The Computer Science Minor (CSE-MN-001) is designed to provide basic proficiency in computer science. The requirements focus on programming methodology and skills, computer organization, relevant mathematical skills, structure techniques, laboratory courses with programming projects, and design and analysis of algorithms. Completing these requirements provides a strong foundation in computer science.
Please Note: Due to the high demand for CSE courses, CS minors do not receive priority for CSE classes and we cannot guarantee you will be able to complete the minor requirements before graduation. Because of this, minor required courses should be taken out of academic interests and not solely to earn the CS minor designation on a transcript.
CSE Minor Requirements
CSE lower-division courses (16 units)
- CSE-008B or CSE-011: Intro Computer Science and Object-Oriented: Java (4 units)
- CSE-012: Data Structures and Object-Oriented Programming (4 units)
- CSE-020*1: Discrete Mathematics (4 units)
- CSE-021*2: Math/Algorithms and Systems Analysis (4 units)
*1: CSE-020 may be substituted with Math-109 or Math-031CH. This is a manual update an advisor needs to make. Send a message through the Virtual Advising Center.
*2: CSE-021 may be substituted with Math-154 or Math-184 or Math-188. This is a manual update an advisor needs to make. Send a message through the Virtual Advising Center.
- CSE-100/CSE-100R: Advanced Data Structures (4 units) ** Three upper division CSE Elective courses from the CSE electives listed below (12 units)
- Please use this example as to how should properly list the upper-division courses: CSE-100 or CSE-100R, CSE-1XX, CSE-1XX, and CSE-1XX.
- Electives may not be from the Technical Electives. Must be from the CSE elective options listed.
- Students may list specific CSE-approved electives that they would like to take for their minor requirements from the list below.
- Students do not need to update their CSE Minor application if they decide to take a different pre-approved CSE Upper-Division Elective than the one originally listed on their application. Please keep in mind that the approved CSE electives can change. Before you book a course, make sure that this elective is still on the approved electives list below. If you are not sure whether a course can fulfill the CSE Minor UD Elective, please refer to the CSE Electives and contact the CSE Undergraduate Advisors via the Virtual Advising Center with any questions.
Prerequisite notes: Granting exceptions to prerequisites is rare and requires documentation of extenuating circumstances.
- Please be aware that the upper-division courses may be more difficult to secure a seat for non-majors.
**Although CSE-029 is not part of the CSE Minor Curriculum, taking it is a required prerequisite to take CSE-100/CSE-100R. Please refer to the CSE Prerequisites webpage for more details.
**Students who take CSE-015L (in or before Spring 2024), but did not take CSE-030 in Spring 2024 will be advised to take CSE-029 (for 2 units).
Computer Science Minor Policies
- All lower- and upper-division courses must be completed with a letter grade. D grades are allowed in lower division courses.
- Students must achieve at least a 2.0 average GPA in the upper-division courses for the minor to be awarded.
- Students who cannot minor in Computer Science: students in the Jacobs School of Engineering cannot minor in Computer Science, students in the Data Science major (DSC-BS-001) and students in Math-CS major (MATH-BS-003) in the Mathematics Department.
- Please see "How to Declare a Minor" for UCSD minor policies.
- A maximum of 4 units of special studies courses may be used towards the CS minor: ENG-100D, ENG-100L, CSE-198, or CSE-199
- Per campus policy, a maximum of 8 upper division units may be overlapped between your major and your minor.
- Undergraduate students may use CSE graduate-level courses towards their minor requirements, but may need a petition if they have taken the equivalent/similar undergraduate course. Undergraduate students must get instructor's permission and departmental approval (TEA request) to enroll in a graduate course.
- **CSE-180/ and CSE-180R are not approved for CSE Elective for CS minors**
Declaring the Minor
- Declare the CS Minor using the Specialization Request and Review App in the Triton Student System (TSS).
- Enter the required lower and upper-division courses in the form. You can find these listed above.
- Please list the upper-division courses as: CSE 100 or CSE 100R, CSE 1XX, CSE 1XX, and CSE 1XX.
- Please allow up to 4 weeks for your Minor request to be reviewed. If your request was not approved and you have questions, please contact the CSE Department through the Virtual Advising Center.
- If you are prompted to submit a Quarter by Quarter (QxQ) plan, you need to add ALL of the courses that you have remaining to complete your degree. This includes major courses, minor courses and college/GE courses.
2026-2027 Minor in Computer Science Electives
CS minors must complete 12 units of CSE Electives
- Computer Science and Engineering
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Any upper-division CSE course between CSE-100-190, 193, 194 that is not being used for another major requirement (and is taken for a letter grade and passed with a C- or better) may be used towards an upper-division "CSE Elective" for the CS minor.
Each CSE Elective course is “tagged” as Systems, Theory, Applications of Computing, and/or Open CSE Electives. Students may view the full list of tagged CSE courses on the CSE Undergraduate Program Catalog.
- Cognitive Science
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COGS-108 - Data Science in Practice (4) - Applications of Computing
COGS-109 - Modeling and Data Analysis (4) - Applications of Computing
COGS-118A - Supervised Machine Learning Algorithms (4) - Applications of Computing
COGS-118B - Intro to Machine Learning II (4) - Applications of Computing
COGS-118C - Neural Signal Processing (4) - Applications of Computing
COGS-120 - Interaction Design (5) - Applications of Computing
COGS-121 - Human Computer Interaction Programming Studio (4) - Applications of Computing
COGS-122 - Startup Studio (4) - Applications of Computing
COGS-123 - Social Computing (4) - Applications of Computing
COGS-124 - HCI Technical Systems Research (4) - Applications of Computing
COGS-125 - Advanced Interaction Design (4) - Applications of Computing
COGS-126 - Human-Computer Interaction (4) - Applications of Computing
COGS-127 - Designing Human-Data Interactions (4) - Applications of Computing
COGS-181 - Neural Networks/Deep Learning (4) - Applications of Computing
COGS-185 - Advanced Machine Learning Methods (4) - Applications of Computing
COGS-186 - Genetic Algorithms (4) - Applications of Computing
COGS-187A - Usability and Information Architecture (6) - Applications of Computing
COGS-187B - Practicum in Professional Web Design (4) - Applications of Computing
COGS-188 - Artificial Intelligence Algorithms (4) - Applications of Computing
COGS-189 - Brain Computer Interfaces (4) - Applications of Computing
Please use the UC San Diego Triton Enrollment Authorization (TEA) Forms for COGS course clearance.
- Data Science
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DSC-100 - Introduction to Data Management (4) - Applications of Computing
- Design
- Economics
- Education Studies
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EDS-124AR - Teaching Computation in the Digital World (4) - Applications of Computing
EDS-124BR - Teaching Computational Thinking for Everyone (4) - Applications of Computing
- Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE)
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ECE-111 - Advanced Digital Design Project (4) - Systems
ECE-140A - The Art of Product Engineering I (4) - Systems or Applications of Computing
ECE-140B - The Art of Product Engineering II (4) - Systems or Applications of Computing
ECE-148 - Introduction to Autonomous Vehicles (4) - Applications of Computing
- Engineering (Global Ties)
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ENG-100D/ENG-100L: Principles of Team Engineering: globalties.ucsd.edu
- Students may use up to 4 units of ENG-100D/ENG-100L courses towards upper division CSE Elective credits (as part of the 4 units maximum of CSE-198/199/199H Special Studies courses allowed). You are NOT able to take ENG-100D twice.
- Students must take ENG-100L twice (2 units each time) to receive credit for an upper division CSE Elective (not exceeding the 4 units of CSE-198/199/199H Special Studies courses); students may not combine this course with another 2 unit or 6 unit course.
- Students may request to have their degree audit updated by contacting the Virtual Advising Center.
- Linguistics
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LIGN-165 - Computational Linguistics (4) - Applications of Computing
LIGN-167 - Deep Learning for Natural Language Understanding (4) - Applications of Computing
- Mathematics
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MATH-114 - Introduction to Computational Stochastics (4) - Applications of Computing
MATH-155A - Geometric Computer Graphics (4) - Applications of Computing
MATH-170A - Introduction to Numerical Analysis: Linear Algebra (4) - Theory
MATH-170B - Introduction to Numerical Analysis: Approximation and Nonlinear Equations (4) - Theory
MATH-170C - Introduction to Numerical Analysis: Ordinary Differential Equations (4) - Theory
MATH-171A - Introduction to Numerical Optimization: Linear Programming (4) - Theory
MATH-171B - Introduction to Numerical Optimization: Nonlinear Programming (4) - Theory
MATH-173A - Optimization Methods for Data Science I (4) - Theory
MATH-173B - Optimization Methods for Data Science II (4) - Theory
MATH-181D - Statistical Learning (4) - Theory
MATH-185 - Introduction to Computational Statistics (4) - Theory
MATH-187A - Introduction to Cryptography (4) - Theory
MATH-189 - Exploratory Data Analysis and Inference (4) - Applications of Computing
- Music
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MUS-171 - Computer Music I (4) - Applications of Computing
MUS-172 - Computer Music ll (4) - Applications of Computing
MUS-177 - Music Programming (4) - Applications of Computing
- Visual Arts
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VIS-141A - Computer Programming for the Arts I (4) - Applications of Computing
VIS-141B - Computer Programming for the Arts II (4) - Applications of Computing
CSE Course Placement
- CSE Course Placement Advice
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All UC San Diego students are invited to take CSE courses to check out the CS Minor. All CSE courses are open for enrollment, and most are offered more than one quarter. You can start with CSE-003 or CSE-006A or CSE-008A or CSE-011.
Still not sure which class to take first? Start by reading the CSE Course Placement Advice page.
P/NP Grading Policies for Spring 2020 - Spring 2021