UC, Campus, College & Major requirements are courses you're required to take. These are sometimes referred to as "subject" requirements.

• Entry Level Writing
• American Cultures
• American History and American Institutions

Transfer students: Completing the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) will satisfy the Entry Level Writing requirement. American Cultures and American History and American Institutions may be completed at a community college but are not automatically satisfied with IGETC. Please review the information linked above on how to satisfy these requirements.

UC, Campus, College & Major requirements are courses you're required to take. These are sometimes referred to as "subject" requirements.

Unit Requirements for Graduation

• Minimum total units: 120
  • PE maximum units:  4
  • Special Studies maximum units: 16
  • Maximum 300-499 course units: 6
• Minimum upper division units: 36

Essential Skills

• Reading and Composition
• Computational Reasoning
• Human and Social Dynamics of Data and Technology
• Statistical Reasoning

Transfer students: Completing the IGETC will satisfy the Reading and Composition Essential Skill. Computational Reasoning, Statistical Reasoning, and Human and Social Dynamics of Data and Technology Essential Skills may be completed at a community college but are not automatically satisfied with IGETC. Please review the information linked above on how to satisfy these requirements.

Breadth Requirements

The undergraduate breadth requirements provide Berkeley students with a rich and varied educational experience outside of their major program. As the foundation of a liberal arts education, breadth courses give students a view into the intellectual life of the University while introducing them to a multitude of perspectives and approaches to research and scholarship. Learn more on the L&S Breadth Requirements page.

Transfer students: Completing the IGETC will satisfy all Breadth Requirements. 

Residency Requirements

For units to be considered in "residence," you must be registered in courses on the Berkeley campus (excluding courses taken through UC Extension) as a student in the College of Computing, Data Science, and Society. Most students automatically fulfill the residence requirement. In general, there is no need to be concerned about this requirement, unless you go abroad for a semester or year or you are considering changing into the College of CDSS after your junior year. In these cases, you should make an appointment to meet a College Advisor to determine whether you can meet the Senior Residence Requirement.

Senior Residence Requirement

After you become a senior (with 90 semester units earned toward your B.A. degree), you must complete:

• At least 24 units in residence as a CDSS student. 
• At least 2 terms in residence as a CDSS student. To count as a term in residence, at least 6 units must be passed.

Modified Senior Residence Requirement

Participants in the UC Education Abroad Program (UCEAP), Berkeley Summer Abroad, Berkeley Global Internships, UC Natural Resource System (NRS), the UC Berkeley Washington Program (UCDC), or the UC Center in Sacramento program (UCCS) may meet the Modified Senior Residence Requirement by completing 24 (excluding EAP or UC Extension) of their final 60 semester units in residence. At least 12 of these 24 units must be completed after you have completed 90 units.

Note: Students who were admitted to UC Berkeley prior to Fall 2024 have the option of completing their CDSS degrees by meeting the College of Letters & Science requirements or the CDSS course requirements, but CDSS policies will apply. For Fall 2024 and onward, newly admitted students must meet CDSS course requirements and policies.

UC, Campus, College & Major requirements are courses you're required to take. These are sometimes referred to as "subject" requirements.

Review major requirements through your major's website and by working with your undergraduate major advisor. You may explore majors through the Academic Guide. For more support finding a major, see the Academics page.

• Computer Science
• Data Science
• Statistics

GPA requirements represent the minimum GPA you must earn in your UC coursework and in your major.

• Minimum 2.0 overall GPA
• Minimum 2.0 GPA in upper division and graduate courses identified for the major

The Dean’s honors list recognizes outstanding academic achievement by undergraduate students each fall and spring semester. Requirements include:

• Completion of 12 or more letter-graded units in that semester, or completion on a letter-graded basis of the minimum number of units approved before the add/drop deadline due to DSP accommodations or other extenuating circumstances.
• A semester GPA in the top 10 percent of all College of Computing, Data Science, and Society undergraduates as determined by the method noted in honors at graduation (high honors cutoff).
• No grades of I, NP or M in that semester.

Dean’s honors are determined approximately three weeks after the semester ends. This honor is noted on the student’s transcript at the end of each eligible semester.

To be eligible for honors in general scholarship at graduation, students must have:

1.  Completed a minimum of 50 units at the University of California (includes UCEAP, UCDC, courses completed at other UCs, and UC Berkeley Extension XB or XBW or Concurrent Enrollment), of which 43 units must have been undertaken for a letter grade
2.  Completed a minimum of 30 units on the Berkeley campus
3.  Achieved a grade-point average ranking in the College of Computing, Data Science, and Society as follows:

• Top 3 percent – highest honors
• Next 7 percent – high honors
• Next 10 percent – honors

At the end of each academic year, the Office of the Registrar shall determine for each school and college the minimum grade-point averages of the top 3 percent, the next 7 percent, and the next 10 percent of the students graduating in that year. These grade-point averages shall serve each school and college as minimal criteria for honors during the next academic year.

Honors to date, or semester honors, is awarded to students who have:

• Completed a minimum of 12 units of letter grades on the Berkeley campus; and
• Achieved an overall grade-point average equal to or greater than the grade-point average in the top 20 percent of the College of Computing, Data Science, and Society as determined by the method noted in honors at graduation.

The notation of honors appears after the grades on your Berkeley record for each semester in which you earn semester honors.

Each of the majors in the College of CDSS offer departmental honors. These programs are open to students at any time, not later than the first semester of the senior year, who have a grade-point average of 3.00 or higher overall, 3.30 or higher in the major program, and meet all other conditions as the Committee on Honors for that major prescribes. 

For more information, visit each major’s webpage or visit your Undergraduate Major Advisor for more information:  

• Computer Science
• Data Science
• Statistics