What Is the Experiential Learning Requirement?

Experiential learning at UC San Diego is an intentionally designed educational approach engaging students in applied learning activities that incorporate active participation, reflection, and collaboration. Through facilitated exploration, participants are encouraged to connect their learning to their own personal, academic, and professional growth.

Experiential learning is at the heart of Sixth College's mission to ensure our students graduate with the ability to engage each other and the world. The experiential learning requirement embeds these values into our curriculum and general education requirements. To fulfill the requirement, students must complete a four-unit, upper-division experiential learning course within one of the five fulfillment tracks: Community Engagement, Internship and Apprenticeship, Research and Design, Art and Performance, or Global Experience.

What Will You Gain From the Experiential Learning Requirement?

Applied Knowledge

You will learn how to apply academic theories and concepts to real-world settings and situations through critical and creative applications.

Professional Development

You will develop professionalism through learning about different expectations and cultures across fields and career areas while building transferable skills and competencies that support academic and career pathways.

Civic and Cultural Engagement

You will learn how to play an active role in improving your community and addressing societal issues by engaging with communities and social systems in ways that foster responsibility and agency.

Lifelong Learning

You will gain experience in taking ownership of your own self-directed learning and cultivate habits of reflection, adaptability, and sustained intellectual growth.

Connect with Us

Phoebe Bronstein Director of Academic Programs

Jeanne Monahan Experiential Learning Coordinator

 

Virtual Advising Center

Submit questions about the experiential learning requirement at any time.

Visit drop-in hours Week 1 through Finals Week, each Tuesday 1:30-3:30 p.m.

Non-Discrimination Statement

In accordance with applicable federal and state law and with university policy, the University of California does not discriminate, or grant preferences, on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, and/or other protected categories.

More information about Proposition 209 can be found here.

More information about the University of California Anti-Discrimination Policy can be found here.