Majors
The Department of Bioengineering offers four undergraduate majors leading to the Bachelor's of Science (B.S.) degree in:
*The Bioengineering and Bioengineering: Biotechnology majors have "impacted" status. This means that incoming freshman and transfer students must apply and be accepted into these two majors directly from high school or community college. To be considered for admision into the Bioengineering or Bioengineering: Biotechnology major, new freshman and transfer students should be sure to indicate "Bioengineering" or "Bioengineering: Biotechnology" as their "first choice" when completing the UC Undergraduate Admission Application. Please contact Bioengineering Student Affairs at be-uginfo@bioeng.edu for further information.
**Though the Bioengineering: Premedical major has been discontinued and phased out, students already admitted to the major will be able to complete the required courses to obtain the B.S. degree.
For graduation, each student must satisfy the requirements of their departmental major as well as the general education course requirements of their college. The six colleges at UCSD require different general education courses, and the number of such courses differs from one college to another. Each student should choose his or her college carefully, considering the special nature of the curriculum and the breadth of general education. The bioengineering majors allow for humanities and social science (HSS) courses so that students can fulfill their college requirements. The Engineering Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (EAC/ABET) is an organization with a mission of serving the public through promotion and advancement of education in fields including engineering, and ABET’s strategic plans include accreditation of educational programs and promotion of quality and innovation in education (www.abet.org). At UCSD, Bioengineering and Bioengineering: Biotechnology have a relatively heavy emphasis on engineering, whereas Bioengineering: Bioinformatics and Bioengineering: Premedical have a relatively heavy emphasis on biological, chemical, and physical sciences. The Bioengineering and Bioengineering: Biotechnology programs are accredited by EAC/ABET. The Bioengineering: Bioinformatics and Bioengineering: Premedical programs are not accredited by a Commission of ABET.