Four Year Course Plan

The College of Engineering has put together a basic course guideline to help Computer Engineering students accumulate the required units necessary for graduation. The table below is the most current academic year and is a plan that does not take into consideration advanced placement coursework, course availability, etc.

NOTE: It is the responsibility of the student to review the four-year-plan according to his/her year of entrance. The ECE Student Affairs Office has copies of the past Four Year Course Plans in the College of Engineering publications "Announcement" (academic year 2011-12 and past) and " 'GEAR' - General Education Academic Requirements" (academic year 2011-12 and past).

REQUIREMENTS: Students should refer to the College of Engineering "GEAR" Computer Engineering Major Course Requirements (2011-12) for a close-up of the required 189 units of coursework for the preparation of the major (73 units); upper division major (68 units); math, science, engineering (4); and university and general education (44 units) requirements.

COURSE SCHEDULES: The following areas have websites with course schedules for each quarter: Computer Science Department, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, and the Writing Program. Prospective students can refer to the online UCSB General Catalog / Schedule of Classes and current students can refer to GOLD for course descriptions and schedules.

ADDITIONAL CATALOGS: College of Engineering "GEAR" (full version) and UCSB General Catalog.

Freshman Year (students entering the 2011-2012 academic year)

FALL Units WINTER Units SPRING Units
CHEM 1A or
2A
3 ECE 15A or
MATH / SCIENCE or ENGR Elective
3 or
4
CMPSC 16 4
CHEM 1AL or
2AC
2     ECE 1 1
MATH 3A 4 MATH 3B 4 MATH 3C 4
GE Elective or
CMPSC 8 *
4 PHYS 1 4 PHYS 2 4
WRIT 1E or
2E
4 WRIT 2E or
50E
4 WRIT 50E or
GE Elective
4
TOTAL 17   15 or
16
  17

* CMPSC 8 is recommended only for students who do not have prior programming experience, as programming experience is a prerequisite for CMPSC 16.

Sophomore Year

FALL Units WINTER Units SPRING Units
CMPSC 40 4 CMPSC 24 4 CMPSC 32 4
ECE 2A 5 ECE 2B 5 ECE 2C 5
MATH 5A 4 ECE 15A or
MATH / SCIENCE or ENGR Elective
3 or
4
ECE 152A 5
PHYS 3 3 PHYS 4 3 ECE 139 or
PSTAT 120A *
4
PHYS 3L 1 PHYS 4L 1    
TOTAL 17   16 or
17
  18

* PSTAT 120A is offered each quarter. ECE 139 is offered only in the Spring quarter, and is better suited for future upper division electives for the CE major.

Junior Year

FALL Units WINTER Units SPRING Units
ECE 154 4 CMPSC 130A 4 CMPSC 170 4
ECE 156A 4 CMPEN Elective 4 ECE 152B 4
GE or
Free Electives
4 GE or
Free Electives
8 GE or
Free Elective
4
CMPEN Elective 4        
TOTAL 16   16   12

Senior Year

FALL Units WINTER Units SPRING Units
CMPEN Electives * 12 CMPEN Electives * 8 CMPEN Electives * 12
Free Elective 4 ENGR 101 3    
    Free Elective 4    
TOTAL 16   15   12

* CMPEN electives include Senior Sequence Courses and the Senior Capstone Project (189A/B)