Graduation Requirements in the
UC San Diego Colleges
Unless otherwise indicated, the figures in this chart refer to the number of courses rather than the number of units. Most UC San Diego courses carry four quarter-units of credit, and a student usually takes four courses each quarter. Academic disciplines are classified as humanities/fine arts, social sciences, and mathematics/natural sciences/engineering. The term “noncontiguous” refers to a discipline that is different from that of the major as determined by the faculty of each college. Students must meet the Entry Level Writing Requirement prior to enrolling in the writing courses of their respective college. Each cultural diversity requirement can be fulfilled as noted by an asterisk (*) below.
Revelle College
General Education
HUMANITIES—5
Includes intensive instruction in university-level writing.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE—0–4
Proficiency exam or number of courses.
FINE ARTS—1
Art, music, theatre
NATURAL SCIENCE—5
Includes physics, chemistry, and biology. (Sequences are available for science and nonscience majors.)
CALCULUS—3
(Sequences are available for science and nonscience majors.)
SOCIAL SCIENCE—2
Two lower-division courses in the social sciences chosen from an approved list, to include two courses in the same social science.
AMERICAN CULTURES—1
AREA OF FOCUS—3
Three courses in one area, noncontiguous to the major.
Minor/Additional Graduation Requirements
Optional Minor
Minimum Number of Courses Required for Graduation
BA/BS degrees require a minimum of forty-six courses (184 units); at least fifteen courses (60 units) must be upper division.
John Muir College
General Education
WRITING—2
SOCIAL SCIENCES—3
A three-course sequence
MATHEMATICS (CALCULUS) or NATURAL SCIENCE—3
A three-course sequence in either category. Specific sequences are available for nonscience majors.
FINE ARTS—HUMANITIES—FOREIGN LANGUAGE—6
A three-course sequence in two of these categories.
Minor/Additional Graduation Requirements
Optional Minor
*One US cultural diversity course to be chosen from an approved list as part of the major, optional minor, elective, or an appropriate general-education course.
Minimum Number of Courses Required for Graduation
BA/BS degrees require a minimum of forty-five courses (180 units); at least eighteen courses (72 units) must be upper division.
Thurgood Marshall College
General Education
DIMENSIONS OF CULTURE—3
Core courses include two six-unit courses with intensive instruction in university-level writing.
HUMANITIES—2
One course each from Ethnic Studies and Third World Studies.
FINE ART—1
NATURAL SCIENCES—3
One course each in biology, chemistry, and physics. (Courses are available for science and nonscience majors.)
MATHEMATICS, STATISTICS, or LOGIC—2
Either two courses in mathematics or one course in mathematics and one course in computing (Courses are available for science and nonscience majors.)
DISCIPLINARY BREADTH—4
Noncontiguous to the major. Two must be upper-division; one must include writing.
PUBLIC SERVICE—(optional)
The four-unit public service option may be used to fulfill one course in disciplinary breadth.
Minor/Additional Graduation Requirements
Optional Minor
Minimum Number of Courses Required for Graduation
BA/BS degrees require forty-five courses (180 units). At least sixty units must be upper division.
Earl Warren College
General Education
WRITING—2
ETHICS AND SOCIETY—2
FORMAL SKILLS—2
Calculus, symbolic logic, computer programming, and/or statistics.
PROGRAMS OF CONCENTRATION—12
(for BA/BS degrees in arts/sciences)
Two programs of concentration, each containing six courses, and each noncontiguous to the major and to each other.
OR
AREA STUDIES—6
(for BS degrees in engineering)
Two area studies, one in humanities/fine arts and one in social sciences, each containing three courses.
Minor/Additional Graduation Requirements
Optional minor—May be used in lieu of a program of concentration or area study if noncontiguous to the major and to the other program of concentration or area study.
Cultural Diversity in US Society
One cultural diversity in US society course to be chosen from an approved list. This course may overlap with the major, programs of concentration/area studies, or be taken as an elective.
Minimum Number of Courses Required for Graduation
BA/BS degrees require forty-five courses (180 units). At least fifteen courses (60 units) must be upper division.
Eleanor Roosevelt College
General Education
MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD—6
Includes two quarters of intensive instruction in university-level writing.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE—0–4
Proficiency exam or number of courses.
FINE ARTS—2
Includes study of both Western and non-Western arts.
NATURAL SCIENCES—2
(Courses are available for science and nonscience majors.)
QUANTITATIVE METHODS/FORMAL SKILLS—2
(Courses are available for science and nonscience majors.)
REGIONAL SPECIALIZATION—3
To include at least two courses taken at the upper-division level.
Minor/Additional Graduation Requirements
Optional minor—Students may combine foreign language and regional specialization coursework to create a minor focusing on a particular geographic area.
Minimum Number of Courses Required for Graduation
BA/BS degrees require forty-five courses (180 units). At least fifteen courses (60 units) must be upper division.
Sixth College
General Education
CULTURE, ART, AND TECHNOLOGY—3
Includes two quarters of intensive instruction in university-level writing and digital literacy.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FLUENCY—1
This requirement may be satisfied with courses from a variety of departments.
MODES OF INQUIRY—7
Two courses in the social sciences, two courses in the humanities, two courses in the natural sciences, one course in math/logic (different options available for science and nonscience majors).
UNDERSTANDING DATA—1
One course in statistical methods (different options available for science and nonscience majors).
SOCIETAL AND ETHICAL CONTEXTS—2
One course in ethnic or gender studies; one course in ethics.
ART MAKING—2
Two courses in music, theatre (including dance), or the visual arts.
PRACTICUM—2
Capstone project with a four-unit course in upper-division writing.
Minor/Additional Graduation Requirements
Optional Minor
Minimum Number of Courses Required for Graduation
BA/BS degrees require a minimum of forty-five courses (180 units). At least fifteen courses (60 units) must be upper division.
Major
Note: Students normally may pursue any major, except for college individualized majors, regardless of the college they choose. Majors are identical regardless of the student’s chosen college. Most majors require twelve to eighteen upper-division courses based upon adequate lower-division preparation; such preparation may be part of the general-education requirements. Majors in certain engineering programs may require as many as twenty-one upper-division courses.