Major Course Substitutions

Course Substitutions

The Political Science major requires students to complete 10 upper division courses. At least eight out of the ten courses must be departmental. Students can apply up to two non-departmental courses to their upper division major requirements. There is no limit to the number of lower division courses that may be substituted.

What is a departmental course?

  • All courses offered by the UCLA Department of Political Science during the academic year and summer sessions.
  • The following courses taken at the Quarter in Washington Program in Washington, D.C.: POL SCI M194DC and POL SCI 195CE.
  • The following courses taken at UC Center Sacramento through UC Davis: Political Science 195 and Political Science 196E.

What is a non-departmental course?

  • Any course taken outside the UCLA Department of Political Science including:
    • UCLA courses in other subjects.
    •  Study abroad courses, including those classified as “Political Science” by UCEAP.
    • Courses taken in political science departments at other universities in the United States.

Course Substitutions Database

Please click here to view the departmental course substitutions database.

  • “Approved” courses have been petitioned and don’t require a new petition to be applied towards the major requirements. These courses are non-departmental unless otherwise noted.

How to have an “Approved” course from the substitutions database added to major requirements on DARS.

  • Please contact a Political Science counselor via Message Centerwith the information below and the course will be added to your major requirements.
    • Institution
    • Course department
    • Course number
    • Course title
  • Note: Substitution courses must be taken under the same course title, number, and instructor (if applicable) that is listed on the database.

Note: Courses taken prior to Fall of 2020 are credited based on rules in place at that time, i.e., if the Political Science Department granted major credit for a class, even if it exceeded two classes in a non-departmental category at that time, that credit will be respected.

Submitting a Petition

Petitions are considered on the basis of content, demonstrated engagement of original texts, and the level of rigor of the course.

Submitting a petition with substantial evidence that addresses how the course resembles an existing political science course and demonstrates that it has significant political science content, will increase the odds of your petition being approved. Please provide a half-page to one-page request that addresses these elements.

Petitions should be submitted via Google Form (https://forms.gle/WCQhB6eRqAGsMEkM7) and contain a PDF file with the documents below.

  1. Request form: https://ucla.box.com/s/hhnc2v4tlh27mdkm0wpxnn0ubkk2j0pd
  2. Course syllabus

A petition may be denied if the syllabus does not include most, or all the information listed below. This is decided on a case-by-case basis.

  • Course Description
  • Required Assignments
  • Required Readings
  • Course Schedule

Additional notes:

  • Petitions are processed within 6-8 weeks of submission. No exceptions.
  • Petitions are not reviewed during the summer term.
  • Incomplete petitions will be returned or instantly denied.