This Tutorial is designed to ensure you have and understand the requirements needed to earn your bachelor's degree from CSUSM, as well as the tools needed to self-enroll in your first semester courses. This will be an extremely important investment of your time. Please set aside a minimum of 45 minutes to an hour to complete it in its entirety. Access to Academic Advising will be made available to new students once the Tutorial and self-enrollment into fall courses have been completed. It is in your best interest to complete this Tutorial and self-enroll in your classes as soon as possible.
USERNAME, PASSWORD & COUGAR EMAIL!
Before you can enroll in courses, make sure you have set up your CSUSM username and password. If you haven't already done this, please do so as soon as possible.
You'll also need to set up your Cougar email. The University, including your professors, will send all official University communication to your Cougar email address. Be sure to check it frequently.
To check your Cougar email, go to the CSUSM homepage, click on the Campus Apps icon on the top right of the page, then click on Student Email.
For help setting up your username, password and/or email, please visit: Technology Support for New Students
GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
There are 3 components to earning a degree at CSUSM: University Requirements, General Education Requirements and Major and/or Minor Requirements.
Component 1: University Requirements
University Requirements at CSUSM include a minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) and a
unit requirement.
Minimum Grade Point Average:
Grades for major and/or minor coursework must be a “C” or higher.
Students at CSUSM must maintain a 2.0 minimum GPA (“C” average).
Failure to maintain a 2.0 GPA may result in academic probation or disqualification,
even after your first semester!
Unit Requirement:
The minimum number of overall units required to graduate at CSUSM is 120 units. After you have completed all of your general education and major requirements, you may still need additional electives to reach 120 units.
Component 2: General Education Requirements
General Education requirements are referred to as Areas A through E. You must complete
all subsections of these areas prior to graduation. You can review your GE Requirements
in our GE Worksheets, your Academic Requirements Report (ARR) and your Degree Planner (more on the ARR
and Degree Planner below).
Area A: Basic Skills
A1 – Oral Communication
A2 – Written Communication
A3 – Critical Thinking
Area B: Math & Science
B1 – Physical Science
B2 – Biological Science
B3 – Science Lab
B4 – Mathematics
BB – Upper-division Mathematics or Science
Area C: Arts & Humanities
C1 – Fine Arts
C2 – Humanities
C3 – Language other than English
CC – Upper-division Arts or Humanities
Area D: Social Sciences
D7 – Interdisciplinary Social Science
Dh – United States History
Dc, Dg – U.S. Constitution/CA Government
DD – Upper-division Social Science
Area E: Lifelong Learning
Notes about your General Education Requirements:
For Liberal Studies – Elementary Subject Matter (LBST-ESM) majors, all General Education requirements and major courses must be passed with a C or higher. For Area E, LBST-ESM majors will take PE 203.
Component 3: Major and/or Minor Requirements
Every major and minor possesses their own particular set of requirements. They are
listed in the catalog, major/minor worksheets, Academic Requirement Report and in your Degree Planner. Your Degree Planner will
let you know which classes to take and when. More on the Degree Planner later!
