Undergraduate Degree Programs

Computer science is embedded in all aspects of our daily life. Computer science and computer engineering jobs are well-known to be some of the fastest growing. CSE's undergraduate programs build a strong foundation in software and hardware engineering, as well as the fundamentals of all major fields in computer science.  We offer a supportive environment for our students and prepare them well for solving our society’s most important and challenging problems.  

Educational Mission

The educational mission of the Computer Science and Engineering Programs at UCSD is to provide our students with the computational, learning, teamwork and communication skills to be productive and responsible members and leaders in computing and related industries.  

Core Competencies/Pillars

Our graduates obtain skills and knowledge in five major areas (pillars):

  • Oral and Written Communication #Com 
  • Modeling/Analysis #Mod 
  • Problem framing + solving #Prob 
  • Ethics/Impact #Pact
  • Community/Processes/Teamwork #Team

These pillars cross-cut the learning outcomes we desire for our students.

High-level Learning Objectives

The graduates of our BS program in CS and CE will be able to:

  1. Develop and contribute to large-scale programs and computational systems
  2. Understand, guide, shape impact of computing on society/the world
  3. Reason about computation and systems
  4. Know, select and apply appropriate computing knowledge and problem-solving techniques

Lower Division Classes

In their first two years of study at UC San Diego, CSE students are prepared for advanced studies in programming. As part of this preparation, students will complete a combination of lower-division CSE courses, whether following the computer science or the computer engineering curriculum.  Please see CSE Course Placement Advice for assistance in choosing your first CSE course.  Course descriptions can be found in the UCSD Catalog. 

Upper Division Classes: Advanced Studies

In their junior and senior years, CSE students study advanced topics across the spectrum of computer science. The core set of upper-division courses first establishes the depth of knowledge in theory, software, and hardware. Then it builds students' breadth of knowledge in computer systems, programming systems, security/cryptography, and machine learning, vision, or graphics.  Students then build further breadth and depth through several elective courses, including opportunities for industry internships and research with faculty. Course descriptions can be found in the UCSD Catalog. 

 

Major restrictions - The following majors may NOT double major or minor in CSE: 

 

 

"Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes." – Edsger Dijkstra