About the Program

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Under the jurisdiction of the College of Letters and Science, the School of Social Welfare administers the Undergraduate Group Major in Social Welfare leading to the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. This liberal arts major, with a focus on the social sciences and core social welfare courses, introduces students to problems, policies, and methods in the social welfare field and allows students to test their career interest in social work before employment or graduate professional education. It also serves as a flexible pre-professional major for various other fields.

Declaring the Major

Social welfare is one of five designated capped (impacted) majors in the College of Letters & Science. As a result, not all students seeking to declare the major will be able to do so. A limit of 130 students can be declared each year. Freshman-entry students, those who began their first year of college at UC Berkeley, are declared on a first-come, first-served basis once they have completed the program’s prerequisites. Since declarations are processed in chronological order, interested students should contact Sherman Boyson, the Undergraduate Adviser, in 129 Haviland Hall, as early as possible during the semester that their prerequisites will be completed. Students should complete their prerequisites by the end of their third semester in order to be assured of a place in the major.

Transfer students should complete the prerequisites at their community college and list social welfare as their intended major when they apply for admission to UC Berkeley. Once accepted, they should attend one of the Cal Student Orientations (CalSO) that are held in June and July and meet with the undergraduate adviser during the orientation in order to declare. Students should bring to the orientation their transcripts that verify the completion of the prerequisites (unofficial copies are acceptable). Transfer students unable to attend CalSO should contact Sherman Boyson directly. Transfer students who do not list Social Welfare as their intended major will only be allowed to declare if room is available to accommodate such students.

College of Letters & Science policy requires freshman-entry students to declare an impacted major before they earn 80 units including units in progress. Transfer students must declare an impacted major before their first semester at UC Berkeley has been completed.

Honors Program

The honors program in social welfare provides an opportunity for qualified undergraduates to investigate thoroughly an area of interest, to work closely with a faculty member, and to produce a paper of some magnitude. Students who meet the eligibility requirements, which include a 3.5 grade point average (GPA) overall and in the major and completion of SOC WEL 110 and SOC WEL 112, may enroll in H195 in their senior year. The fall H195 (one unit) is a two-hour biweekly seminar addressing topic identification, library research, and the preparation of an annotated bibliography and essay prospectus. The spring H195 (three units) is an individual tutorial in which students prepare the honors essay under the supervision of their faculty essay advisers.

Minor Program

There is no minor program in Social Welfare.

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Major Requirements

In addition to the University, campus, and college requirements, listed on the College Requirements tab, students must fulfill the below requirements specific to their major program.

General Guidelines

1. All courses taken to fulfill the major requirements below must be taken for graded credit, other than courses listed which are offered on a Pass/No Pass basis only. Other exceptions to this requirement are noted as applicable.
2. No more than one upper-division course may be used to simultaneously fulfill requirements for a student's major and minor programs, with the exception of minors offered outside of the College of Letters and Science.
3. A minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 must be maintained in both upper- and lower-division courses used to fulfill the major requirements.

For information regarding residence requirements and unit requirements, please see the College Requirements tab.

Upper-division Requirements

Social Science Electives

A minimum of five approved social science electives, totaling at least 18 units. At least three of the five must be selected from a primary social science department. The remaining 2 may come from either a primary or a secondary department.

Approved Primary Social Sciences Courses

College Requirements

Undergraduate students in the College of Letters and Science must fulfill the following requirements in addition to those required by their major program.

For detailed lists of courses that fulfill college requirements, please see the College of Letters and Sciences  page in this bulletin. 

Entry Level Writing

All students who will enter the University of California as freshmen must demonstrate their command of the English language by fulfilling the Entry Level Writing Requirement. Fulfillment of this requirement is also a prerequisite to enrollment in all reading and composition courses at UC Berkeley. 

American History and American Institutions

The American History and Institutions requirements are based on the principle that a U.S. resident graduated from an American university should have an understanding of the history and governmental institutions of the United States.

American Cultures

American Cultures is the one requirement that all undergraduate students at Cal need to take and pass in order to graduate. The requirement offers an exciting intellectual environment centered on the study of race, ethnicity and culture of the United States. AC courses offer students opportunities to be part of research-led, highly accomplished teaching environments, grappling with the complexity of American Culture.

Quantitative Reasoning

The Quantitative Reasoning requirement is designed to ensure that students graduate with basic understanding and competency in math, statistics, or computer science. The requirement may be satisfied by exam or by taking an approved course.

Foreign Language

The Foreign Language requirement may be satisfied by demonstrating proficiency in reading comprehension, writing, and conversation in a foreign language equivalent to the second semester college level, either by passing an exam or by completing approved course work.

Reading and Composition

In order to provide a solid foundation in reading, writing and critical thinking the College requires two semesters of lower division work in composition. Students must complete a first-level reading and composition course by the end of their second semester and a second-level course by the end of their fourth semester.

Breadth Requirements

The undergraduate breadth requirements provide Berkeley students with a rich and varied educational experience outside of their major program. As the foundation of a liberal arts education, breadth courses give students a view into the intellectual life of the University while introducing them to a multitude of perspectives and approaches to research and scholarship.  Engaging students in new disciplines and with peers from other majors, the breadth experience strengthens interdisciplinary connections and context that prepares Berkeley graduates to understand and solve the complex issues of their day.

Unit Requirements

• 120 total units, including at least 60 L&S units

• Of the 120 units, 36 must be upper division units

• Of the 36 upper division units, 6 must be taken in courses offered outside your major department

Residence Requirements

For units to be considered in "residence," you must be registered in courses on the Berkeley campus as a student in the College of Letters and Science. Most students automatically fulfill the residence requirement by attending classes here for four years. In general, there is no need to be concerned about this requirement, unless you go abroad for a semester or year or want to take courses at another institution or through University Extension during your senior year. In these cases, you should make an appointment to see an adviser to determine how you can meet the Senior Residence Requirement.

Note: Courses taken through UC Extension do not count toward residence.

Senior Residence Requirement

After you become a senior (with 90 semester units earned toward your B.A. degree), you must complete at least 24 of the remaining 30 units in residence in at least two semesters. To count as residence, a semester must consist of at least 6 passed units. Intercampus Visitor, EAP, and UC Berkeley-Washington Program (UCDC) units are excluded.

You may use a Berkeley summer session to satisfy one semester of the Senior Residence Requirement, provided that you successfully complete 6 units of course work in the Summer Session and that you have been enrolled previously in the College.

Modified Senior Residence Requirement

Participants in the UC Education Abroad Program (EAP) or the UC Berkeley-Washington Program (UCDC) may meet a Modified Senior Residence Requirement by completing 24 (excluding EAP) of their final 60 semester units in residence. At least 12 of these 24 units must be completed after you have completed 90 units.

Upper Division Residence Requirement

You must complete in residence a minimum of 18 units of upper division courses (excluding EAP units), 12 of which must satisfy the requirements for your major.

Student Learning Goals

Mission

The undergraduate social welfare major reflects the School’s goal to provide students with a broad-based introduction to America’s social welfare problems and social policies within a social science context.

Students gain knowledge of organized networks of public and private social services, and the basic practice methods associated with the social work profession.

In doing so, students acquire the knowledge needed to understand, address, and actively participate in the amelioration of critical social problems in American Society.

Students in the undergraduate group major learn about the foundations of social welfare through substantive areas taught in the four core courses: SW110: Introduction to the Profession of Social Work; SW112: Social Welfare Policy; SW114: Social Welfare Practice; and, SW116: Current Topics in Social Welfare. 

Learning Goals for the Major

1. Provide an overview of the field of social welfare within the context of the major social science disciplines (e.g., sociology, psychology, anthropology, economics, and political science) as part of a liberal arts program
2. Provide an overview of the history and domains of the social work with attention to cultural competence (e.g., racism, discrimination, difference sensitivity, acceptance and tolerance)
3. Provide an overview of the welfare state as a collective enterprise addressing human need through a description of social welfare policies (e.g., public assistance, social security, child welfare and child protection, mental health and health care) and practices (e.g., case management, community advocacy, family support, crisis intervention)
4. Foster the intellectual resources and critical thinking skills relevant to a wide range of careers and civic responsibilities

Courses

Social Welfare

Faculty

Professors

Michael J Austin, Professor. Strategic planning, social welfare, social service management, organizational development.
Research Profile

Jill Duerr Berrick, Professor. Family policy, child and family poverty, child abuse and neglect, foster care, kinship care, Child welfare services.
Research Profile

Jeffrey L Edleson, PhD, Professor. Program evaluation, family violence, child maltreatment, engaging men, violence prevention.
Research Profile

Eileen Gambrill, Professor. Social welfare, professional ethics and education, social learning theory, behavioral methods.
Research Profile

Neil Gilbert, Professor. Social welfare, comparative welfare state analysis, child welfare, evaluation research, family policy, social security.
Research Profile

James Midgley, Professor. Development, social development, social policy, community development, International social welfare, global poverty and inequality.
Research Profile

Kurt C. Organista, Professor. Social welfare, race/ethnicity, HIV prevention, social behavior.
Research Profile

Steven P. Segal, Professor. Psychiatry, methodology, social welfare, mental health and social policy.
Research Profile

Jennifer Skeem, Professor.

Associate Professors

Julian Chow, Associate Professor. East Asian studies, social welfare, community practice and service delivery in urban poverty, ethnic, and immigrant neighborhoods, community analysis and needs assessment, program planning and development, and cultural competency services.
Research Profile

Susan Irene Stone, Associate Professor. School-based psycho-social services, school-effects, archival data analysis.
Research Profile

Assistant Professors

Adrian Aguilera, Assistant Professor. Culture, SES and mental health; mental health services research in low-income populations; Latino & minority mental health; Health disparities; cognitive-behavioral therapy for depression; mobile technology (mHealth) and mental health.
Research Profile

Anu Manchikanti Gomez, PhD, Assistant Professor.

Valerie Shapiro, Assistant Professor.

Paul R Sterzing, Assistant Professor.

Lecturers

Claudia L Albano, Lecturer.

Valerie R Edwards, Lecturer.

Barbara L Ivins, Lecturer.

Amanda E. Reiman, PhD, Lecturer.

Barrie Robinson, Lecturer.

Stanley B Taubman, Lecturer.