Social Welfare

About the Program

An international leader in social work practice and social policy, Berkeley Social Welfare has prepared over 11,000 social work professionals and social welfare scholars for a range of leadership, research, teaching, and advanced practice roles. Since 1942 we have offered the undergraduate major in Social Welfare leading to the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree, under the jurisdiction of the College of Letters & Science. Berkeley Social Welfare's B.A. degree program was ranked #1 by USA Today College Factual in 2016.

Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Social Welfare

The Social Welfare undergraduate major emphasizes an educational experience that is grounded in the liberal arts rather than specialized training in the profession of social work—thus its designation as a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree, and not the professional Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree. 

The Undergraduate Social Welfare major reflects Berkeley Social Welfare’s goal to provide Berkeley undergraduate students with a broad-based introduction to America’s social welfare problems and social policies within a social science context. Students gain knowledge of organized networks of public and private social services, and the basic practice methods associated with the social work profession. In doing so, students acquire the knowledge needed to understand, address, and actively participate in the amelioration of critical social problems in American society.

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Major Requirements

Prerequisite Entry Requirements

Students interested in declaring the Social Welfare major should thoroughly explore the Social Welfare field as a major; become familiar with the curriculum and its required sequence; and complete the prerequisite entry requirements as soon as possible.

Social Welfare is a high-demand major. Prerequisites are strictly enforced and enrollment controls are in place for required courses to manage student demand. There are also limitations on the number of major declarations we are able to accommodate each year. 

Before petitioning to declare the Social Welfare major, students must complete all of the prerequisites listed below. Prerequisites should be completed as soon as possible since student demand for the Social Welfare major currently exceeds the total number of majors we are able to accommodate.

All prerequisite courses must be successfully completed with a minimum letter grade of C. Prerequisites can be satisfied at Berkeley, or through IGETC or UC Reciprocity for transfer students. High school AP scores that are high enough to provide credit for university units can be accepted in place of a prerequisite class.

1. Fulfillment of the L&S Reading and Composition (R&C) Requirement:
   The College of Letters & Science (L&S) requires two semesters of lower division work in composition, Reading and Composition (R&C), parts A and B, in sequential order. All undergraduates must complete the R&C requirement by the end of their fourth semester. 
2. Fulfillment of the L&S Quantitative Reasoning Requirement OR a Berkeley Data Science Course:
   All L&S students must complete a minimum of three (3) units of approved Quantitative Reasoning coursework in math, statistics, or computer science. This requirement may be satisfied by exam or by taking an approved course. The prerequisite entry requirement for the Social Welfare major may also be satisfied by taking a Berkeley Data Science course.
3. Introductory Psychology:
   PSYCH 1 or PSYCH 2, or equivalent.
4. Introductory Sociology:
   SOCIOL 1 or SOCIOL 3AC, or equivalent.

When and How to Declare the Major

Students must be accepted into and declared in the Social Welfare major in order to be eligible for enrollment in the introductory course SOC WEL 110. Because enrollment in SOC WEL 110 is restricted to majors, students should be declared by the time the pre-enrollment period begins ahead of the semester in which they plan to take SOC WEL 110.

Students may petition to declare the Social Welfare major as soon as they have completed the prerequisite entry requirements. Students who enter UC Berkeley as freshmen and intend to major in Social Welfare should complete prerequisites and declare the major as soon as possible. Past trends indicate a student should complete the prerequisites by the end of their 3rd semester to declare the major in a timely manner for graduation within eight semesters at Berkeley. All students must declare a major before the beginning of their Junior year, or the College of Letters and Science may block registration. Also, because Social Welfare is currently a high-demand major, all students must petition to declare the Social Welfare major by the time they have accrued 80 units, including work in progress (AP, IB, and college units earned before high school graduation are excluded from the 80-unit accrual total). Transfer students must declare a major by the start of their second semester at Berkeley, or the College of Letters & Science may block registration.

Students are eligible to submit the Petition to Declare e-Form once they have satisfied all of the prerequisite entry requirements and received a letter grade for each course. Petitions must include unofficial transcripts and a 4-year program plan indicating how the applicant intends to complete the major requirements by their expected graduation date. For assistance with program planning, please make plans to meet with a major advisor or attend an information session. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Degree Requirements

To earn the Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Welfare, students must satisfy all requirements of the University of California, the Berkeley campus and the College of Letters & Science (see College Requirements tab), in addition to the requirements for the Social Welfare major.  

Social Welfare majors must complete four required upper division social welfare courses and a minimum of five approved social science electives, totaling at least 18 units, from other departments.

All courses used to fulfill major requirements must be taken for a letter grade in order to graduate. Social Welfare majors must earn a minimum 2.0 GPA in all courses taken to fulfill major requirements.

Upper Division Core Course Requirements

Course List

Code	Title	Units
Required Core Courses
SOC WEL 110	Social Work As a Profession	3
SOC WEL 112	Social Welfare Policy	3
SOC WEL 114	Practice in Social Work	3
SOC WEL 116	Current Topics in Social Welfare (or Approved Upper-Division or Graduate Course in Social Welfare)	2
Social Science Electives
Select a minimum of five approved, upper-division social science electives, totaling at least 18 units (see below)

Social Science Electives

All Social Welfare majors must complete 5 approved electives that will total a minimum of 18 units. All social sciences elective courses used to fulfill this requirement for the Social Welfare B.A. major must be selected from the following Master List of Approved Social Sciences Courses and taken for a letter grade. There are no restrictions on what departments may be chosen from the Master List.  

Approved Social Sciences Courses for Social Welfare Majors pt. 1

Course List

Code	Title	Units
Anthropology
ANTHRO 112	Special Topics in Biological Anthropology	4
ANTHRO 115	Introduction to Medical Anthropology	4
ANTHRO 119	Special Topics in Medical Anthropology	4
ANTHRO 121C	Historical Archaeology: Historical Artifact Identification and Analysis	4
ANTHRO 137	Energy, Culture and Social Organization	4
ANTHRO 141	Comparative Society	4
ANTHRO 147A	Anthropology of Gender	4
ANTHRO C147B	Sexuality, Culture, and Colonialism	4
ANTHRO 149	Psychological Anthropology	4
ANTHRO 156B	Culture and Power	4
ANTHRO 157	Anthropology of Law	4
ANTHRO 158	Religion and Anthropology	4
ANTHRO 189	Special Topics in Social/Cultural Anthropology	4
Economics
ECON 100A	Microeconomics	4
ECON 100B	Macroeconomics	4
ECON 101A	Microeconomics (Math Intensive)	4
ECON 101B	Macroeconomics (Math Intensive)	4
ECON 105	History of Economic Thought	4
ECON C110	Game Theory in the Social Sciences	4
ECON 113	U.S Economic History	4
ECON 115	The World Economy in the Twentieth Century	4
ECON 119	Psychology and Economics	4
ECON 121	Industrial Organization and Public Policy	4
ECON C125	Environmental Economics	4
ECON 131	Public Economics	4
ECON 151	Labor Economics	4
ECON 152	Wage Theory and Policy	4
ECON 153	Labor Economics Seminar	4
ECON 155	Urban Economics	3
ECON 157	Health Economics	4
ECON C171	Development Economics	4
ECON 174	Global Poverty and Impact Evaluation	4
ECON C175	Economic Demography	4
Political Science
POL SCI 102	The American Presidency	4
POL SCI 103	Congress	4
POL SCI 104	Political Parties	4
POL SCI 105	The Politician	4
POL SCI 106A	American Politics: Campaign Strategy - Media	4
POL SCI 118AC	Three American Cultures	4
POL SCI 122A	Politics of European Integration	4
POL SCI 123M	Conflict Management	4
POL SCI 124C	Ethics and Justice in International Affairs	4
POL SCI C131A	Applied Econometrics and Public Policy	4
POL SCI C135	Game Theory in the Social Sciences	4
POL SCI 137A	Revolutionary Change	4
POL SCI 138E	The Varieties of Capitalism: Political Economic Systems of the World	4
POL SCI 147G	The Welfare State in Comparative Perspective	4
POL SCI 150	The American Legal System	4
POL SCI 157A	Constitutional Law of the United States	4
POL SCI 157B	Constitutional Law of the United States	4
POL SCI 161	Public Opinion, Voting and Participation	4
POL SCI 164A	Political Psychology and Involvement	4
POL SCI 166	Latinos and the U.S. Political System	4
POL SCI 167AC	Racial and Ethnic Politics in the New American Century	4
POL SCI 171	California Politics	4
POL SCI 175A	Urban and Metropolitan Government and Politics	4
POL SCI 181	Public Organization and Administration	4
POL SCI 186	Public Problems	4
Psychology
PSYCH 106	Psychology of Dreams	3
PSYCH 109	History of Psychology	3
PSYCH C120	Basic Issues in Cognition	3
PSYCH 130	Clinical Psychology	3
PSYCH 131	Developmental Psychopathology	3
PSYCH 132	Applied Early Developmental Psychopathology	3
PSYCH 133	Psychology of Sleep	3
PSYCH 135	Treating Mental Illness: Development, Evaluation, and Dissemination	3
PSYCH 136	Human Sexuality	3
PSYCH 139	Case Studies in Clinical Psychology	3
PSYCH N140	Developmental Psychology	3
PSYCH 141	Development During Infancy	3
PSYCH 142	Applied Early Developmental Psychology	3
PSYCH 149	Early Development & Learning Science Core Seminar	3
PSYCH 150	Psychology of Personality	3
PSYCH 156	Human Emotion	3
PSYCH 160	Social Psychology	3
PSYCH 164	Social Cognition	3
PSYCH 166AC	Cultural Psychology	3
PSYCH 167AC	Stigma and Prejudice	3
PSYCH 169	Love & Close Relationships	3
PSYCH 180	Industrial-Organizational Psychology	3
Social Welfare
SOC WEL 105	Introduction to Child Welfare in California and the U.S.	2
SOC WEL 107	Foundations, Philanthropy, and the Social Services: Grant Writing for Program Development	3
SOC WEL 148	Substance Abuse Treatment	2
SOC WEL 150AC	Race, Ethnic Relations, and Social Welfare in the United States	3
SOC WEL 150L	Sexuality and Social Work	2
SOC WEL 181	Social Science and Crime Prevention Policy	3
SOC WEL 185AC	Prison Abolition	4
SOC WEL 186	Domestic Violence	2
Sociology
SOCIOL 110	Organizations and Social Institutions	4
SOCIOL 111	Sociology of the Family	4
SOCIOL 111AC	Sociology of the Family	4
SOCIOL 111C	Sociology of Childhood	4
SOCIOL 111P	Families, Inequality and Social Policy	4
SOCIOL 113AC	Sociology of Education	4
SOCIOL C115	Sociology of Health and Medicine	4
SOCIOL 114	Sociology of Law	4
SOCIOL 116	Sociology of Work	4
SOCIOL 117	Sport As a Social Institution	4
SOCIOL 120	Economy and Society	4
SOCIOL 121	Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Social and Cultural Context	4
SOCIOL 124	Sociology of Poverty	4
SOCIOL C126	Sex, Death, and Data	4
SOCIOL 127	Development and Globalization	4
SOCIOL 130	Social Inequalities	4
SOCIOL 130AC	Social Inequalities: American Cultures	4
SOCIOL 131	Race and Ethnic Relations: The United States Experience	4
SOCIOL 131AC	Race and Ethnic Relations: U.S. American Cultures	4
SOCIOL 131F	Four Centuries of Black-White Relations in the United States	4
SOCIOL 133	Sociology of Gender	4
SOCIOL 135	Sexual Cultures	4
SOCIOL 136	Urban Sociology	4
SOCIOL 137AC	Environmental Justice: Race, Class, Equity, and the Environment	4
SOCIOL 139	Selected Topics in Social Inequality	4
SOCIOL 140	Politics and Social Change	4
SOCIOL 145	Social Change	4
SOCIOL 145AC	Social Change: American Cultures	4
SOCIOL 145L	Social Change in Latin America	4
SOCIOL 146	Contemporary Immigration in Global Perspective	4
SOCIOL 148	Social Policy	4
SOCIOL 150	Social Psychology	4
SOCIOL 152	Deviance and Social Control	4
SOCIOL 160	Sociology of Culture	4
SOCIOL 165	Social Networks	4
SOCIOL 166	Society and Technology	4
SOCIOL 167	Virtual Communities/Social Media	4
SOCIOL 169	Selected Topics in Sociology of Culture	4
SOCIOL 180C	Comparative Perspectives on U.S. and European Societies: Culture	4
SOCIOL 180I	Comparative Perspectives on U.S. and European Societies: Inequality	4
SOCIOL 185	Global Sociology	3
SOCIOL 186	American Society	4
SOCIOL 189	Selected Topics in Comparative Perspectives	4

Approved Social Sciences Courses for Social Welfare Majors pt. 2

Course List

Code	Title	Units
African-American Studies
AFRICAM 107	Race and Public Policy	3
AFRICAM 109	Black and Male in American Life	3
AFRICAM 111	Race, Class, and Gender in the United States	3
AFRICAM 115	Language and Social Issues in Africa	3
AFRICAM 116	Slavery and African American Life Before 1865	4
AFRICAM 117	African Americans in the Industrial Age, 1865-1970	4
AFRICAM 121	Black Political Life in the United States	4
AFRICAM 122	African American Families in American Society	3
AFRICAM W124	The Philosophy of Martin Luther King	3
AFRICAM 125	History of the Civil Rights Movement	4
AFRICAM 131	Caribbean Societies and Cultures	3
AFRICAM C133A	What is the Role of Race in Urban Schools?	3
AFRICAM 136	Criminal Justice and the Community	3
AFRICAM 137	Multicultural Communities	3
AFRICAM 138	Black Nationalism	4
AFRICAM 139	Selected Topics of African American Social Organization and Institutions	1-4
AFRICAM C156	Race, Space, and Inequality	4
AFRICAM 112A	Political and Economic Development in the Third World	4
American Studies
AMERSTD 101	Examining U.S. Cultures in Time	4
AMERSTD 102	Examining U.S. Cultures in Place	4
Art Practice
ART 165	Art, Medicine, and Disabilities	4
Asian-American Studies
ASAMST 121	Chinese American History	4
ASAMST 122	Japanese American History	4
ASAMST 123	Korean American History	4
ASAMST 124	Filipino American History	4
ASAMST 125	Contemporary Issues of Southeast Asian Refugees in the U.S	4
ASAMST 126	Southeast Asian Migration and Community Formation	4
ASAMST 127	South Asian American Historical and Contemporary Issues	4
ASAMST 128AC	Muslims in America	4
ASAMST 132	Islamaphobia and Constructing Otherness	4
ASAMST 141	Law in the Asian American Community	4
ASAMST 145AC	Politics, Public Policy, and Asian American Communities	4
ASAMST 146	Asian Americans and Education	4
ASAMST 150	Gender and Generation in Asian American Families	4
ASAMST 151	Asian American Women: Theory and Experience	4
Business Administration-Undergraduate
UGBA 107	The Social, Political, and Ethical Environment of Business	3
UGBA 192A	Leading Nonprofit and Social Enterprises	3
Chicano Studies
CHICANO 135A	Latino Narrative Film: to the 1980s	4
CHICANO 135B	Latino Narrative Film Since 1990	4
CHICANO 150B	History of the Southwest: Mexican-United States War to Present	4
CHICANO 159	Mexican Immigration	4
CHICANO 161	Central American Peoples and Cultures	4
CHICANO 165	Cuba, the United States and Cuban Americans	4
CHICANO 172	Chicanos and the Educational System	4
CHICANO 174	Chicanos, Law, and Criminal Justice	4
CHICANO 176	Chicanos and Health Care	3
CHICANO 180	Topics in Chicano Studies	1-4
City & Regional Planning
CY PLAN 110	Introduction to City Planning	4
CY PLAN 113B	Community and Economic Development	4
CY PLAN 114	Introduction to Urban and Regional Transportation	3
CY PLAN 118AC	The Urban Community	4
CY PLAN 119	Planning for Sustainability	4
CY PLAN 120	Community Planning and Public Policy for Disability	3
Demography
DEMOG 145AC	The American Immigrant Experience	4
DEMOG C164	Impact of Government Policies on Poor Children and Families	4
DEMOG C165	Family and Household in Comparative Perspective	3
DEMOG C175	Economic Demography	4
Education
EDUC 114A	Early Development and Education	4
EDUC 140AC	The Art of Making Meaning: Educational Perspectives on Literacy and Learning in a Global World	4
EDUC W153	Research in Education: Studying Educational Inequality and Possibility	4
EDUC C181	What is the Role of Race in Urban Schools?	3
EDUC 182AC	The Politics of Educational Inequality	4
EDUC 185	Gender and Education: International Perspectives	3
EDUC 186AC	The Southern Border	4
EDUC 188F	Language, Race, and Power in Education	3
EDUC 189	Democracy and Education	4
EDUC 190	Critical Studies in Education	4
EDUC 191B	Gender Issues in Education	3
EDUC C193A	Environmental Education	3
Environmental Science, Policy & Management
ESPM 161	Environmental Philosophy and Ethics	4
ESPM 163AC	Environmental Justice: Race, Class, Equity, and the Environment	4
ESPM C167	Environmental Health and Development	4
Ethnic Studies
ETH STD 126	Ethnicity, Gender, and Sexuality	4
ETH STD 130	The Making of Multicultural America: A Comparative Historical Perspective	4
ETH STD 135	Contemporary U.S. Immigration	4
ETH STD 136	Immigrant Women	4
ETH STD 141	Racial Politics in America	4
ETH STD 144AC	Racism and the U.S. Law: Historical Treatment of Peoples of Color	4
ETH STD 147	Women of Color in the United States	4
ETH STD 150	People of Mixed Racial Descent	4
ETH STD 159AC	The Southern Border	4
ETH STD 181AC	Prison Abolition	4
Gender & Women's Studies
GWS 100AC	Women in American Culture	3
GWS 103	Identities Across Difference	4
GWS 111	Special Topics (Advanced Approval Required)	1-4
GWS 130AC	Gender, Race, Nation, and Health	4
GWS 132AC	Gender, Race, and Law	4
GWS 139	Why Work? Gender and Labor Under Capitalism	4
GWS 143	Women, Proverty, and Globalization	4
GWS C146A	Cultural Representations of Sexualities: Queer Literary Culture	4
GWS C146B	Cultural Representations of Sexualities: Queer Visual Culture	4
GWS 155	Gender and Transnational Migration	4
Global Poverty & Practice
GPP 115	Global Poverty: Challenges and Hopes	4
Health & Medical Sciences
HMEDSCI C133	Death, Dying, and Modern Medicine: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives	4
History
HISTORY 111B	Topics in the History of Southeast Asia: Modern Southeast Asia	4
HISTORY 111C	Topics in the History of Southeast Asia: Political and Cultural History of Vietnam	4
HISTORY 114B	India: Modern South Asia	4
HISTORY 120AC	American Environmental and Cultural History	4
HISTORY 125A	African American History and Race Relations: 1450-1860	4
HISTORY 125B	African American History and Race Relations: 1860-2016	4
HISTORY 127AC	California	4
HISTORY 131B	Social History of the United States: Creating Modern American Society: From the End of the Civil War	4
HISTORY 136	Gender Matters in 20th Century America	4
HISTORY 137AC	Immigrants and Immigration as U.S. History	4
HISTORY C139B	The American Immigrant Experience	4
HISTORY C139C	Civil Rights and Social Movements in U.S. History	4
HISTORY C139D	From Civil Rights Era to the New Gilded Age	4
HISTORY 140B	Mexico: Modern Mexico	4
HISTORY 141B	Social History of Latin America: Social History of Modern Latin America	4
HISTORY 146	Latin American Women	4
HISTORY C191	Death, Dying, and Modern Medicine: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives	4
Interdisciplinary Studies Field
ISF 100A	Introduction to Social Theory and Cultural Analysis	4
ISF 100B	Interdisciplinary Theories of the Self and Identity	4
Legal Studies
LEGALST 102	Policing and Society	4
LEGALST 132AC	Immigration and Citizenship	4
LEGALST 145	Law and Economics I	4
LEGALST 147	Law and Economics II	4
LEGALST 151	Law, Self, and Society	3
LEGALST 155	Government and the Family	4
LEGALST 160	Punishment, Culture, and Society	4
LEGALST 163	Adolescence, Crime and Juvenile Justice	4
LEGALST 168	Sex, Reproduction and the Law	4
LEGALST 170	Crime and Criminal Justice	4
LEGALST 181	Psychology and the Law	4
LEGALST 182	Law, Politics and Society	4
LEGALST 183	Psychology of Diversity and Discrimination in American Law	4
LEGALST 184	Sociology of Law	4
LEGALST 185AC	Course Not Available	4
LEGALST 187	Diversity, Law & Politics	4
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Studies
LGBT 100	Special Topics	4
LGBT 145	Interpreting the Queer Past: Methods and Problems in the History of Sexuality	4
LGBT 146	Cultural Representations of Sexuality	4
LGBT C146B	Cultural Representations of Sexualities: Queer Visual Culture	4
LGBT C147B	Sexuality, Culture, and Colonialism	4
LGBT C148	Ethnicity, Gender, and Sexuality	4
Native American Studies
NATAMST 100	Native American Law	4
NATAMST 101	Native American Tribal Governments	4
NATAMST 149	Gender in Native American Society	4
NATAMST 151	Native American Philosophy	4
NATAMST 176	History of Native Americans in the Southwest	4
NATAMST 178AC	Africans in Indian Country	4
NATAMST 190	Seminar on Advanced Topics in Native American Studies	1-4
Peace & Conflict Studies
PACS 119	Special Topics in Peace and Conflict Issues	4
PACS 125AC	War, Culture, and Society	4
PACS 126	International Human Rights	4
PACS 150	Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice	3
PACS 154	Multicultural Conflict Resolution	4
PACS 170	Conflict Resolution, Social Change, and the Cultures of Peace	4
Public Health
PB HLTH 107	Violence, Social Justice, and Public Health	2
PB HLTH 112	Global Health: A Multidisciplinary Examination	4
PB HLTH 150A	Introduction to Epidemiology and Human Disease	4
PB HLTH 150D	Introduction to Health Policy and Management	3
PB HLTH 150E	Course Not Available	3
PB HLTH C155	Sociology of Health and Medicine	4
PB HLTH 181	Poverty and Population	3
Public Policy
PUB POL 101	Introduction to Public Policy Analysis	4
PUB POL 103	Wealth and Poverty	4
PUB POL 117AC	Race, Ethnicity, and Public Policy	4
PUB POL 156	Program and Policy Design	4
PUB POL C164	Impact of Government Policies on Poor Children and Families	4
PUB POL 190	Special Topics in Public Policy	1-4
Rhetoric
RHETOR 152AC	Race and Order in the New Republic	4
Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Studies
UGIS 110	Introduction to Disability Studies	3
UGIS 112	Women and Disability	3
UGIS C135	Visual Autobiography	4

Supplemental Elective Units

College Requirements

College of Letters & Science Requirements

The Social Welfare B.A. major is under the jurisdiction of the College of Letters & Science (L&S), which is the degree-granting college. 

Undergraduate students must fulfill the following requirements in addition to those required by their major program.

For a detailed lists of L&S requirements, please see Overview tab to the right in this guide or visit the L&S Degree Requirements webpage. For College advising appointments, please visit the L&S Advising Pages. 

University of California Requirements

Entry Level Writing

All students who will enter the University of California as freshmen must demonstrate their command of the English language by fulfilling the Entry Level Writing requirement. Fulfillment of this requirement is also a prerequisite to enrollment in all reading and composition courses at UC Berkeley and must be taken for a letter grade. 

American History and American Institutions

The American History and American Institutions requirements are based on the principle that all U.S. residents who have graduated from an American university should have an understanding of the history and governmental institutions of the United States.

Berkeley Campus Requirement

American Cultures

All undergraduate students at Cal need to take and pass this campus requirement course in order to graduate. The requirement offers an exciting intellectual environment centered on the study of race, ethnicity and culture of the United States. AC courses are plentiful and offer students opportunities to be part of research-led, highly accomplished teaching environments, grappling with the complexity of American Culture.

College of Letters & Science Essential Skills Requirements

Quantitative Reasoning

The Quantitative Reasoning requirement is designed to ensure that students graduate with basic understanding and competency in math, statistics, or computer/data science. The requirement may be satisfied by exam or by taking an approved course taken for a letter grade.

Foreign Language

The Foreign Language requirement may be satisfied by demonstrating proficiency in reading comprehension, writing, and conversation in a foreign language equivalent to the second semester college level, either by passing an exam or by completing approved course work taken for a letter grade.

Reading and Composition

In order to provide a solid foundation in reading, writing, and critical thinking the College of Letters and Science requires two semesters of lower division work in composition in sequence. Students must complete parts A & B reading and composition courses in sequential order by the end of their fourth semester for a letter grade.

College of Letters & Science 7 Course Breadth 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. Engaging students in new disciplines and with peers from other majors, the breadth experience strengthens interdisciplinary connections and context that prepares Berkeley graduates to understand and solve the complex issues of their day.

Unit Requirements

• 120 total units

• Of the 120 units, 36 must be upper division units

• Of the 36 upper division units, 6 must be taken in courses offered outside your major department

Residence Requirements

For units to be considered in "residence," you must be registered in courses on the Berkeley campus as a student in the College of Letters & Science. Most students automatically fulfill the residence requirement by attending classes at Cal for four years, or two years for transfer students. In general, there is no need to be concerned about this requirement, unless you graduate early, go abroad for a semester or year, or want to take courses at another institution or through UC Extension during your senior year. In these cases, you should make an appointment to meet an L&S College adviser to determine how you can meet the Senior Residence Requirement.

Note: Courses taken through UC Extension do not count toward residence.

Senior Residence Requirement

After you become a senior (with 90 semester units earned toward your B.A. degree), you must complete at least 24 of the remaining 30 units in residence in at least two semesters. To count as residence, a semester must consist of at least 6 passed units. Intercampus Visitor, EAP, and UC Berkeley-Washington Program (UCDC) units are excluded.

You may use a Berkeley Summer Session to satisfy one semester of the Senior Residence requirement, provided that you successfully complete 6 units of course work in the Summer Session and that you have been enrolled previously in the college.

Modified Senior Residence Requirement

Participants in the UC Education Abroad Program (EAP), Berkeley Summer Abroad, or the UC Berkeley Washington Program (UCDC) may meet a Modified Senior Residence requirement by completing 24 (excluding EAP) of their final 60 semester units in residence. At least 12 of these 24 units must be completed after you have completed 90 units.

Upper Division Residence Requirement

You must complete in residence a minimum of 18 units of upper division courses (excluding UCEAP units), 12 of which must satisfy the requirements for your major.

Major Map

Major maps are experience maps that help undergraduates plan their Berkeley journey based on intended major or field of interest. Featuring student opportunities and resources from your college and department as well as across campus, each map includes curated suggestions for planning your studies, engaging outside the classroom, and pursuing your career goals in a timeline format.

Use the major map below to explore potential paths and design your own unique undergraduate experience:

View the Social Welfare Major Map.

Academic Opportunities

Berkeley Connect in Social Welfare

Berkeley Social Welfare is a participating department in the Berkeley Connect academic mentoring program for undergraduate majors. Undergraduate students are paired with a graduate student mentor from the Social Welfare doctoral program. Participants are grouped by declared or intended major to allow students to discover mutual academic interests. Over the course of a semester, enrolled students participate in regular small-group discussions facilitated by a graduate student mentor (following a faculty-directed curriculum), meet with their graduate student mentor for one-on-one advising, attend lectures and panel discussions featuring department faculty and alumni, and go on field trips to campus resources.

Social Welfare Undergraduate Honors Program

The honors program in social welfare provides an opportunity for qualified undergraduates to investigate thoroughly an area of interest, to work closely with a faculty member, and to produce a paper of some magnitude. Students who meet the eligibility requirements, which include a 3.5 grade point average (GPA) overall and in the major core courses, and completion of SOC WEL 110, are invited to apply to the Senior Honors Program. Selected students enroll in the Senior Honors Course (SOC WEL H195) in their senior year. The fall H195 (two units) is a two-hour biweekly seminar addressing topic identification, library research, the preparation of an annotated bibliography and a 10-page paper. The spring H195 (three units) is an individual tutorial in which students prepare the honors thesis essay under the supervision of a faculty adviser.

Courses