete an EAP Program of Concentration with an emphasis in either humanities/fine arts or social sciences. EAP participants study in more than 150 institutions in thirty-five countries. Students may choose to study abroad for a full academic year or for a shorter term. Most EAP programs require a minimum 2.5 to 3.0 cumulative GPA and junior standing at the time of participation.