Declare a Major (Pre-Majors/Undeclared)

This information is for pre-major and undeclared undergraduate students. For information about changing your major, declaring a second major, or declaring a minor or certificate, see Change of Major (Undergraduates).

At the time of admission to the university, each undergraduate student is assigned to a pre-major or major or is designated as an undeclared major.

All undergraduate students must have a declared major by the time they earn 60 units. This applies equally to students who are undeclared or who were admitted into a pre-major and are requesting to declare the major.

While first-year students may be admitted directly into some majors, many majors require that students begin as “pre-majors” and then meet precise major-specific criteria to officially declare the major. These criteria include meeting all major-specific degree requirements in the new major and demonstrating a progressively successful academic history that reflects potential success in the major. Upon declaration of major, students must adopt the requirements of the major and any minors in effect at that time in the CSULB Catalog.

Policies

All students must maintain progress toward their degree requirements and ensure timely graduation:

The purpose of the Academic Progress Rules for Undergraduate Programs policy is to identify at-risk students who are not making sufficient progress in their undergraduate academic programs for the purposes of intervention. A student so identified will be required to meet with an academic advisor to develop a plan that will lead to the successful completion of the student's existing program.

If it is determined that successful completion of the existing academic program is not achievable, then the student will be dismissed from that program and guided to a more appropriate program. The goals of the policy are to ensure that students are pursuing degree objectives that they can successfully complete and make progress in their current degree objectives.

To ensure that students with weaker GPAs do not become overextended, but instead concentrate on improving their GPAs for successful completion of the primary program, the policy also requires that students with any GPA below 2.5 receive the approval of their primary major advisor to add any new objective to their degree plan (for example, a minor, second major, or certificate). Please note that a student whose major GPA is near or below 2.0 is unlikely to be allowed to pursue additional degree objectives until they have improved their major GPA.

A student may be denied a request to declare an academic program if the student's academic record already demonstrates a lack of success based on that program's approved Academic Progress Rules or their GPA. These students should be referred to the college's professional advisors or — in their absence — to the University Center for Undergraduate Advising.

The majority of undergraduate programs at CSULB require 120 units. Under the Timely Graduation for Undergraduate Students policy, students may earn up to 120% of the number of units required for the degree in their declared primary major in order to complete the degree. Any additional degree objectives (e.g., majors, minors, certificates) must be able to be completed within the additional units allowed.

If you have earned 90 or more Timely Graduation Units, you may not be allowed to make changes to your academic objectives (for example, changing major, adding a second major, or declaring a minor).

Instructions

To declare a major:

  1. Successfully complete the Major-Specific Requirements.
    • You can check your progress by reviewing your Academic Requirements Report available through MyCSULB Student Center.
    • If you are considering a highly impacted major, additional requirements will apply and admission to the major is competitive.
  2. At the end of the term during which you successfully complete your major-specific requirements, the Registrar's office will automatically declare your major.
  3. If you complete your requirements via transfer credit prior to the end of the semester and wish to declare your major, you must meet with the department advisor to request the change. If the advisor and the college support your request, they will submit a request to the Registrar's office.
  4. Once the request is submitted to the Registrar's office and approved, you will be notified by email and your major will be reflected in your student record.

The University Center for Undergraduate Advising (UCUA) is the primary advising center for undeclared students. Advisors help students explore major options and identify a major to declare.

Before you earn 60 units, you must declare a major. To declare a major:

  1. After identifying a major to declare, successfully complete the Major-Specific Requirements.
    • You can check your progress by reviewing your Academic Requirements Report available through MyCSULB Student Center.
    • If you are considering a highly impacted major, additional requirements will apply and admission to the major is competitive.
  2. At the end of the term during which you successfully complete your major-specific requirements, contact the department advisor for the major to request to declare the major.
  3. If the advisor and the college determine that you are an eligible candidate for the major, they will submit a request to the Registrar's office. 
  4. Once the request is submitted to the Registrar's office and approved, you will be notified by email and your major will be reflected in your student record.

You can check how your academic coursework applies to a major’s requirements or your degree requirements by creating a “What-if Report” in MyCSULB Student Center:

  • If you want to see your progress towards meeting the major-specific requirements, select the pre-major under the Area of Study dropdown, such as “Pre-Economics.”
  • If you want to see all of the degree requirements for the major, select the actual major in the Area of Study dropdown, such as “Economics.”