College of Letters and Science:
Academic Minors

Students may pursue an academic minor in addition to their major under a formal minors program offered by an individual department or program, or a multidisciplinary group of departments and/or programs. Completing a minor offers students a cohesive supplement to their major, reflecting well-rounded interests and course of study. In addition, a minor program often helps students to structure their choice of elective units as they fulfill the college's unit requirements. To ensure appropriate advising and planning, students who are considering a minor should consult the sponsoring department as soon as possible. They must request that the department confirm completion of the minor no later than the second week of the quarter in which they announce candidacy to graduate.

Upon completion of the degree, the minor will be listed on the diploma and posted on the official transcript, provided the following conditions also are met:

• The sponsoring department reports the student's completion of the minor prior to the posting of the degree.

• The student has completed at least 18 upper-division quarter units pertinent to the minor. Some minors require more than 18 upper-division units. (Waivers cannot reduce the requirement below 18 units.)

• Courses for the minor are all completed for a letter grade. (At its discretion, the sponsoring department may accept up to 5 units graded P.)

• The UC grade-point average in pertinent upper-division courses is 2.0 or higher.

• No more than 5 upper-division units overlap between this minor and the upper-division portion of the student's major(s) or other minor(s). If overlap is greater with the student's major(s), the completion of the minor will not be formally recognized; if overlap with other minor(s) is greater, only the first minor reported will be recognized.

• The student has completed at least 12 of the upper-division units for the minor while in residence at UCSB. (EAP courses do not apply to residence.) Courses applied to the major residence requirement may not also be applied to the minor residence requirement.

No reference will be made to the minor on any progress checks or degree clearance forms.

See College of Letters and Science for more information.

 Return to Top of Page