DEGREE REQUIREMENTS

As soon as they are accepted for admission to UCLA, new students should learn the requirements necessary to receive a bachelor's degree and begin planning an appropriate program of study. All undergraduate students must satisfy three types of requirements for a degree:

1. University requirements

2. College or school requirements

3. Department requirements

University Requirements

The University of California has established two requirements that all undergraduates must satisfy in order to graduate: Subject A or English as a Second Language (ESL), and American History and Institutions. It is each student's responsibility to see that these requirements are fulfilled.

Subject A

Because proficiency in English composition is so important to successful performance in many courses, Subject A is the only requirement for graduation that students must satisfy before entering UCLA or during their first year in residence. They may meet this requirement by

1. Scoring 3, 4, or 5 on one of the College Board Advanced Placement Tests in English OR

2. Scoring 680 or better on the SAT II Subject Test in Writing OR

3. Presenting transfer credit for an acceptable college-level course in English composition (passed with a grade of C or better) at another institution OR

4. Passing the Subject A Examination (all freshmen from California high schools should have taken the Universitywide Subject A Examination during the month of May before they enrolled; others take an examination at UCLA early in their first term)

If students do not meet the requirement in one of the ways described above, Academic Senate regulations require them to enroll in either English Composition A or 2 (determined by performance on the Subject A Examination) as early as possible during their first year in residence. Each course must be taken for a letter grade and passed with a grade of C or better. Students receiving a final grade of C− or less must repeat the course during their next term in residence. Satisfaction of the Subject A requirement is a requisite to English Composition 3 and all subsequent English courses.

English as a Second Language

The English as a Second Language Placement Examination (ESLPE) is required of all entering UCLA students whose native language is not English and who have not otherwise satisfied the English as a Second Language (ESL) requirement. Neither the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) nor any other English proficiency test can be submitted or accepted in lieu of the ESLPE. Undergraduate students may take the ESLPE once only. Unauthorized retakes of the examination result in an invalid examination score.

Nonnative-speaking first-year students who have taken the Subject A Examination are evaluated on the basis of their Subject A composition and informed if they need to take the ESLPE before the term in which they are to register. Failure to take the ESLPE results in a hold on student records. Results of the ESLPE and the Subject A Examination are reviewed to determine which track (Subject A or ESL) is a more appropriate placement. Students placed in the Subject A track may satisfy the Subject A requirement by following the guidelines listed above. If students are placed in the ESL track, they must complete the requirement by taking the designated courses through the ESL track.

Nonnative-speaking transfer students with grades of B or better in the English Composition 3 and English 4 equivalent courses at their transfer institution are exempt from the ESL requirement. Other students must take the ESLPE and may be required to take one or more ESL courses beginning in their first term in residence at UCLA to satisfy the ESL requirement.

Results of the ESLPE are used to determine placement into the required sequence of ESL courses or exemption from the ESL requirement. In the case of a nonpassing score on the examination, students are placed in one or more of the credit-bearing courses -- English as a Second Language 33A, 33B, 33C, and 35. Students must begin taking courses during their first term in residence at UCLA and must complete the courses in sequence with grades of C or better (C- or a Passed grade is not acceptable). All units are applied toward graduation but cannot be applied toward general education requirements. Certain ESL courses fulfill major requisite requirements and provide upper division elective units.

American History and Institutions

The American History and Institutions requirement is based on the principle that a U.S. citizen attending an American university should understand the history and public institutions of the U.S. under the federal and state constitutions. Candidates for a bachelor's degree must satisfy the requirement in American History and Institutions by one of the following methods:

1. Completing a year's course in American history or American government, or a one-year combination of both, in high school with an average grade of B or better OR

2. Completing any one of the following UCLA courses with a grade of C or better, or a grade of Passed:

• Afro-American Studies M104A, M104B, M104C, M158A, M158B, M158C, M158E
• Asian American Studies M153
• Chicana and Chicano Studies M159A, M159B
• Economics 183
• English 80, 85, M104A, M104B, M104C, 115A, 170A, 170B, 171A, 171B, 172A, 172B, 173A, 173B, 173C, 174A, 174B, 174C
• Geography 136
• History 13A, 13B, 13C, 145A, 145B, 146, 147A, 147B, 147C, 148A, 148B, 148C, 149A, 149B, 150A, 150B, 150C, 151A, 151B, 152A, 152B, M153, 154A, 154B, 154C, 154D, 155A, 155B, 156A through 156H, 157A, 157B, M158A through M158E, M159A, M159B, 160A, 160B, 161, 162, 163, 164
• Political Science 40, 114A, 114B, 140A, 140B, 140C, 142A, 143A, 143B, 145B, 145C, 146A
• Equivalent courses completed in UCLA Extension or at another college institution, and accepted by the Board of Admissions, may be used to fulfill the requirement OR