Academic Residence

Candidates for a bachelor’s degree must be registered in the University for at least three terms to fulfill the University’s academic residence requirement. A term is a regular quarter, including summer session, in which a student completes six or more units of resident (on-campus) courses. Each UC summer session in which a student completes at least two units but fewer than six is the equivalent of half a term’s residence. In this context, summer session refers to the entire summer session period of twelve weeks and not to an individual summer mini-session.

Candidates for a bachelor’s degree must complete at least 35 of the final 45 units in the college or school in which the degree is to be awarded. Courses taken in UC Extension do not satisfy residence requirements. Credit earned at other institutions does not apply to academic residence. This includes coursework students complete at another campus of the University of California, even while simultaneously enrolled at UCSB. In addition, credit earned at UCSB through the intersegmental cross-enrollment option will not apply to academic residence requirements.

Candidates for a bachelor’s degree must complete a campus experience requirement. A minimum of six units of course credits per quarter for three quarters completed by each candidate for the bachelor’s degree must be earned in courses designed to deliver to any enrolled student at least 50 percent of in-person instructional hours on any campus of the University of California. To satisfy this requirement, at least two quarters must be completed during the regular academic year, with no more than one quarter completed during the summer. “In-person” means instructors and students are in the same physical location. “Instructional hours” refer to time when instructors are presenting to or interacting with students during designated class times (e.g., lecture, laboratory, discussion, field work, problem sessions). For the purposes of this regulation, instructional hours do not include office hours, or recorded lectures provided as a supplement to designated hours interacting with students.

College of Creative Studies Residence Requirement

Students in the College of Creative Studies must be enrolled with the College for a minimum of six quarters. Quarters spent in University Extension and those completed in the University's Education Abroad Program do not apply to the residence requirement. Summer quarters do not apply to the residence requirement. Up to one quarter of residency may be waived in certain circumstances, and require approval of the student's faculty adviser and the dean of the College.

Education Abroad (EAP), UC Washington, D.C. (UCDC), and UC Center in Sacramento (UCSAC) Program Participants

With one modification, students who participate in the University of California Education Abroad program or UCDC program or UCSAC program, are responsible for all academic residence requirements as explained above. For students who participate in EAP, UCDC, or UCSAC as seniors, the rule requiring 35 of the final 45 units in the college or school in which the degree is to be awarded is modified to 35 of the final 90 units. Students must secure prior approval to use this modification and may graduate without returning to UCSB provided that they have satisfied all degree requirements by the end of their year abroad. Those who have any remaining degree requirements must return to UCSB to complete a minimum of 12 units on campus while fulfilling final degree requirements.

Undergraduate University Requirements

Subpages

Overview