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Undergraduate Degree Requirements |
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As soon as you have been accepted for admission to Berkeley, you should
learn the requirements you will have to fulfill to earn your bachelor's
degree. These requirements are prescribed by four sources: the University,
the Berkeley campus, your college or school, and your department. All
are summarized below.
The University sets two general requirements for the baccalaureate
degree: Entry-Level Writing (formerly Subject A) and American History
and Institutions.
Entry-Level Writing Requirement
The University assumes that you are proficient in English and in writing
about academic topics. Fulfillment of the University of California Entry-Level Writing requirement (formerly known as the Subject A requirement)
is a prerequisite to enrollment in all reading and composition courses.
If you have not passed the Analytical Writing Placement Examination
(AWPE—formerly known as the Subject A Examination) or otherwise
fulfilled the requirement by the time you enter the University, you
should enroll in College Writing R1A during your first semester. College
Writing R1A is a 6-unit course that satisfies the Entry-Level Writing
requirement and the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement.
In addition to a passing score on the AWPE, the Office of Undergraduate
Admissions accepts the following means of fulfilling the Entry-Level
Writing requirement before you enter the University:
American History and Institutions Requirements The American History and Institutions (AH&I) requirements are based on the principle that a U.S. resident graduated from an American university should have an understanding of the history and governmental institutions of the United States. These requirements may be met as follows: I. Ways to Satisfy the American History and Institutions Requirements Before Entering at Berkeley:
II. Ways to Satisfy the American History and Institutions Requirements After Entering Berkeley: Note: Students who will still need to satisfy the AH&I; requirements, after enrolling at Berkeley must complete two courses: (1) one course to satisfy the American History requirement; and (2) one course to satisfy the American Institutions requirement.
III. International Students: The AH&I requirements will be waived if you have at least 90.5 semester units (senior status) and hold both a current, non-immigrant visa (F is the most common) and an I-94 departure record. You must present your visa and I-94 record to the Office of the Registrar, 120 Sproul Hall, during the semester in which you will graduate. Berkeley Campus American Cultures Breadth Requirement Students who entered Berkeley in fall 1991 or thereafter in lower division standing with 0-55 semester units and all students who entered in fall 1993 or thereafter must satisfy the American Cultures Breadth requirement in order to graduate. You satisfy the requirement by passing, with a grade not lower than C- or P, an American Cultures course. You may take an American Cultures course any time during your undergraduate career at Berkeley. International students must satisfy the requirement. A Berkeley faculty committee determines which courses satisfy the requirement. Faculty from many departments teach American Cultures courses, but all courses have a common framework. The courses focus on themes or issues in United States history, society, or culture; address theoretical or analytical issues relevant to understanding race, culture, and ethnicity in our society; take substantial account of groups drawn from at least three of the following: African Americans, indigenous peoples of the United States, Asian Americans, Chicano/Latino Americans, and European Americans; and are integrative and comparative in that students study each group in the larger context of American society, history, or culture. The courses also provide students with the intellectual tools to understand better their own identity and the cultural identity of others in their own terms. American Cultures courses may also meet other requirements, such as a college or school's breadth requirement or a department's major requirement. See the Schedule of Classes or the American Cultures web site
for the specific American Cultures courses offered each semester. See
your academic adviser if you have questions about your responsibility
to satisfy the American Cultures Breadth requirement.
College and School Requirements
Each college and school has established a program of requirements
for the degree, which may be in addition to those of a field of concentration.
These requirements may include: (1) preparatory subject requirements
for admission; (2) preparatory college-level courses for your particular
field of study—to be completed, if possible, during your early
period of residency in the college or school, or in some cases before
entrance; (3) breadth requirements, courses outside the field of study,
considered essential to a well-rounded curriculum; (4) the credit requirement,
which is the total number of units to be completed, with specifications
of how these credits are to be distributed; and (5) a minimum scholarship
requirement. For detailed information, you should obtain a copy of the
announcement of your college or school.
Reading and Composition Requirement
The Berkeley campus is strongly committed to developing high levels of ability in critical thinking and communication among its undergraduates. Hundreds of courses require long papers and a number of courses provide training in writing or speaking. In addition to the Universitywide Entry-Level Writing requirement, the College of Letters and Science and most other colleges and schools require two semesters of lower division work in composition. The following departments and programs offer writing courses that satisfy all or part of the Reading and Composition requirement: African American Studies You can also satisfy this requirement by taking courses offered during Summer Sessions. Course content and orientation
vary according to field or discipline. Contact the individual departments
for details and consult your college or school for the particular courses
that satisfy its requirements.
Minimum Scholarship Requirement
If you fail to maintain the minimum GPA prescribed
by your college or school, you will normally be dismissed or put on
probation. Since scholarship rules are applied only at the close of
regular sessions, grade points that you earn in a University of California
summer session or by removing an incomplete grade are not taken into
consideration until the close of your next semester of attendance.
Senior Residence Requirement
After you have completed 90 units toward the bachelor's degree,
you must complete at least 24 of the remaining units in residence in
no fewer than two semesters in the college or school of the University
in which you will take your degree. You must begin these final 24 units
in the semester in which you exceed 90 units. You should consult the
announcement of your college or school for details concerning the Senior
Residence requirement as it pertains to the summer session.
Every student must select a field of concentration and pursue a major
or curriculum, normally by taking a minimum number of units in one department
or school. Occasionally, as with business administration and others, the
school and the department are synonymous. In some cases a major may
embrace more than one department, as with the interdisciplinary studies
field major in the College of Letters and Science.
Major requirements that must be fulfilled before you may receive a
baccalaureate degree are outlined in each department in the Courses
& Curricula by Department section of this catalog. See also your department
adviser.
If you know at the beginning of a semester that you will have fulfilled
graduation requirements by the end of the semester, enter the appropriate
code when you access the Tele-BEARS registration system. You may also declare your candidacy in person in the Office of
the Registrar, 120 Sproul Hall. The period for declaring candidacy is
the first five weeks of the semester. Up to the end of the third week,
you can declare with no fee, and from the third to the end of the fifth
week there is a $5 fee. If for any reason you do not meet the requirements
for graduation after declaring your candidacy, you must file a new declaration
in the filing period for the subsequent term in which the degree will
be awarded. If you are an unregistered student at the time you are ready to declare your candidacy, you may go in person to 120 Sproul Hall to fill out the Bachelor Degree Candidate Form. It can be mailed to Office of the Registrar, 124 Sproul Hall, University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley, CA 94720-5404. The filing deadline is the same as that stated above. Note: The Office of the Registrar does not backdate degrees. |
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