College of Letters and Science: Academic Minors

Students may pursue an academic minor in addition to their major under a formal minors program offered by an individual department or program, or a multidisciplinary group of departments and/or programs. Completing a minor offers students a cohesive supplement to their major, reflecting well-rounded interests and course of study. In addition, a minor program often helps students to structure their choice of elective units as they fulfill the college's unit requirements. To ensure appropriate advising and planning, students who are considering a minor should consult the sponsoring department as soon as possible. They must request that the department confirm completion of the minor no later than the second week of the quarter in which they announce candidacy to graduate.

The minor is not listed on the diploma, but it will be posted on the official transcript at the time of graduation, provided the following conditions also are met:

• The sponsoring department reports the student's completion of the minor prior to the posting of the degree.
• The student has completed at least 18 upper-division quarter units pertinent to the minor. (Waivers cannot reduce the requirement below this number.)
• The UC grade-point average in pertinent upper-division courses is 2.0 or higher.
• No more than 5 upper-division units overlap between this minor and the upper-division portion of the student's major(s) or other minor(s). If overlap is greater with the student's major(s), the completion of the minor will not be formally recognized; if overlap with other minor(s) is greater, only the first minor reported will be noted on the transcript.
• The student has completed at least 12 of the upper-division units for the minor while in residence at UCSB. Courses applied to the major residence requirement may not also be applied to the minor residence requirement.

See College of Letters and Science for more information.