College Advisors can help you with:

• Satisfying your non-major degree requirements
• Choosing a major or minor
• Exploring transfer coursework options for non-major requirements
• Clarifying academic options if you are struggling with a class or multiple classes
• Incorporating college requirements and enrichment opportunities to a 4-year plan
• Connecting with campus resources for support

Summed up: L&S Advisers' expertise is in answering non-major-specific academic questions. While L&S Advisers can help you navigate major options, where to find information about majors, and high-level major planning, we will refer to Major Advising for more in-depth advising on these topics. 

Undergraduate Major Advisors can help you with:

• Planning major/minor prerequisites and upper division requirements
• Declaring or applying to the major/minor
• Exploring transfer work options for major/minor requirements
• Discussing how struggling in a major course may impact major progress
• Developing your major program plan and discussing whether a major is feasible with your remaining time
• Learning about research and other departmental opportunities

Summed up: Major Advisors specialize with in-depth major/minor questions. While Major Advisers often have an awareness of non-major degree requirements and policies, they will refer to L&S Advising for more in-depth advising on these topics. 

Does it matter who you meet with?

Because there is some overlap in what L&S College and Undergraduate Major advisers can cover with you, especially for students in their first year or second year, the lines can get blurred. Often, students used to working with one might forget about the other as a resource. 

But knowing what each adviser specializes in can not only help you make sure your questions are being answered with the depth and expertise you're looking for, it can save you the effort of making an appointment, only to get referred to the other resource. 

Getting support

Ready to get support? Check out our Appointments and Advice page for information on both L&S College Advising services and information on how to meet with a major advisor. 

L&S College Advising   Major Advising

• Check out the Linguistics Majors (we have many, many tracks!) on our “Majors” page for info and degree sheets. 
• Once you have decided on which track you’d like to follow: Fill out the Linguistics Major Change form or Double Major Petition through the Student Success Hub. Note the following:
  • Once you complete your petition, it is automatically routed and reviewed by the Undergraduate Advisor before proceeding to the College of Letters & Science for approval and then by the Registrar for processing. This process may take 2-4 weeks to be fully processed. **There is nothing we can do to expedite this process, so please plan accordingly.**
  • Contact the LING Advisor for more complex situations.
• Major Changes take about 2-4 weeks to be fully processed. There is nothing we can do to expedite this process, so please plan accordingly.
• Make sure to download the degree sheet for your catalog year!
  • Your catalog year is determined by which academic year you enter the major.
    • For example, if you’ve entered the LING major in either Fall 2024, Winter 2025, Spring 2025, or Summer 2025; you’d follow the 2024-2025 degree sheets. 
• If you have questions about the major requirements or course timelines, please contact undergradadvisor@lingusitics.ucsb.edu or make an appointment with the advisor for an in-depth review.

To add or drop a LING minor, you will need to have at least one LING course completed with a passing grade, and then you may submit the Intent to Minor Form here.

• The general Linguistics major (and all Language emphasis tracks) all require a specific four-course sequence: LING 106, 107, 108, and 109. These courses must be taken in order, as each is a prerequisite for the next. This sequence typically takes two years to complete because LING 108 is only offered in the spring and LING 109 is only offered in the winter.
• However! If you want to complete the core sequence in one year, you can take an alternative path. Because LING 109 requires either LING 108 OR LING 101 as a prerequisite, I usually recommend taking LING 106 AND LING 101 in the fall. Another required course, LING 115, is always offered in the spring, which works well with this accelerated plan.
• Below is the typical schedule for these courses:

• Only once you have COMPLETED at least ONE course in Linguistics are you eligible for a Linguistics minor. This means that a grade must be recorded in a linguistics course. We will not add you to the minor if a linguistics course has not been completed. 
• Please fill out the Intent to Minor in Linguistics form on the “Minor” tab of the “Undergraduate” page on our department website.
• Dropping the Linguistics minor is found on the same page linked above, on the “Minor” tab of the “Undergraduate” page on our department website.
• Students interested in TESOL are required to have completed at least one TESOL core course (LING 139, 140, 141) before declaring.
  • Majoring in Linguistics AND want to minor in TESOL?
    • It’s possible! See below.
• More information about adding a minor can be found on the “Adding a Minor” page of the department website.

• Once the grade for your final course in the Linguistics minor is posted, please submit the form below. The department will automatically review the form, so there’s no need to follow up. Please make sure the grade for your last course is posted before submitting the form, as it will be rejected if not.
  • LING - Minor Clearance Form
    (Applies to all minors within the Linguistics Department.)

• As a Linguistics major, you are allowed only one course overlap between your Linguistics major and the TESOL minor. The Registrar enforces this rule strictly, so it’s important to plan your courses carefully.
• Since both programs are within the Linguistics department, no additional overlap beyond the one allowed is permitted. In this case, LING 106 is required for both the TESOL minor and the Linguistics major, meaning it will account for the single allowed overlap (5 units).
• As a result, you would need to complete 24 additional LING units (20 units for the TESOL minor, excluding LING 106) on top of the unit requirements for your major.

• Two foreign languages are required from different language families (e.g., French and Spanish are both Romance and cannot both be taken). As with all major courses, you must take these for a letter grade:
  • First Foreign Language: Complete 6 quarters (2 years) of one foreign language.
  • Second Foreign Language: Complete 3 quarters (1 year) of a different foreign language from a separate language family.
• Below is a breakdown of how the semesters and quarters equate for the foreign language requirement:
  • 6 quarters (or equivalent) is 4 semesters or 2 years. 
  • 3 quarters (or equivalent) is 2 semesters or 1 year.
• If you're bilingual, you may test out of one language via a placement exam. Please contact the relevant UCSB language department (you can see which departments to contact in the “language families” link above) to arrange this.
  • For those completing heritage track language courses: SPAN 16A is equivalent to SPAN 6. However, the major progress check does not automatically recognize heritage track language courses (like SPAN 16A), so they will not appear under your foreign language requirement. You must email us at undergradadvisor@linguistics.ucsb.edu using your UCSB email with your Perm# so that we can start the manual petition to get that cleared.

• Yes, all foreign languages may be taken at community colleges. See above for the semester/quarter equivalencies. 
• However, this will require additional legwork from you to have them applied towards your major. See the following Q&A for next steps.

• For any community college/other university courses, make sure your transcripts are sent to UCSB’s Admissions office or to GraduationMatters@sa.ucsb.edu (if you are graduating soon) with your official transcripts for your transfer credits to apply to your UCSB records and fully processed. 
• You can confirm the transcripts have been fully processed by checking your GOLD > Progress > Course History. Your courses will be listed if they have been processed completely.
• The department does NOT process transfer credit transcripts. Please do not email us your foreign language transcripts; check with UCSB’s Admissions office.
• Only after you see your course(s) in your Course History on GOLD:
  • Run a major progress check on GOLD, then: 
    • If your language(s) apply properly to the Linguistics foreign language requirement(s), then you are done! 🎉 
    • If you do NOT see your languages applying to the foreign languages requirement even though you see your courses in your Course History: 
      • Email us at undergradadvisor@linguistics.ucsb.edu using your UCSB email with your Perm#, the language course(s), and whether you’re petitioning the 3rd- or 6th-quarter requirement. so that we can start the manual petition.

• Check your Course History (listed in your GOLD > Progress > Course History)!
  • If you do NOT see your language course(s) in your Course History, make sure that your transcripts have been sent and processed from your community college or university. See above on the transferring steps.
  • If you do see your language course(s) listed in your Course History, then the following might be happening:
    • You took a language not offered at UCSB. The GOLD major progress check does not automatically recognize languages that are not offered at UCSB. Or;
    • You took heritage language track courses (for example, SPAN 16A).

• The major progress check does not automatically recognize the above situations. To clear your foreign language requirement, email us at undergradadvisor@linguistics.ucsb.edu using your UCSB email with your Perm#, the course(s), and whether you’re petitioning the 3rd- or 6th-quarter requirement.

• All course offerings for the academic year are published on our Linguistics Department’s website on the “Courses” page. 
  • Please be patient as course planning may take a while. We usually publish the next academic year’s course offers in the summer prior. For example, the 2025-2026 course offerings were published in Summer 2025.
  • Unforeseen incidents may happen where we may not be able to offer the listed course. Be sure to reach out to the undergraduate advisor if you need assistance with pivoting courses.

• To course plan, we recommend all students cross-reference our course offerings for the academic year with their Linguistics majors and degree sheets.

• Reach out to the instructor listed on GOLD. All approval codes are distributed by the course instructor or only with instructor approval. 
• Please do NOT ask the undergraduate advisor for an add code. We cannot give out add codes without the instructor’s permission.

• Only by the instructor’s discretion can you bypass a course you do not meet the prerequisites. Reach out to the instructor with your reasoning for bypassing the course. Only if they approve can you enroll in the course. 
• All approval codes are distributed by the course instructor or only with instructor approval. You must reach out to the instructor listed on GOLD for approval.
• Please do not ask the undergraduate advisor for an add code. We cannot give out add codes without the instructor’s permission.

• Send an email to undergradadvisor@linguistics.ucsb.edu with:
  • Your Perm#;
  • Your Major Track or Minor Track ;
  • Which Area(s) you’d like to petition the course(s) for;
  • UCSB / UCEAP / Other Institution
  • Course# & Course Title;
  • And lastly, either a Course Syllabus (recommended) and/or a Course Description.
• Once a decision is made by the department, you will be notified via email with either an approval or denial.
• IMPORTANT NEXT STEPS FOR UCEAP/TRANSFERRED COURSES: MAKE SURE TO READ THE FOLLOWING ANSWER 

Once you have received an approval email for your petition, follow these steps after your UCEAP program is complete:

• Send Transcripts: Make sure your transcripts have been sent to UCSB’s Admissions office or to GraduationMatters@sa.ucsb.edu (if graduating soon) and fully processed. 
• Confirm in GOLD: You can confirm your courses have been processed by checking your Course History (GOLD > Progress > Course History).
• Notify the Advisor: Once the course appears in your GOLD Course History, simply reply to the original email where your petition was approved.
• Finalize: We can only officially apply your course to your major after it is visible in your GOLD records.

• It’s not necessary to make an appointment to have your APF signed; you can just send us an email here (make sure you are using your UCSB email). Please make sure you include all of the following in your email:
  • Your Perm#;
  • If you plan to use any of your UCEAP courses for LING major credit.
    • If you do, make sure to check our section on “Petitioning Courses”
    • There is no guarantee of approval, so make sure to check BEFORE you take any courses if you want them for your major credit!
  • Which Area(s) you want to petition your course(s) towards in your LING major or minor.he quarter(s) you plan on doing study abroad, and;
  • The quarter you plan on graduating
• Of course, if you’re still welcome to make an appointment, if you’d like to discuss things in further detail. Please make sure you include all of the following in your email:
  • Your Perm#;
  • If you plan to use any of your UCEAP courses for LING major/minor credit.
    • If you do, make sure to check our section on “Petitioning Courses”
    • There is no guarantee of approval so make sure to check BEFORE you take any courses if you want them for your major credit!
  • Which Area(s) you want to petition your course(s) towards in your LING major or minor.
  • The Quarter(s) you plan on doing study abroad, and;
  • The Quarter you plan on graduating

**PLEASE MAKE SURE TO SEND US A FOLLOW UP EMAIL ONCE YOU HAVE RETURNED**:

• Check your Course History (listed in your GOLD > Progress > Course History)!
  • If you see your UCEAP course(s) listed in your Course History, please:
    • Email us at undergradadvisor@linguistics.ucsb.edu using your UCSB email with your Perm#, and the approved course(s); OR
    • Reply to the initial email where approval was given.
  • If you do NOT see your EAP course(s) in your Course History, make sure that your transcripts have been sent and processed.
    • Even if your course has been approved by the department, the approval is NOT automatic on GOLD. A petition must be created to have the pre-approved course(s) apply towards your major, but we cannot do this until the UCEAP courses are on your Course History.

• General information can be found on the “Honors Program” page of the department website.
• Forms for the honor courses can be found on the “Petitions” page of the department website.
• You can reach out to the advisor for an appointment if you have questions. 

• NOTE: The Linguistics departmental honors program is completely separate from the L&S college honors program.

• For enrollment in LING 191, LING 199, and LING 195A-B-C, please fill out the associated petition linked on the “Petitions” page of the department website. Once the DocuSign form has been completed, an approval code will be emailed to you.
• You are responsible for reaching out to the professor you’d like to work with. You can view their areas of specialization on their profiles on our website under “People”.
• Be sure to submit these forms prior to Week 3 in the Quarter.

• Looking for hands-on experience? Internships are a fantastic way to apply your linguistic skills in a real-world setting. The Linguistics Department offers academic credit through LING 191: Internship in Linguistics for students who work in a language-related professional context.
• Here are some current internship opportunities you can pursue for credit:
  • Dual Language Childcare Program: Professor Kennedy is overseeing this program at UCSB's Early Childcare Center. Multilingual students are needed to interact with and read to children in their home languages. To participate, please email Professor Kennedy directly at rkennedy@linguistics.ucsb.edu.
  • SKILLS Program: This program seeks undergraduate mentors for various roles during the Winter and Spring quarters to advance educational justice for K-16 students. You can join the SKILLS program here.
  • Practicum in Speech-Language Pathology: This practicum, overseen by Professor Tracy Conner, is designed for students interested in a career in speech-language pathology. You'll gain practical experience by tracking observation hours and creating case journals, and you'll engage in clinical skills labs, including case study assessment through Simucase, a virtual clinical simulation platform.

  • Faculty Opportunities: Many faculty oversee opportunities or can connect you with them. Start by reaching out to professors whose work matches your interests.

    • Not sure where to begin? Contact Professor Argyro Katsika, our undergraduate faculty director. A full list of faculty and their specializations is available on the Linguistics website.

  • Career Services & IHC: Both Career Services and the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center (IHC) offer additional internship opportunities that you can pursue for LING 191 credit.

• Important Note on Credit: To receive academic credit for your internship (LING 191), you must have a faculty supervisor to oversee your work. If you do not need credit, a faculty supervisor is not required.

• How to enroll: For enrollment in LING 191 please fill out the associated petition linked on the “Petitions” page of the department website. Once the DocuSign form has been completed, an approval code will be emailed to you.

• Be sure to submit these forms prior to Week 3 of the quarter!

• Looking for hands-on experience? Internships are a fantastic way to apply your linguistic skills in a real-world setting. The Linguistics Department offers academic credit through LING 191: Internship in Linguistics for students who work in a language-related professional context.
• Here are some current internship opportunities you can pursue for credit:
  • Dual Language Childcare Program: Professor Kennedy is overseeing this program at UCSB's Early Childcare Center. Multilingual students are needed to interact with and read to children in their home languages. To participate, please email Professor Kennedy directly at rkennedy@linguistics.ucsb.edu.
  • SKILLS Program: This program seeks undergraduate mentors for various roles during the Winter and Spring quarters to advance educational justice for K-16 students. You can join the SKILLS program here.
  • Practicum in Speech-Language Pathology: This practicum, overseen by Professor Tracy Conner, is designed for students interested in a career in speech-language pathology. You'll gain practical experience by tracking observation hours and creating case journals, and you'll engage in clinical skills labs, including case study assessment through Simucase, a virtual clinical simulation platform.

  • Faculty Opportunities: Many faculty oversee opportunities or can connect you with them. Start by reaching out to professors whose work matches your interests.

    • Not sure where to begin? Contact Professor Argyro Katsika, our undergraduate faculty director. A full list of faculty and their specializations is available on the Linguistics website.

  • Career Services & IHC: Both Career Services and the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center (IHC) offer additional internship opportunities that you can pursue for LING 191 credit.

• Important Note on Credit: To receive academic credit for your internship (LING 191), you must have a faculty supervisor to oversee your work. If you do not need credit, a faculty supervisor is not required.

• How to enroll: For enrollment in LING 191 please fill out the associated petition linked on the “Petitions” page of the department website. Once the DocuSign form has been completed, an approval code will be emailed to you.

• Be sure to submit these forms prior to Week 3 of the quarter!

Since SLP/CSD graduate programs are not standardized and each program may have their own specific requirements, we recommend:

• Reviewing SLP/CSD Graduate Programs
  • Research various SLP programs to determine which best align with your interests and career goals.
• Check Admissions Requirements 
  • Each program has unique prerequisites, often including anatomy, audiology, and diagnostic methods. Identify any coursework gaps early. 
  • Example: SDSU’s program provides a clear outline of admissions requirements. If you are an SLDS major, you would apply as an "other background" applicant.:

• Post-Baccalaureate Programs (see below)
  • Options include structured post-bacc programs that cover all prerequisites or selecting individual prerequisite courses. Not all post-bacc programs fulfill every grad school requirement, so verify course compatibility with your target programs.
• Contact Graduate Programs Directly
  • Some programs may review unofficial transcripts for feedback on course equivalencies. However, responses vary.

• ASHA Website – Outlines pathways to becoming an SLP and required coursework.
• UCLA Guidebook & UCSD Info Page – Provide insights into SLP admissions requirements.
• How a UC Student Got Their Master’s in SLP – A comprehensive guide on different pathways UC students can take.

• Santa Barbara RiteCare Language Center
• Cottage Hospital (requires volunteer training)
• MP Health of Santa Barbara – Mariposas Summer Camp
• Research Opportunities – Koegel Center / Education Department
• SKILLS.ucsb.edu - You can get LING 192 (counts towards LING UD units) credit for this!

Finding an SLP Graduate Program:

• Use EdFind (ASHA) to search for accredited SLP programs. If you believe you've met all prerequisites through undergrad or a post-bacc program, contact graduate admissions advisors for confirmation.

The following list is not complete by any means:

Structured Post-Bacc Programs:

• CSU Northridge – 2 years, all online (also offers an online graduate program)
• CSU Los Angeles – 39 units, 1.5–3 years depending on course load, in person
• Chapman University – 10 months, in person (Friday evenings & Saturdays)
• CSU Sacramento – 16 months, earns a second BS, qualifies for SLPA license, in person
• CSU San Marcos – 3 semesters, all online
• University of the Pacific – 24-month accelerated Master’s program (includes post-bacc), 15-month master’s option available
• Loma Linda – 3-year transitional post-bacc + master’s program
• SDSU – Online
  • SDSU also offers a cross-enrollment program, which is linked here.

Flexible Post-Bacc Programs (Pick & Choose Courses):

• Eastern New Mexico University
• University of South Florida

• National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA) keeps a list of scholarships:
  • https://www.nsslha.org/programs/csd-student-scholarships/
• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) has a list of financial aid opportunities:
  • https://www.asha.org/students/financial-aid/?srsltid=AfmBOoo_X-ttXID5VjD99SLH5wnXz96oN-CDjwyS6jMZsUfJlCXoxGdg