Climate change education now required for UC San Diego students

SAN DIEGO -- The University of California, San Diego has become the first major public college in the U.S. to require undergraduate students across all majors on campus to take a course on climate change.

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"Climate change is one of the biggest challenges that today's college students will confront in their lifetimes," Sarah Gille, a professor involved with the program, told ABC News. "UCSD's new course requirement is intended to prepare students for the future."

Titled the Jane Teranes Climate Change Education Requirement, the program was implemented this fall with the requirement in place for students who will graduate in 2028.

There are more than 40 courses that fulfill the requirement and are available for the current academic year, according to the university, which said additional offerings are expected to be added to course catalogs in the future.

Classes on planetary health, the intersection of gender and climate justice, energy economics, the ethics of climate change and how the environment has shaped literature are among those offered.

"Whether undergraduates are majoring in STEM, the humanities, arts, social sciences or any other field, this requirement will equip them with a strong understanding of climate change and how they can contribute to meaningful solutions," UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla said in a press release about the program.

This academic year, 33,800 undergraduate students are enrolled at UC San Diego, including more than 7,000 first-year students who will need to meet the new requirement, according to the university.

The requirement is named after the late Scripps Institution of Oceanography professor Jane Teranes, who advocated for climate education at UC San Diego, the university said in the release.

"It's a big deal to add any new requirement, so we carefully considered the design of this program," Dan Rudnick, a Scripps Oceanography professor who chairs the committee that approves courses, said in the release.

According to Rudnick, the criteria for choosing courses included providing students with the scientific background to understand climate change, exploring societal impacts and social dimensions, inviting ideas for potential solutions and incorporating hands-on projects or experience-based learning opportunities.

"It was really important to me that students would have as many course options as possible so this would not be a burden and they would ultimately graduate with a deeper understanding of climate change," Rudnick added.

The program was officially approved by the university's academic senate in October 2023, which also established a program review set for five years after its implementation, according to the university.