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Humanities and Social Sciences

To promote a rich and varied educational experience outside of the technical requirements for each major, the College of Engineering has a Humanities and Social Sciences (H/SS) breadth requirement built into all of the programs of study. Follow these guidelines to fulfill this requirement:

  • Complete a minimum of 6 unique H/SS courses.  For example, AGRS R44 can fulfill either R&C Part A, or R&C Part B, or a different lower-division H/SS requirement, but not all of those at the same time. R&C parts A and B will count for 2 of the 6 courses.
  • Courses must be a minimum of 3 semester units (or 4 quarter units).
  • A maximum of 2 of the 6 H/SS courses may be met by AP, IB, or A-Level exam scores. View the list of exams that can be applied toward H/SS requirements for reference.
  • At least 2 of the 6 H/SS courses must be upper-division (courses numbered 100-196).
  • Courses may fulfill multiple categories across University, Campus, and College requirements. For example, taking HISTORY 127AC will satisfy the American Cultures requirement and one of the upper-division H/SS course requirements (but students will still need to complete 6 total courses).
  • Not sure about your H/SS progress? Please check your Academic Progress Report (APR) in CalCentral. Here’s a handy guide on how to use the APR.
  • Learn what courses count.

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Contact

Engineering Student Services

308 McLaughlin Hall # 1700
Berkeley, CA 94720-1700
(510) 642-7594
ess@berkeley.edu

In-person hours: Monday – Thursday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

Restrictions (these classes/programs do not count)

  • No courses offered by an Engineering department may be used to complete an H/SS requirement other than:
    • BIOENG 100,
    • COMPSCI C79,
    • ENGIN 125, ENGIN 157AC, ENGIN 184, ENGIN 185, or
    • MECENG 191K.
  • Courses numbered 97, 98, 99, or above 196 cannot be used to complete the H/SS requirement.
  • The College of Engineering does not accept courses from the following L&S Breadth Lists (unless the courses are simultaneously listed in a list we do accept (see above):
    • Physical Science
    • Biological Science
  • Students will not be granted any sort of H/SS fulfillment by going abroad in itself. Though the College of Letters and Science allows students to fulfill their International Studies breadth requirement by full in-person participation in a UCEAP program, to fulfill an H/SS requirement in the College of Engineering, students must take a course from one of our own approved breadth categories (see this section). 
  • Special topics courses of 3 semester units or more will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.  Please see your ESS Adviser in advance if you wish to use a special topics course.

2 of the 6 courses must fulfill the College’s Reading and Composition (R&C) requirement.

  • These courses must be taken for a letter grade (C- or better required).
  • The first half (R&C Part A) must be completed by the end of your freshman year (before your 3rd semester); the second half (R&C Part B) must be completed by no later than the end of the sophomore year (before your 5th semester).
  • Students can use the Class Schedule to view R&C courses offered in a given semester.
  • Only R&C Part A can be fulfilled with an AP, IB, or A-Level exam score. Test scores do not fulfill R&C Part B for College of Engineering students.

The 4 additional courses must be chosen from the following lists in the Class Schedule using the filters in the left sidebar, and can be taken on a pass/no pass basis (see restrictions below):