UC Santa Cruz is committed to assist you in exploring the options that our campus offers and in supporting your discovery of the interests and inclinations that will shape your choice of academic and career paths. We want you to make these choices based on planning, information, and conscientious consideration. To this end we offer an array of services and resources. Selecting a college major and embracing an expansive college experience offer something other than specific preparation for a single type of work. The requirements for an established major program are set by the sponsoring academic department.
Majors typically have numerous prerequisites and sequenced course requirements.
This includes information on the satisfaction of University, College, and General Education Requirements, a projected quarter of graduation based on the completion of 180 credits, and a quarter by quarter plan of course work designed to satisfy the major requirements. The student reviews general requirements with the college preceptor and major plans with faculty and department advisers. The petition is filed with the academic department sponsoring your chosen major. Once the major is officially declared, students consult with the department regarding their progress in the major and post-graduate opportunities. Their college academic preceptor continues to assist them in all other matters, such as making satisfactory academic progress, adding and dropping courses, and problems that may affect successful completion of course work.