To be eligible for a bachelor’s degree, you must complete a minimum of 180 total quarter units (184 if you fulfill General Education Area B with a college course). Of these, 60 quarter units must be upper division.
Note: Students are not normally permitted to continue registering at UCSB once they have completed 200 units.
Your overall unit requirement, then, is either 180 or 184 (Note that transferable semester units are worth 1.5 quarter units)
You must complete a minimum of 60 upper-division units. Within the University of California, course numbering indicates level. Courses numbered:
- 1-99 are lower division, normally broad surveys, designed as preparation for more advanced and narrowly focused courses.
- 100-199 are upper division, usually narrowly focused and designed for juniors and seniors.
- 200-299 and 500-599 are at the graduate level and normally open only to students who are pursing advanced degrees (M.A., M.S., or Ph.D.). These courses can be used toward the requirement of 60 upper-division units.
- 300-499 are professional courses, which do not apply to any of the unit requirements for the bachelor's degree.
200 Unit Rule
The faculty and staff at UCSB are committed to providing the fullest education possible to the greatest number of students. Because resources are limited, however, we must place some restrictions on the length of time that a student may be enrolled, so that we can continue to admit new students. The short version of the resulting policy states that, “Students are expected to complete all degree requirements by the time they have undertaken 200 total units. … If enrollment beyond this limit is desired, students may request approval by submitting a Proposed Schedule for Graduation… Students who enroll in courses beyond 200 units without approval will have their enrollment blocked for subsequent quarters.”
The details regarding actual implementation of the 200 Unit Rule will help students to plan effectively.
