Catalog Rights
Effective for all undergraduates who entered in fall quarter 1993 or after, students may follow the degree requirements from either the University of California, Santa Cruz General Catalog published at the time of entering UC Santa Cruz or subsequent catalog(s). Students need not follow a catalog in its entirety but may elect to follow different catalog years for their college requirements, university and general education requirements, requirements of their major(s), and requirements of any minor(s).
Catalog year will initially be set for the first year of enrollment at UCSC. Students may elect to follow requirements from other catalog year(s) when petitioning to declare their major, or by talking with their advisors. All requirements for graduation outlined in the catalog(s) selected must be met before graduation. Changing catalog year(s) is done by contacting your major advisor (for major or minor requirements) or your college advisor (for college, university, and general education requirements).
Students transferring from other collegiate institutions may elect to meet as graduation requirements one of the following:
- those in effect at the time of transfer to UCSC;
- those subsequently established; or
- those in effect when the student entered a previous collegiate institution, provided that entry was not more than three years prior to the time of transfer to UCSC.
Students who seek readmission to UC Santa Cruz after a break in attendance greater than two years (six fall, winter, or spring quarters) must adhere to the graduation requirements in effect at the time of readmission or those subsequently established.
Although general education requirements are determined by catalog year, the specific courses that satisfy a particular GE requirement can change from year to year. The Office of the Registrar annually publishes an updated list of courses that satisfy each GE requirement (except Disciplinary Communication). Since the GE status of a course may change, to fulfill a GE requirement, a student must take the course in a year in which its GE status is recognized.
The courses that satisfy the Disciplinary Communication GE requirement for each major are published in each year’s General Catalog. Students should consult the General Catalog for the year in which they plan to take their DC course(s) to find out the courses that are needed.
Students who entered prior to 1993 should see an advisor. Their catalog year(s) for graduation, whether the year they entered UCSC or subsequent year(s), will be decided at the discretion of their major department and/or their college.