College Degree Requirements (CCS)

In addition to a student's major and university requirements, the below are college specific requirements

Ethnicity Requirement

Each student must take one course to fulfill the Ethnicity requirement.

Objective: To learn to identify and understand the philosophical, intellectual, historical, and/or cultural experiences of historically oppressed and excluded racial minorities in the United States. One course is required. 

Students may choose from this list: Ethnicity Course List or college appropriate transfer coursework. Ethnicity Courses often satisfy one GE course, as long as it meets the GE eligibility guidelines as outlined below.

General Education

GE requirements can be chosen to allow students to pursue academic knowledge based on their chosen interests while ensuring a well-rounded education. All CCS students must complete a minimum of eight courses, broadly distributed across university disciplines, and unrelated to their primary major.

Specific courses are confirmed eligible to apply to your GEs by either the:

1. student’s faculty advisor communicates individual course approval to staff advisors, and/or

2. the pre-approved list, predetermined by the program committee of each major (if available).

Additional Requirements for CCS GE Courses:

1. No more than two courses from the categories listed below may count toward GE requirements without additional approval from your faculty advisor:

   • Any single department (at UCSB or it’s transfer equivalent as determined by CCS), and

   • Language instruction courses, and any that apply toward Area B

2. Students must earn a minimum of 3 units in the course to apply it as a GE

3. Writing 1, or any courses numbered 99/199, 99RA/199RA, and internships may not count toward GE requirements, unless approved by the dean of the College.