BS Degree

All students must achieve a grade of C or above in CMPSC 16, 24, 32, and 40 to take any course for which any of these courses are a prerequisite. 

Note: Students with no previous programming background should take CMPSC 8 before taking CMPSC 16. The AP Computer Science A Exam with a score of 4 or 5 will qualify students to start with CMPSC 16.

For CS major catalog years prior to and including 2022-23:

Students admitted to the major prior to/before Fall 2023 will continue to follow the Physics requirements below unless they opt to change their CS major catalog year to follow the newest major requirements. 

Note: AP Physics does not test you out of this series. 

Effective for CS major catalog year 2023-24:

Physics courses are no longer listed under the 'preparation for the major' section of the CS major requirements. Physics courses are now listed in 'List B' of the CS Science Electives section. Click on the drop-down below to see 'List A' and 'List B' of the Science Electives major requirements. 

Science Electives for CS major catalog years prior to and including 2022-23:

Please click on this link for a PDF copy of the prior science electives list. Students admitted to the major prior to/before Fall 2023 will continue to follow this science elective list unless they opt to change their CS major catalog year to follow the newest major requirements. 

Science Electives effective for CS major catalog year 2023-24:

For courses that appear in both 'Science Electives - List A' and 'Science Electives - List B', a student can count one course towards only either the List A or List B requirement (i.e., a single course cannot count towards units for both Lists at once).

Science Electives - List A

8 units are required from the following set of approved courses, and must be taken for a LETTER GRADE: 

Science Electives - List B

An additional 12 units are required from the following set of approved courses, including at least one lab (L) course, and must be taken for a LETTER GRADE: 

NOTE: Effective Winter 2022, students must attend a department faculty advising event in order to complete the "prior approval of major electives by faculty" requirement. We no longer require students to submit any forms since attending an event is required.

As a graduation requirement, all Computer Science majors must receive faculty advising by attending a department faculty advising event. The best time for students to receive faculty advising regarding a range of topics such as research, internships, and elective courses is in their Sophomore year (typically your second year). Students that participate in and attend a department faculty advising event will have their "Major Elective Approval" requirement marked as complete by a Computer Science staff advisor. Effective Winter 2022, students should not complete or submit an approval form, instead students must attend a department faculty advising event. 

The department usually hosts a faculty advising event every quarter: in Fall and Winter quarters students can meet one-on-one with faculty at the Speed Advising event, and in Spring quarter students can learn from faculty about the CS courses that are elective options for the major at the Major Electives Info Session event (view the Major Elective slide show here and see the recording of the Spring 2023 Major Elective information session here [use your UCSB NetID to login and view the video]).  

Depending on the GEAR major year, CS students must take either 28 units (GEAR years 2018-19, 2019-20) or 32 units (GEAR years 2020-21 and 2021-22) of upper-division major field electives. At least 8 units of these electives must be Computer Science courses. The required courses in the upper-division major do not count towards these electives. All upper-division elective courses must be taken for a letter grade.