Navigating the UCLA Computer Science Major Requirements
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) offers comprehensive undergraduate programs in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and Computer Science and Engineering. These programs are designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to excel in the rapidly evolving fields of computing and technology. This article outlines the requirements for these majors, including core coursework, technical breadth, capstone projects, and minor options.
Computer Science and Engineering Major
The computer science and engineering curriculum at UCLA provides students with the education and training necessary to design, implement, test, and utilize the hardware and software of digital computers and digital systems. The curriculum has components spanning both the Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering departments. Within the curriculum students study all aspects of computer systems from electronic design through logic design, MSI, LSI, and VLSI concepts and device utilization, machine language design, implementation and programming, operating system concepts, systems programming, networking fundamentals, higher-level language skills, and application of these to systems.
Capstone Experience
The Computer Science and Engineering major is a designated capstone major. Computer Science and Engineering students complete a major product design course. This capstone experience allows students to integrate their knowledge and skills acquired throughout the program to create innovative solutions to real-world problems.
Technical Breadth
Complete three technical breadth courses (12 units) selected from approved lists available on the technical breadth web page. Credit is not allowed for both Computer Science 170A and Electrical and Computer Engineering 133A unless at least one of them is applied as part of the technical breadth area. Electrical and Computer Engineering 110, 131A, and CM182 may not satisfy elective credit. A petition may be submitted to consider four units of Computer Science 194 or 199 for an elective. A multiple-listed (M) course offered in another department may be used instead of the same computer science course (e.g., Electrical and Computer Engineering M116C may be taken instead of Computer Science M151B).
Computer Science Major
The computer science curriculum is designed to accommodate students who want professional preparation in computer science but do not necessarily have a strong interest in computer systems hardware. The curriculum consists of components in computer science, a minor or technical support area, and a core of courses from the social sciences, life sciences, and humanities. Within the curriculum, students study subject matter in software engineering, principles of programming languages, data structures, computer architecture, theory of computation and formal languages, operating systems, distributed systems, computer modeling, computer networks, compiler construction, and artificial intelligence.
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Capstone Experience
The Computer Science major is a designated capstone major. Students complete either a software engineering or a major product design course. Students must take at least one course from Computer Science 130 or 132.
Course Considerations
Credit is not allowed for both Computer Science 170A and Electrical and Computer Engineering 133A unless at least one of them is applied as part of the science and technology requirement or as part of the technical breadth area. A petition may be submitted to consider four units of Computer Science 194 or 199 for an elective. A multiple-listed (M) course offered in another department may be used instead of the same computer science course (e.g., Electrical and Computer Engineering M116C may be taken instead of Computer Science M151B).
Computer Engineering Major
The computer engineering curriculum provides all computer engineering students with preparation in the mathematical and scientific disciplines that lead to a set of courses that span the fundamentals of the discipline in the major areas of data science and embedded networked systems. These collectively provide an understanding of many inventions of importance to our society, such as the Internet of Things, human-cyber-physical systems, mobile/wearable/implantable systems, robotic systems, and more generally smart systems at all scales in diverse spheres. The design of hardware, software, and algorithmic elements of such systems represents an already dominant and rapidly growing part of the computer engineering profession.
Capstone Experience
The Computer Engineering major is a designated capstone major that is jointly administered by the Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering departments. Undergraduate students complete a design course in which they integrate their knowledge of the discipline and engage in creative design within realistic and professional constraints. Students apply their knowledge and expertise gained in previous mathematics, science, and engineering coursework.
Specialization Tracks
Complete 19 courses as follows. Students may choose to specialize in Networked Embedded Systems or Data Science, or design ad hoc tracks.
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Networked Embedded Systems
This track targets two related trends that have been a significant driver of computing, namely stand-alone embedded devices becoming networked and coupled to physical systems, and the Internet evolving toward a network of things (the IoT). These may broadly be classified as cyber physical systems, and includes a broad category of systems such as smart buildings, autonomous vehicles, and robots, which interact with each other and other systems.
Data Science
This track targets the trend toward the disruptive impact on computing systems, both at the edge and in the cloud, of massive amounts of sensory data being collected, shared, processed, and used for decision making and control. Application domains such as health, transportation, energy, etc. are being transformed by the abilities of inference-making and decision-making from sensory data that is pervasive, continual, and rich. Students are also free to design ad hoc tracks.
Technical Breadth
The technical breadth area requirement provides an opportunity to combine elective courses in electrical and computer engineering and computer science with those from another UCLA Samueli major to produce a specialization in an interdisciplinary domain.
Bioinformatics Minor
The Bioinformatics minor introduces undergraduate students to the emerging interdisciplinary field of bioinformatics, an active area of research at UCLA combining elements of the computational sciences with the biological sciences. The minor organizes the many course offerings in different UCLA departments into a coherent course plan providing students with significant training in bioinformatics in addition to the training they obtain from their major.
Requirements
To enter the minor, students must be (1) in good academic standing (2.0 grade-point average or better), (2) have completed at least two of the lower-division requirements with minimum grades of C, and (3) file a petition through Message Center. Complete the following four courses. Complete either Computer Science 180 or Mathematics 182; Computer Science M184; two additional computer science courses; and one elective course. All minor courses must be taken for a letter grade (unless not offered on that grading basis), and students must have a minimum grade of C- in each and an overall C (2.0) grade-point average in all courses taken for the minor.
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Data Science Minor
The minor is intended to expose students to the entire data science life cycle from both foundational and application perspectives. The foundational courses provide the engineering skills to collect, cleanse, and store data; analyze and draw inference from data; and take action and make decisions. To apply for the minor, students must have an overall grade-point average of 3.0 or better, have completed or be in the process of completing in the present quarter the two lower-division required courses with the grade B- or better, and file a petition through Message Center. Select two courses from following list. Electrical and Computer Engineering 183DA and 183DB must both be taken to satisfy the requirement. Each minor course must be taken for a letter grade, and student must have a minimum grade of C in each and an overall grade-point average of 2.0 or better in the minor.
Science and Technology Requirement
UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, COURSES FROM THE SCI-TECH AREAS BELOW MUST BE UPPER DIVISION COURSES (100 LEVEL OR HIGHER) IN ORDER TO APPLY. FOR MOST AREAS, ANY UPPER DIVISION COURSE IS APPLICABLE TO THIS REQUIREMENT. Enrollment access to the departments listed below is at the respective department’s discretion. There is no guarantee of access to the courses. For many, enrollment is restricted for 1st pass. For this reason, we STRONGLY RECOMMEND that you begin your sci-tech coursework NO LATER THAN THE BEGINNING OF YOUR JUNIOR YEAR, particularly if you are pursuing an area outside of Engineering.
Specific Course Information
- COMPUTER SCIENCE: STUDENTS FOLLOWING THE FALL 2025 CATALOG REQUIREMENTS ARE NOT ELIGIBLE TO COMPLETE THIS OPTION FOR THEIR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENT.
- FILM & TV: FILM TV 122K, C148, C152C, 155, 181A, 181C, 483A, 489A, 224. Other courses subject to review; please attach syllabi and petition in advance of taking courses.
- GEOGRAPHY: GEOG 180 (formerly 167), 181A (formerly 168), 181B (formerly 170), 181C (formerly 173) 182A (formerly 169), 182B (formerly 172) , 184 (formerly 166), and M186 (formerly M171) only.
- LIFE SCIENCE PREP: CHEM 20A, 20B, 30A, LIFESCI 7A.
- MANAGEMENT: Effective Fall 2021, ENGR courses that are part of the Technology Management Technical Breadth Area DO NOT need to be petitioned to apply toward this sci-tech area. If your DARS does not auto-populate these classes, please submit a petition to have your DARS corrected.
- MUSIC INDUSTRY ENGINEERING: EC ENGR 102, MSC IND M103, 104A, 107A, 107B, 114, 115A, 116A, 116B, 125, 155, 181, MUSC C176, NEUROSCI 17. Other courses subject to review; please attach syllabi and petition in advance of taking courses.
- PSYCHOLOGY: PSYCH 110, PSYCH 120A, PSYCH 124C, PSYCH 130, PSYCH 133A, PSYCH 133B, PSYCH 133C, PSYCH 133E, PSYCH 135, PSYCH 137A, PSYCH 137C, PSYCH 137D, PSYCH 137I, PSYCH 137J, PSYCH 150, PSYCH 152, PSYCH 161, and PSYCH 167 only EFFECTIVE WINTER 2024. Other courses subject to review; please attach syllabi and petition in advance of taking courses. NOTE: Due to a coding error in DARS that was corrected at the end of Fall 2023, you may have taken upper division PSYCH courses for your sci tech area that were not on the approved list. For classes taken in Fall 2023 or earlier, we are allowing upper division PSYCH classes that are not on the approved list to be counted toward the sci tech requirement as an exception to this policy.
- ELECTRICAL & COMPUTER ENGINEERING: For students in the Fall 2025 catalog year or later, EC ENGR M148 is not accepted as a science and technology requirement elective.
- TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY: COMM 121, 151, 154, 156, 159 (formerly 188C), COM SCI 188 (HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION), DGT HUM 101, 110, 120, 125, 131, 140, M145, 150, 151, 199, M221, SOCIOL 111. Other courses subject to review; please attach syllabi and petition in advance of taking courses.
Important Considerations
- Effective Fall 2018, DESMA is not a listed Sci-Tech Option because of the enrollment stress on this small department. If you have already started taking some of these courses prior to Fall 18, you may propose other dept courses that make sense for this area e.g. CS 174A or 188 (Depending on the topic).
- Look ahead to your electives. Are any of the ones you want to take offered only once a year? Don’t take CS 111 and 131 in the same quarter.
- This is a TENTATIVE plan that may change quarter to quarter. It may look different from the 4 yr plan in the back of the Announcement and it may look different from your fellow CS or CSE major. That is okay.
Additional Notes for Continuing Students
- 5/12/2025 - IF YOU ARE A CS MAJOR CONTINUING ENROLLMENT IN FALL 2025 THAT IS INTERESTED IN CHANGING FROM YOUR CURRENT CATALOG TO THE NEW CATALOG REQUIREMENTS DETAILED BELOW, PLEASE SUBMIT THIS FORM BY FRIDAY, JUNE 13TH, 2025.
- If you have met the requisite via transfer or substitution credit, Submit a message to Academic Counselor via myUCLA Message Center. Submit this early in your enrollment. We may be able to get you into the class before the quarter starts.
General Information
For information on UC, school, and general education requirements, see Requirements for B.S.
The UCLA General Catalog is published annually in PDF and HTML formats. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information presented in the UCLA General Catalog. However, all courses, course descriptions, instructor designations, curricular degree requirements, and fees described herein are subject to change or deletion without notice. Consult this Catalog for the most current, officially approved courses and curricula.
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