Change of Major and Change of College (ENGR)

Current UCSB students, admitted as freshmen, in a non-engineering major or engineering majors, admitted as freshmen, who wish to change from one engineering major to another, are welcome to apply after the satisfactory completion of a pre-defined set of coursework. However, due to the current demand for engineering majors, students are cautioned that it is a very competitive process and not all applicants will be able to change their majors due to limited space availability.

Students who enter UCSB as transfer students are only permitted to major in a College of Engineering major if they were directly admitted into that specific major when they matriculated as a transfer student. Transfer students may not petition to change into, switch between, or add an engineering major.

Notwithstanding any of the major-specific requirements described below, we caution that the capacity of any given program to accept new students changes, sometimes substantially, from year to year. It is incumbent upon students to continue to make progress in a backup major while pursuing a new major in the College of Engineering, and to periodically consult academic advisors in both the desired major as well as the backup major regarding the viability of pursuing the change of major.

Students admitted to Fall 2022 and prior years: Students who began as freshmen who plan to enter an engineering major or to change from one engineering major to another will be expected to complete at least 30 units at UCSB before petitioning for a change of major and must satisfy the prerequisites of the perspective major. Students who have completed more than 105 units will not be considered for a change of major/change of college in engineering or computer science.

Students admitted to Fall 2023: Students who began as freshmen who plan to enter an engineering major or to change from one engineering major to another will be expected to complete at least 30 units at UCSB before petitioning for a change of major. The College of Engineering will not approve students' change of major petitions (within the COE or from a different college at UCSB) after they have completed six regular quarters (not including summer), regardless of their expected total number of units accrued or total quarters complete at the time of graduation. Students may be in their last required change of major course(s) in their sixth quarter. Some majors require that students be accepted to their major before their sixth regular quarter. The college will not approve exceptions to the requirements listed here or on the individual major websites. Please see below for specific requirements and details for each major. Students who take a break from UCSB and complete courses at another institution will have those terms counted toward their completed quarters.

See the Change of Major website for specific requirements for each College of Engineering major.