Undergraduate NE Curriculum

The NanoEngineering Program (B.S) is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, under the commission’s General Criteria with no applicable program criteria.

All students follow the same basic science preparation and core set of classes in NanoEngineering during the first two years.

Every course required for the major (except NENG-004 and NENG-199) must be taken for a letter grade. This includes all MATH, BILD, CHEM, PHYS and NENG courses. All major requirements must have a grade of C- or higher.

All NENG core courses are taught only once per year and are scheduled to be consistent with the curriculum shown below. NENG courses must be taken in the order they are listed on the curriculum plan in order to ensure all required prerequisites are fulfilled prior to booking.

The courses listed here other than NENG are under the control of other departments. They may not be offered in the quarter shown here. Each student is responsible for determining the prerequisites, when the courses are to be offered, and making a schedule of taking the courses that fit into his or her own graduation plan.

Tentative NENG and CENG course offerings for 2026-2027 can be found here.
To view the current and past catalog information, please click here.

Taking additional courses beyond twelve quarters (students entering in fall 2019 or thereafter): A student who books as a first-year student is allowed to book for twelve quarters to complete all requirements for a bachelor's degree. If a student reaches the twelve-quarter limit and needs more time beyond twelve quarters to complete those requirements, they will be required to submit an academic plan and have it approved by their college prior to booking for additional quarters to continue work towards the degree. More information can be found in the UC San Diego Catalog.


Curriculum for Incoming Students (FA 26 and onwards)

All courses are 4-units unless stated below

FRESHMEN YEAR
FALL WINTER SPRING
NENG-004 (1-unit)1 NENG-011 CHEM-006C
CHEM-006A CHEM-006B MATH-018
MATH-020A MATH-020B MATH-020C
G.E.2 G.E. PHYS-002A
SOPHOMORE YEAR
FALL WINTER SPRING
NENG-0153 NENG-104 NENG-108
NENG-020L (1 unit) CHEM-007L PHYS-002C
NENG-102 MATH-020E BILD-001
MATH-020D PHYS-002B G.E.
JUNIOR YEAR
FALL WINTER SPRING
NENG-110* NENG-107* NENG-112
NE Elective 14 NENG-111 NENG-115L
PHYS-002D NENG-117 NE Elective 2
G.E. G.E. G.E.
SENIOR YEAR
FALL WINTER SPRING
NENG-119 (1-unit) NENG-120A NENG-120B
NENG-148 N.E. Elective 4 N.E. Elective 5
N.E. Elective 3 GE G.E.
G.E. G.E. GE

* In the 2026-27 academic year, NENG-110 will be offered only in winter quarter and NENG-107 will be offered only in fall quarter. Students in their junior year should plan to switch these two courses on their curriculum plan. This is a temporary change for the 26-27 academic year only due to scheduling requirements. In all subsequent years, NENG-110 will be offered in fall and NENG-107 will be offered in winter.

1NENG-004: This course should be taken in the first Fall Quarter at UC San Diego. Students will not graduate without taking NENG-004.

2General Education Requirements (various units): This requirement is intended to fulfill the general education requirements (G.E.) from respective colleges. The forty-eight units are shown for Warren College students as an example to fulfill the general education requirements. Students in other colleges need to adjust the plan to match their own college requirements.

3NENG-015: This course will be offered in the Fall Quarter and may be offered in the Winter. If you cannot register for NENG-015 in the Fall, you may book in NENG-015 in the Winter.

4NanoEngineering Electives (twenty units): This requirement must be chosen from among the pre-approved upper-division NENG courses (NENG-100 - 199) offered by the department. Students may petition to use other upper division courses, such as CENG, BENG, MAE, ECE, to fulfill the NanoEngineering Elective requirements, but petitions must be submitted prior to booking as approval is not guaranteed. Petitions for potential elective courses can be submitted up to two quarters in advance. Additional information can be found here on the petitions section of our website. 

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Curriculum for Incoming Students prior to FA 26

All courses are 4-units unless stated below

FRESHMEN YEAR
FALL WINTER SPRING
NENG-004 (1-unit)1 NENG-011* CHEM-006C
NENG-015 CHEM-006B MATH-018
CHEM-006A MATH-020B MATH-020C
MATH-020A G.E. PHYS-002A
G.E.3    
SOPHOMORE YEAR
FALL WINTER SPRING
NENG-020L (1-unit) NENG-104 NENG-108
NENG-102 BILD-001 PHYS-002D
CHEM-007L MATH-020E G.E.
MATH-020D PHYS-002C G.E.
PHYS-002B    
JUNIOR YEAR
FALL WINTER SPRING
NENG-110** NENG-107 NENG-112
NE Elective 14 NENG-111* NENG-115L
G.E. NENG-117 NE Elective 2
G.E. G.E. G.E.
SENIOR YEAR
FALL WINTER SPRING
NENG-119 (1-unit) NENG-120A NENG-120B
NENG-148 N.E. Elective 4 N.E. Elective 5
N.E. Elective 3 GE G.E.
G.E. G.E. GE

1NENG-004: This course should be taken in the first Fall Quarter at UC San Diego. Students will not graduate without taking NENG-004.

2NENG-015: This course will be offered in the Fall Quarter and may be offered in the Winter. If you cannot register for NENG-015 in the Fall, you may book in NENG-015 in the Winter.

3General Education Requirements (various units): This requirement is intended to fulfill the general education requirements (G.E.) from respective colleges. The forty-eight units are shown for Warren College students as an example to fulfill the general education requirements. Students in other colleges need to adjust the plan to match their own college requirements.

4NanoEngineering Electives (twenty units): This requirement must be chosen from among the pre-approved upper-division NENG courses (NENG-100 - 199) offered by the department. Students may petition to use other upper division courses, such as CENG, BENG, MAE, ECE, to fulfill the NanoEngineering Elective requirements, but petitions must be submitted prior to booking as approval is not guaranteed. Petitions for potential elective courses can be submitted up to two quarters in advance.

* For the 2025-26 academic year, NENG-011 and NENG-111 will only be offered in the fall (FA 25) and will not be offered in winter (WI 26). Effective Winter 2027, NENG-111 will be changed to a winter only offering and NENG-011 will return to it's original winter quarter schedule (WI 27). 

** For the 2025-26 academic year, NENG-110 will be moved to winter quarter (WI 26) and will not be offered in fall quarter (FA 25). After the 25-26 academic year, NENG-110 will return to being a fall only offering (beginning in FA 26).