Major Requirements


Bachelor of Arts Degree

Students pursuing the major in Communication must complete the required lower and upper-division courses as set forth below. This major currently includes at least 45 units, comprised of 7 lower and 10-11 upper division courses. Changes in specific courses included in the Communication curriculum are made from time to time. These changes may not immediately be reflected on this website. Where discrepancies between this website and the UCLA Catalog occur, it is best to check with the Communication undergraduate advisor.

Enrollment in the major is limited. Admission to the major is by application to the committee in charge. Applications are available at https://comm.ucla.edu/ to regularly enrolled UCLA students during Spring Quarter.

Transfer Students

Transfer applicants to the Communication major with a minimum of 60 semester or 90 quarter transferable units must complete at least four of the following seven lower-division requirement courses by the end of Fall semester prior to transfer from community college or four-year university: Communication 10 or one interpersonal communication and one mass communication course, one public address course, one linguistics course, one statistics course, and three courses from psychology, American government, sociology, and microeconomics or political economy.

PLEASE NOTE: An Advanced Placement (AP) score of 4 or higher can be used in place of the major prep course for the Statistics, Psychology, or Microeconomics requirements but will NOT count towards the minimum four letter-graded prep courses by the end of Fall semester prior to transfer for a valid application.

Refer to the UCLA Transfer Admission Guide for up-to-date information regarding transfer selection for admission: http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/Adm_tr/tradms.htm

Requirements For A Major In Communication  (current UCLA students)

ALL Comm major courses MUST be taken for a letter grade to receive credit.

I. Seven Lower-Division Courses Required for the Major:

  • Comm 1
  • Comm 10
  • Anthro 4 (formerly Anthro 33) or Ling 1 or Philosophy 23
  • Econ 41 or Stats 10  * A score of 4 or higher on the AP Statistics exam can be used in place of the statistics course

And select three (3) additional courses from:

  • Econ 1 or Econ 5 or Poli Sci 30 * A score of 4 or higher on the AP Microeconomics exam can be used in place of microeconomics course
  • Poli Sci 40
  • Psych 10 * A score of 4 or higher on the AP Psychology exam can be used in place of the psychology course
  • Soc 1

The Major

Students must complete ten (10) to eleven (11) upper-division courses as follows:  [Note that the practicum requirement can be satisfied by a course that also satisfies a field-course requirement, in which case it would add zero additional units beyond the core and field course units].

II. Core Requirements:

  • Comm 100
  • Comm 150 * Stats 10 prerequisite and Restricted to Comm majors

III. Required Core Courses:  One course from each of the following four (4) core Communication areas:

A.  Mass Communication and Media Institutions— Core courses: Communication 133, 140, M147, 152, 187 (effective Fall’ 24).

B.  Interpersonal Communication— Core courses: Communication 110, 111, M113, 114, 115, 120, 121, 122, M123, 126.

C.  Communication Technology and Digital Systems— Core courses: Communication 129, 131, 151, 153, 154, 155, 156, 158, 159.

D.  Political and Legal Communication— Core courses: Communication 101, 160, 168, 170, 174.

IV.  Additional Area Elective Courses: Four (4) additional elective courses from the following (you may also apply classes from the core group above).  Students are not required to take one course from each subject area for your additional area elective courses:

A.  Mass Communication and Media Institutions— Elective courses:  Communication 105, 106, 107, 130, 132, 141, 143, 145, 146, 148, M149, M165, 166, M169, 175, 179, 182, 183, 186, 188A, 191A, Film and Television 108, Political Science M142D.

B.  Interpersonal Communication— Elective Courses: Anthropology 136A, M150, M151, Communication 108, 109, M117, 118, 119, M125, M127, M144A, M144B, 188B, 191B, Linguistics 103, 170, Philosophy 172; Psychology 135 (or Sociology 132), Psychology 137C, M165, 177, 178, Sociology 134, 156.

C.  Communication Technology and Digital Systems— Elective courses:  Communication 153, 157, 188C, 191C.

D.  Political and Legal Communication—Elective courses:  Communication 102, 163, 171, 173, M176, 178, 188D, 191D, Political Science M141A, 141B, 141C, 141E or Sociology 133.

IV. Required Practicum Course: One course from Communication 101, 102, 109, 111, M117, 155, 160, M176, 188E, 191E.