Undergraduate Degree: Overview
San Francisco State University undergraduates will emerge from their studies with a breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding developed from integrating their course work and academic experiences in both general education and in the major. The abilities, knowledge, and qualities of mind fostered by general education will be reinforced, extended, and deepened in the major. Students should pursue a secondary focus in addition to their major (e.g., a second major, minor, certificate). We expect the following interconnected educational outcomes from a baccalaureate of San Francisco State University:
- Competencies for Lifelong Intellectual Endeavor: San Francisco State University's baccalaureate graduates will be competent in critical questioning and analysis, creative and independent thought, attentive reading and interpretation, written and other forms of communication, quantitative reasoning, research drawing upon a variety of resources, problem solving, and collaboration. Students should have knowledge of a language other than English.
- Intellectual Attainments: Graduates will be conversant with the principal domains of knowledge associated with liberal learning: the sciences and mathematics, the social sciences, the humanities, and the arts. They will be able to apply the modes of inquiry associated with these domains and will have engaged questions and issues of enduring importance. They will also gain in-depth knowledge and understanding of at least one major course of study. These competencies and attainments will provide graduates with intellectual foundations for careers or for advanced study.
- Appreciation of Diversity: Graduates will know, understand, and appreciate multiple forms and variations of human diversity, both within the United States and globally. Graduates will respect themselves and others. They will have obtained a historical perspective about the development of our diverse nation and will be able to engage in informed, civil discourse with persons different from themselves in intellectual and cultural outlook.
- Ethical Engagement: Graduates will have an appreciation of the necessity and difficulty of making ethical choices, both private and public, and will be able to identify and analyze the values that inform those choices. Graduates will demonstrate ethical conduct in their own work and their acknowledgement of the work of others. Graduates will recognize their responsibility to work toward social justice and equity by contributing purposefully to the well-being of their local communities, their nations, and the people of the world, as well as to the sustainability of the natural environment.
- Integration and Application of Knowledge: Graduates will know how to make connections among apparently disparate forms of knowledge and modes of inquiry across academic disciplines and between the principal domains of knowledge and their majors. They also will be able to place such knowledge and approaches within their cultural, historical, and sociopolitical contexts. Graduates will be able to apply academic knowledge to what is important in their own lives and to local and global communities.
- Qualities of Mind and Spirit: Graduates will take with them dispositions that facilitate lifelong learning and growth, including curiosity, a sense of wonder, intellectual flexibility and adaptability, a refusal to simplify what is inherently complex and ambiguous, a sense of responsibility and accountability, critical self-reflection, independence of mind, respect for wellness and healthy living, a readiness to assume leadership roles, and reverence for all that unites us as human beings across time.
At SF State, students acquire these skills and this knowledge through General Education (GE), major, minor and/or elective courses. All are important parts of the overall experience of a liberal education to prepare students to be successful in the 21st Century.
SF State awards three baccalaureate degrees: the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), the Bachelor of Science (B.S.), and the Bachelor of Music (B.M.). Requirements for all three degrees are listed on the following pages. Consult your major department for specific degree requirements.
Major
Completion of a major is a graduation requirement. A major is a study in depth -- a focused area of study that requires the student to take a specific set of courses that lead to a deep understanding of a particular subject matter. At SF State there are over 100 undergraduate majors. Choosing a major involves declaring this choice at the time of admission or consulting with faculty advisors and then submitting a Change of Major form to the department office of the intended major.
Typically, students declare their major during their sophomore year after completing most of their lower division General Education requirements. Lower division students who are undecided about their major may identify themselves as undeclared. Being undeclared provides the opportunity to explore a variety of courses in different areas of interest. Students who enter SF State as freshmen must declare a major by the time they complete 70 units.
Some majors are identified as impacted. These majors are in high demand and more students than can be accommodated want to declare these areas of study as their majors. An impacted major includes supplemental admission requirements. Requests to declare impacted majors must be received by the end of the initial filing period for the term for which new majors are being accepted. Continuing students who have earned 96 units or more may not apply to an impacted major.
Some majors require that students meet specific prerequisites before gaining admission. The change of major time period for all non-impacted majors is August 1 – October 1 for the Fall semester and January 1 – March 1 for the Spring semester.
The following rules apply to all undergraduate majors:
- Double Major Students may complete two majors only if both may be completed within 120 units. Students who complete two majors may apply for both degrees in a single commencement by submitting two separate applications simultaneously. No additional fee is required for the second application.
- Duplicate Use of Credit Between Majors Students who complete two majors may count the same courses for both majors where there is a clearly stated overlap in the Bulletin requirements. While these courses may be used to satisfy requirements for two majors, the units shall be counted only once in fulfillment of the minimum units required for award of the baccalaureate degree.
- Duplicate Use of Credit Between the Major and GE If applicable, an unlimited number of courses used to meet General Education requirements may be used to fulfill major requirements. While these units (courses) may be used to satisfy both major requirements and GE requirements, they shall be counted only once in fulfillment of the minimum units required for award of the baccalaureate degree. Consult the section on General Education requirements for complete rules on duplicate use of credit.
- Change of Major Students who change their major after being admitted, or who declare a major after being admitted with an undeclared major, must fulfill the major requirements in effect at the time they declare or change their major. Students may not change majors after they have completed 96 units.
- Residence Units A minimum of twelve units in the major must be completed in residence.
- Grade Point Average Students must have a minimum 2.0 grade point average (GPA) in their major. Some majors have additional minimum grade requirements. Consult with the major department.
- Time limit to complete requirements for undergraduate degree There is normally no statutory period for units required for an undergraduate degree at SF State. However, if any course required for the major, minor, or certificate was taken more than seven years prior to graduation, then departments and programs may require students to retake that course or demonstrate currency in that subject. Consult with the department for more information.
Minor
Students may also elect to complete a minor if it is possible to complete the minor and major within 120 units. Like a major, the minor is a focused area of study; however, a minor does not require as many units. Currently, at SF State, only the Journalism major requires a minor to earn a bachelor's degree.
The following policies apply to completion of an approved minor:
- Duplicate Use of Credit Between Major and Minor. Courses may count for both a major and a minor where there is a clearly stated overlap in the Bulletin requirements. While these courses may be used to satisfy requirements for both a major and a minor, the units shall be counted only once in fulfillment of the minimum units required for award of the baccalaureate degree.
- Duplicate Use of Credit Between Minor and GE. No limitations.
- Upper Division/Residence Units. At least half of the units making up the minor must be taken in residence and at least half must be upper division.
- Minimum Units. A minor must include a minimum of fifteen (15) units.
- No Minor in Major. Students may not earn a major and a minor in the same discipline.
- Grade Point Average. A minimum 2.0 grade point average is required in the minor. Some minors have additional minimum grade requirements. Consult with the department.
Complementary Studies: Bachelor of Arts degrees [12 units minimum]
Bachelor of Arts students must complete at least twelve units of complementary studies outside of the primary prefix for the major. Students who complete two majors or a major and a minor automatically complete the complementary studies requirement. Students earning Bachelor of Music or Bachelor of Science degrees do not have to complete the complementary studies requirement. Details about Complementary Studies can be found in the Bulletin description for each B.A. degree.
Introduction to General Education
Your major provides study in depth in one subject matter, often one directly related to a particular career. General Education (GE), on the other hand, involves study in breadth -- for acquiring knowledge and skills for a range of future experiences throughout life, for providing the intellectual agility to move from one career to another, and for making future contributions in a number of possible communities. The University requires students to complete 48 units of General Education requirements (GE).
Areas A through D of GE contain only lower division classes, and should be taken in the first two years of college. They provide basic skills as well as breadth in a variety of disciplinary areas. Area A of GE is designed to improve student’s basic skills in communication in English (oral and written) and critical thinking. Area B of GE provides breadth of knowledge about the physical and life sciences, including laboratory experiences. Area B also provides students an opportunity to expand their mathematics and quantitative reasoning skills. Area C of GE focuses on the Arts and Humanities and gives students a chance to explore the Humanities through literature. Area D of GE covers the social sciences and includes the US History and Government requirements.
Area E, Lifelong Learning and Self-Development (LLD), gives students an opportunity to explore themselves and the ways in which they interact with the world around them. These classes can be upper or lower division and many students will take more than one of them.
Overview of General Education at San Francisco State University
General Education Breadth requirements have been designed to complement the major program and electives completed by each baccalaureate candidate, to assure that graduates have made noteworthy progress toward becoming truly educated persons. These requirements are designed to provide the knowledge, skills, experiences, and perspectives that will enable SF State students to expand their capacities to take part in a wide range of human interests and activities; to confront personal, cultural, moral, and social problems that are an inevitable part of human life; and to cultivate both the requisite skills and enthusiasm for lifelong learning. Courses approved for GE Breadth are responsive to the need for students to have developed knowledge of, or skills related to, quantitative reasoning, information literacy, intellectual inquiry, global awareness and understanding, human diversity, civic engagement, communication competence, ethical decision-making, environmental systems, technology, lifelong learning and self-development, and physical and emotional health throughout a lifetime.
General Education Requirements of all baccalaureate degrees.
| Requirement |
Course level |
Units |
Area designation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oral Communication | LD | 3 | A1 |
| Written English Communication I | LD | 3 | A2 |
| Critical Thinking | LD | 3 | A3 |
| Written English Communication II | LD | 3 | A4 |
| Physical Science | LD | 3 | B1 |
| Life Science | LD | 3 | B2 |
| Lab Science | LD | 1* | B3 |
| Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning | LD | 3 | B4 |
| Arts | LD | 3 | C1 |
| Humanities | LD | 3 | C2 |
| Humanities: Literature | LD | 3 | C3 |
| Social Sciences | LD | 3 | D1 |
| Social Sciences: US History | LD | 3 | D2 |
| Social Sciences: US & CA Government | LD | 3 | D3 |
| Lifelong Learning and Self-Development (LLD) | LD or UD | 3* | E |
| Physical and/or Life Science | UD | 3 | UD-B |
| Arts and/or Humanities | UD | 3 | UD-C |
| Social Sciences | UD | 3 | UD-D |
| American Ethnic and Racial Minorities (AERM) | LD or UD | 3* | |
| Environmental Sustainability (ES) | LD or UD | 3* | |
| Global Perspectives (GP) | LD or UD | 3* | |
| Social Justice (SJ) | LD or UD | 3* |
Notes: LD = lower division; UD = upper division; * = overlay requirement. For overlays, the unit requirement can be satisfied by either an independent course or a course that also satisfies another general education requirement. For example, a 3-unit physical science course that includes a 1-unit laboratory component satisfies both the 3-unit physical science requirement and the 1-unit lab science requirement.
Area A: English Language Communication and Critical Thinking – 12 units
Students taking courses in fulfillment of subareas A1, A2 and A4 will develop knowledge and understanding of the form, content, context, and effectiveness of communication. Students will develop proficiency in oral and written communication in English, examining communication from the rhetorical perspective and practicing reasoning and advocacy, organization, and accuracy. Students will practice the discovery, critical evaluation, and reporting of information, as well as reading, writing, and listening effectively.
In critical thinking (subarea A3) courses, students will understand logic and its relation to language; elementary inductive and deductive processes, including an understanding of the formal and informal fallacies of language and thought; and the ability to distinguish matters of fact from issues of judgment or opinion. In A3 courses, students will develop the abilities to analyze, criticize, and advocate ideas; to reason inductively and deductively; and to reach well-supported factual or judgmental conclusions.
Area B: Scientific Inquiry and Quantitative Reasoning – 9 units
In subareas B1-B3, students develop knowledge of scientific theories, concepts, and data about both living and non-living systems. Students will achieve an understanding and appreciation of scientific principles and the scientific method, as well as the potential limits of scientific endeavors and the value systems and ethics associated with human inquiry. The nature and extent of laboratory experience is to be determined by each campus through its established curricular procedures.
Courses in subarea B4 shall have an explicit intermediate algebra prerequisite, and students shall develop skills and understanding beyond the level of intermediate algebra. Students will not just practice computational skills, but will be able to explain and apply basic mathematical concepts and will be able to solve problems through quantitative reasoning.
Area C: Arts and Humanities – 9 units
Across the disciplines in their Area C coursework, students will cultivate intellect, imagination, sensibility and sensitivity. Students will respond subjectively as well as objectively to aesthetic experiences and will develop an understanding of the integrity of both emotional and intellectual responses. Students will cultivate and refine their affective, cognitive, and physical faculties through studying great works of the human imagination. Activities may include participation in individual aesthetic, creative experiences; however Area C excludes courses that exclusively emphasize skills development.
In their intellectual and subjective considerations, students will develop a better understanding of the interrelationship between the self and the creative arts and of the humanities in a variety of cultures. In subarea C3, students will explore the humanities with a specific focus on literature.
Area D: Social Sciences – 9 units
Students learn from courses in multiple Area D disciplines that human social, political and economic institutions and behavior are inextricably interwoven. Through fulfillment of the Area D requirement, students will develop an understanding of problems and issues from the respective disciplinary perspectives and will examine issues in their contemporary as well as historical settings and in a variety of cultural contexts. Students will explore the principles, methodologies, value systems and ethics employed in social scientific inquiry.
The CSU American Institutions requirement (subareas D2 and D3) may be met either by examination (AP, CLEP, or SF State competency exam) or by taking at least one course in subareas D2 and D3.
In U.S. History courses (subarea D2), students will learn about the relationships among regions within the area of study and with external regions and states and the role of major ethnic and social groups in such events and the contexts in which the events have occurred, with attention to the multiple heritages of US culture, including Native American peoples and cultures.
The events covered in D2 courses will be presented within a framework which illustrates the continuity of American experience and its derivation from other cultures including consideration of three or more of the following: politics, economics, social movements, and geography. D2 courses will also cover basic American values and ideals, including freedom, equality of opportunity, equality before the law, equality of moral regard for each other and social fairness.
In U.S. and California Government courses (subarea D3), students will learn about the political philosophies of the framers of the Constitution and the nature and operation of United States political institutions and processes. Students will learn basic concepts in political theory, political structure and process, the legitimacy and authority of the government, and the application of these concepts to understanding the US political system, particularly the roles of law and the Constitution. Students will also learn about the rights and obligations of citizens established under the Constitution, in the context of basic American values and ideals.
Students will also learn about California government, particularly the constitution of the State of California within the framework of evolution of Federal-State relations and the nature and processes of State and local government under that Constitution. D2 courses will explore contemporary relationships of State and local government, the resolution of conflicts and the establishment of cooperative processes under the constitutions of both the State and Nation, and the political processes involved.
Area E: Lifelong Learning and Self-development (LLD)
Student taking courses in Area E shall learn content such as human behavior, sexuality, nutrition, physical and mental health, stress management, financial literacy, social relationships and relationships with the environment, as well as implications of death and dying and avenues for lifelong learning.
Upper Division General Education
Upper Division General Education is designed to provide students with the opportunity to integrate and apply the knowledge, skills and insights gained from their lower division general education courses. All students must complete a total of nine units with one course in each of the following CSU-mandated groupings of domains of knowledge and inquiry: (1) Upper Division Physical and/or Life Sciences (Area UD–B), (2) Upper Division Arts and/or Humanities (Area UD–C), and (3) Upper Division Social Sciences (Area UD–D).
Overlay Requirements
Overlay courses fulfill graduation requirements, but do not have specific unit requirements. They are meant to ensure that students take a least one course in areas that the campus feels are important to graduates of our university. There are currently four graduation requirements that students must meet: American Ethnic and Racial Minorities (AERM), Environmental Sustainability (ES), Global Perspectives (GP) and Social Justice (SJ). Courses certified as meeting the Overlays requirements may be upper or lower division, may be in General Education, a major or minor, or may be an elective. Because of the large number of overlay courses, most students will take more than one overlay course, and will not have to seek out such courses. A brief description of each is given below. Please check the Bulletin for additional requirements that these courses may meet.
A detailed listing of all General Education areas and courses begins on General Education Lower Division. You can find specific areas of our GE program by visiting the General Education Table of Contents
Other Academic Programs
Certificate programs provide individuals the opportunity to develop specialized skills in areas that may complement majors or minors. These programs focus on a narrow spectrum of knowledge or skills and require fewer units than a major. SF State's College of Extended Learning also offers certificate programs. Students who are pursing a baccalaureate degree and certificate at the same time may only do so if they can complete them within 120 units.
Pre-credential programs are offered for students interested in pursuing teaching credentials after completing the baccalaureate degree. Students may complete preparatory course work as an undergraduate student and are encouraged to seek advising from the College of Education's Credential and Graduate Services Center, the Liberal Studies office and/or the Child and Adolescent Development Program.
Pre-professional programs are available for students who are interested in pursuing professional school studies after the baccalaureate degree. For information and referral, consult the University Bulletin and/or the Advising Center.
Second Baccalaureate Degree
Subject to restrictions imposed by the CSU Chancellor’s Office, in rare instances a student who already holds a bachelor's degree may apply for admission to work toward a second baccalaureate degree. If approved, the student will be admitted to the undergraduate program, typically at the senior level. Check CSU Mentor (www.csumentor.edu) for programs open to second baccalaureate applications.
Students who have previously earned a baccalaureate or higher degree from an institution accredited by a regional accrediting association will not be required to undertake courses other than those that are specifically required to complete the current major.
Whether or not the second baccalaureate degree is ever completed, none of the credits earned may later be considered for post-baccalaureate status at this University. The only possible exception is in the last semester before the award of the degree as provided for under the section Courses in Excess of Bachelor Degree Requirements.
Undergraduate Education continues in Undergraduate Advising.
