CSU doctoral degree program proposal review and approval process

Approved by Governor Newsom Fall 2023, Assembly Bill 656 made an exception to the California Master Plan for Higher Education by allowing the California State University authority “to award professional or applied doctoral degrees statewide that do not duplicate University of California doctoral degrees and satisfy certain requirements.” Linked to identified workforce or accreditation needs that may not be fulfilled through existing education opportunities in California, the bill creates an exception to the differentiation of function in graduate education that assigns sole authority among the California higher education segments to the University of California for awarding doctoral degrees independently.

In Summer 2023, the California State University Board of Trustees approved a set of planning materials for proposed doctoral programs, including guidelines for developing these proposals and a flowchart showing the sequential process for review and approval of these proposals:

Conceptual Proposal for UC Review of CSU Professional and Applied Doctoral Programs

CSU Doctoral Degree Program Proposal and Approval Flowchart

Proposed doctoral programs shall be submitted for consultation once per year, with a deadline of August 1 for proposals being sent to the California State University Chancellor’s Office. After receipt of the proposal, the University of California Office of the President has 120 days to reply, providing consent or a written objection. The California State University can approve no more than 10 new doctoral degree disciplines per academic year.

Included in the steps a California State University campus must take in proposing a new doctoral program is a check for duplication. Proposed California State University doctoral programs should not duplicate University of California doctoral degree programs that are either offered or under review by the University of California, and the proposing campus is expected to search all ten University of California campuses for duplication while providing evidence and an analytical summary of potential duplication per the Conceptual Proposal above.

The below list of campuses' graduate degree programs should not replace a complete search of all ten UC campuses specific to the proposed program. The following list can be a beginning--but not an ending--point in this search. The UC Office of the President does not maintain the below websites and can not guarantee that they are up to date; programs listed at the websites below should be confirmed by reviewing departmental websites and, if necessary, contacting the appropriate departmental faculty.

UC Berkeley:
Degree Programs & Designated Emphases

Schools, Departments, & Graduate Groups

UC Davis:
Graduate Programs

Professional Programs

UC Irvine:
UCI Graduate Division: Degree Programs

UCI General Catalogue: Graduate Degrees

UCLA:
Degree Programs, Majors and Minors

UC Merced:
Graduate Programs

UC Riverside:
Graduate Programs

UC San Diego:
Find Your Degree Program

UC San Francisco:
Degree Programs

UC Santa Barbara:
Graduate Schools and Programs