Academic Pathways for Students Admitted Before Fall 2023

Admitted in Fall 2023 or later?

Students admitted to UB in Fall 2023 or later should visit the new pathways requirements here. 

Take ownership of your education by choosing topics of interest to you and applying them to your major or using them as a platform to explore another field of study. 

Pathways are a central component of the UB Curriculum. Students are required to complete both a Global and Thematic pathway. Each pathway requires a minimum of nine credit hours, typically satisfied by completing three courses of three or more credit hours.

The university provides a Path Finder Tool, a planning tool to aid in the selection of your pathway courses. This page provides additional resources to help guide engineering and computer science students with respect to course selection. If you have any issues using the tools provided below or need assistance, contact the SEAS Office of Undergraduate Education to meet with an academic advisor.

On this page:

UB Path Finder  Path Finder Tool
SEAS Pathways Resources

Learn how to use the UB Pathfinder tool in this instructional video.

Pathways Requirements

Pathways are typically satisfied by completing three 3 credit hour courses, with the first selected from a “List 1”, the second selected from a “List 2”, and the third selected from a “List 3.” Students who select an introductory foreign language sequence for the Global pathway will complete two 5 credit hour courses.

A typical engineering or computer science student will need to satisfy the following requirements via the pathways:

  1. Four of the five UB Areas:
    1. A: Arts
    2. C: Civilization and History
    3. H: Humanities
    4. L: Languages
    5. S: Social Sciences
  2. Diversity Learning: Students are required to take at least one three-credit course focusing on domestic diversity. An approved course can satisfy both a Pathway and Diversity Learning requirement.
     

List 3 Recommendations

Engineering Majors

Engineering majors are advised to select the following courses as “List 3,” as they are also major requirements:

  • Aerospace Engineering: MAE 434 and MAE 451
  • Biomedical Engineering: BE 493 and BE 436
  • Chemical Engineering: CE 408 and CE 404
  • Computer Engineering: CSE 450 and CSE 453
  • Civil Engineering: CIE 340 and CIE 415
  • Electrical Engineering: EE 383 and EE 336
  • Engineering Physics: EE 494 and EE 336 
  • Engineering Science: ENS 493 and ENS 494
  • Environmental Engineering: CIE 340 and CIE 415
  • Industrial Engineering: IE 494 and IE 323
  • Material Science and Engineering: MDI 494 and MDI 471
  • Mechanical Engineering: MAE 494 and MAE 451
     

Computer Science Majors

Computer Science BS and BA majors should select CSE 442 as “List 3” in Thematic, and any class as “List 3” in Global that does not have prerequisites.

Pathways Course Selection Recommendations

Selecting pathways that contain courses within the major requirements allows a student to connect ideas from their major with the UB Curriculum and allows a student to move through the pathways most expeditiously.

We recommend that engineering and computer science students select pathway courses as follows:

  1. For the first pathway, pick a List 1 course that satisfies one of the UB Areas and a List 2 course that satisfies a second UB Area.  Pick the List 3 course that corresponds to your major.
  2. For the second pathway, pick a List 1 course that satisfies a third UB Area and a List 2 course that satisfies a fourth UB Area. Pick the List 3 course that corresponds to your major.
  3. Check to ensure that one of the List 1 or List 2 courses satisfy the Diversity Learning requirement. If not, revisit the four courses selected to satisfy the UB Areas, and make sure that at least one of these courses satisfies the Diversity Learning requirement.
  4. Repeat until you identify two Pathways that interest you!

Students coming in with transfer courses that can be identified with any of the five UB Areas have the flexibility to use their courses in many List 1 and List 2 sections. Specific details can be found under each List by logging into the Pathfinder Tool.

Students coming in with AP or exam credit can use a course if it is identified within a specific List. Students can use the UB Areas and Diversity Learning by Course Table below to determine if their courses are part of a Pathway Topic or List. They can also use the Course Filter tab in the Pathfinder Tool.
 

SEAS Pathways Resources

Below are a series of tools to help SEAS students find courses in UB pathways. Explore pathways...

Pathway Course Filter Tool

This tool provides a means to filter Pathway courses by Term, UB Area, Pathway, List Level, and Diversity Learning designation. Click on a column heading to sort the data. Use the drop-down menus to select options of interest.

If you have any issues using pathways tools or need assistance, please contact the SEAS Office of Undergraduate Education to meet with an academic advisor.

Back to Academic Advisement