CS Major Upper Division Degree Requirements

All upper division Computer Science course enrollments are restricted. If a student is a declared CS or EECS major, they may be able to enroll directly in upper division courses during Phase 1. If students are not in one of these categories, please review our Course Enrollment Policy for specific information.

Required Courses for completion of the CS Major

All courses taken for the major must be at least 3 units and taken for a letter grade. All upper-division courses applied toward the major must be completed with an overall GPA of 2.0 or above. The prerequisites for upper-division courses are listed in the Berkeley Academic Guide. For course planning, HKN course guides, maps, and prerequisite charts are a great resource.

Students need to complete:

• 20 Upper Division Units*
  • 4 units of a Design Course from the following:
    • CS 152, 160, 161 (effective Spring 2019), 162, 164, 168, 169A, 169L, 180, 182/W182, 184, 186/W186 or
    • EE C128, 130, 140, 143, 192
    • EECS C106A/C106B, 149 (formerly EE/CS 149), 151 (formerly CS 150/EE 141)
    • Select special topics and graduate courses
    • students admitted Spring 22 or before can choose upper division CS/EE/EECS courses or from our approved technical electives¹ ²
    • students admitted Fall 22 or later courses have to be Non-CS from our approved technical electives list or EE/EECS¹

    ¹Denotes that all courses for the major must be technical in nature. 199, 198, 197, 195, select 194, 191, 190, and various seminars do not count. Please see the table of approved CS 194’s and grad courses. If you are unsure, please check with the CS Advisors (cs-advising@cs.berkeley.edu).

    ²Denotes that Info 159, Data 101, and STAT/DATA/CS C100 are the only non-CS/EE/EECS titled classes that may be used to fulfill this requirement. If you took either or both semesters of NW MEDIA 190, contact cs-advising@cs.berkeley.edu to see how this may count toward the major.

    Workload

    EECS151 (Digital Systems), CS 152 (Computer Architecture), CS 162 (Operating Systems), CS 164 (Programming Languages and Compilers), CS 169 (Software Engineering), CS 170 (CS Theory), CS 184 (Computer Graphics), and CS 189 (Machine Learning) are known to have heavy workloads. It is not recommended that you take these courses in combination.

    Taking CS courses at other institutions

    The Department allows CS majors to satisfy at most three upper division course requirement at another four-year institution. CS minors may satisfy at most one upper division course requirement elsewhere. We suggest making prior arrangements and consulting with CS Advisors to ensure the course(s) you select is transferrable.

    • If you’re taking a course through study abroad, please begin by reviewing this webpage and the list of pre-approved courses.
    • If the course is not on that list, review UC Berkeley course descriptions and webpages.
      • If you believe the course to be equivalent to a UC Berkeley upper division computer science or electrical engineering course, contact the current faculty member in charge of the corresponding UC Berkeley EECS course. You should send them the syllabus and any additional information about the course. The faculty need to review the course materials for equivalency. They may deem the course fully or partially equivalent. Ask them to copy cs-advising@cs.berkeley.edu on their evaluation.
      • For course equivalency requests for CS 169 – Software Development, please first visit this page and then review the link for the CS169 articulation requirements.
      • CS Graduate and Special Topics Courses
      • Technical Electives for the Computer Science Major
      • Getting into CS Classes
      • Lower Division Degree Requirements

      Resources

      • Information for Current Students
        • Broadening Participation in EECS
        • Department Policy on Academic Misconduct
        • In Times of Stress
        • Student Concerns and Grievances
        • Student Computing and Email
        • Staff Contact Quick List
        • Administrative Services
        • Course and Instructional Support
        • Academic Personnel Information
        • Event Planning Calendar
        • Undergraduate Faculty Advising – for Faculty
        • Staff IT Procedures
        • Graduate Student Review Information for Faculty
        • My EECS Info Guide
        • A Guide to IEEE and ACM Awards
        • Academic Personnel Information
        • Prospective Visiting Scholar Information & Applications
        • New Visiting Scholar Information
        • Grad Student Visit Days
        • Graduate Advisors
        • EECS Technical Memorandum Series Policy
        • Sample Blue and White Cards
        • M.Eng. Student Guide
        • 5th Year M.S. Student Guide
        • Frequently Asked Questions for Graduate Students
        • M.S. and Ph.D. Class Information and Scheduling
        • MAS-IC Student Guide
        • Readmission to the EECS Department
        • Pre-Faculty Preparation
        • Undergraduate Research
        • Honors Program
        • Accel Scholars Program
        • Information for New EECS Students
        • EECS Major Information
        • CS Major Information
        • Preparing for Graduate School
        • Academic Support
        • Undergraduate Faculty Advising – for Students
        • Undergraduate Scholarships
        • EECS Study Abroad Program
        • Curricular Practical Training (CPT)
        • Facilitating EECS DeCal Classes
        • Undergraduate FAQs and Advice
        • Undergraduate Programs and Scholarships
        • Undergraduate Minors
        • Guide for Prospective ASEs
        • Guide for Current ASEs
        • Guide for Prospective ASEs
        • About Reserving Cory and Soda Hall Rooms
        • EECS Department Space Policy
        • Soda Hall Space Policy
        • Principles of Soda Hall Space Allocation
        • Department Vehicle Use Policy & Procedures
        • EECS Safety Manual

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