US Constitution and Ideals General Education Requirement

The state's Education Code requires each college graduate to meet

   1. a federal government requirement and

   2. a California state and local government requirement.

Both of these requirements can be met by POSC 100 (for lower division students) or POSC 391 (for upper division students). If you have completed the federal government requirement, but not the California state and local government requirement, you should take POSC 326, California Government in Comparative Perspective. Students who have taken American federal, state or local government at another institution should make sure to check with a political science advisor before enrolling in POSC 100, POSC 391, or POSC 326.

Submitting the Program Planner

In order to graduate, students must submit a program planner in the major to Enrollment Services along with the "Request to Graduate - Baccalaureate" form. The planner must be approved by a political science adviser. Ordinarily, program planners are submitted in the first month of the semester prior to your anticipated date of graduation, e.g., in September for a May graduation, in February for a December graduation. Please consult with a political science adviser as early as possible to make sure you're on track.

Honors in Political Science

Students with a major in Political Science may be admitted to the Political Science Department's honors program if they have:

• junior standing
• completed POSC 300 and at least two additional upper-division courses in political science
• a minimum of three semesters remaining before graduation
• a cumulative GPA of at least 3.3, and a GPA of at least 3.5 in political science courses

Applicants to the Honors Program should submit to the Department Chair two letters of recommendation from faculty members and an example of a research or analytical paper written for a previously taken course in Political Science

In order to graduate with Honors in Political Science a student must:

• complete all regular requirements for the major in Political Science
• complete 3 units of POSC 490H: Honors Seminar
• complete 3 units of POSC 491H: Honors Research
• complete 3 units of POSC 492H: Honors Thesis
• have at the time of graduation a cumulative GPA of at least 3.3 and a GPA of at least 3.5 in political science courses.

Major requirements

Click on the "major requirements" link to the left.