Online Social Science BA

1) We are #1!US News & World Report ranked the Chico State Online Social Science BA as the #1 social science online BA in California in 2025.

2) Chico State Is One of the Best! Chico State was ranked #9 in “Top Public Schools (West)” by US News & World Report for 2026. Forbes ranked Chico State among America’s Top Colleges 2025, and Money magazine gave Chico State 4.5 out of a possible 5 stars on its list of “Best Colleges in American” for 2025.

3) Best bang for your buck! Our tuition and fees are far below the national average.

4) Preparation for a wide range of careers. You choose your path:

• Multidisciplinary Studies – designed to prepare students for Single Subject Secondary School Teaching in California, and completion of this BA waives the CSET and CBEST exams.
• Specialization Studies in one of these fields:
  • Anthropology
  • Career and Life Planning
  • Child Development
  • Community Organizing for Social Change
  • Environmental Planning
  • Family Relations
  • Gerontology

 5) Great faculty and advisors who love what they do!

Yes. If you enter the program with all your lower-division GE coursework completed, you can take all your Social Science major courses, upper-division GE courses (3 courses required by Chico State), courses that fulfill your writing requirements, and electives all online.

Our online courses have different delivery modalities. Some are completely asynchronous with no meeting times, so you work through each week’s material on your own schedule. Other classes have a meeting time and allow you to log in synchronously to join the rest of the class and participate in real-time. However, these classes are also recorded, so if you are unable to attend the class synchronously, you can watch the recording (i.e., the “archive”) at a later time. Most synchronous courses are scheduled on weeknight evenings to allow more working students to log in and attend when they can.

NOTE: There is one Career and Life Planning course (SOSC 509: Principles and Techniques of Career Counseling and Guidance) that requires all students to complete a minimum of 24 contact hours of live (synchronous) interaction to comply with the requirements for the externally accredited Career and Life Planning Certificate.

No. Your diploma will list Social Science as your major, and it will be no different from the diploma of an on-campus student.

Yes. The following majors are also offered online: Humanities, Liberal Studies, Multicultural & Gender Studies, Religious Studies, and Sociology.

We also offer the following minors online: Career and Life Planning, Family Relations, Gerontology.

Yes. The tuition and fees are exactly the same as those for on-campus students.

Yes. Students enrolled in our distance education program have the same eligibility for financial aid as on-campus students.

You may transfer a maximum of 70 units total to Chico State, and some of those units may count toward your Social Science major – it depends on the major within Social Science you choose and what courses you transfer to Chico State.

If you enter Chico State with all your lower-division GE completed, the number of remaining units needed to graduate depends on what courses you transfer in, as some lower-division community college credits may count toward your major requirements.

The Social Science major is 43 units, and you must reach a total of 120 units to graduate with a BA. You must also take 9 units of upper-division GE, but some of these upper-division GE courses will be satisfied with your Social Science major courses.

Once enrolled in the program, if you take 15 units each semester, make sure you are taking the correct courses, and pass all your courses, you will graduate in 2 years (not including any minors or double majors). If you take 2 classes per semester plus one summer class each year, you will graduate in 4 years.*

*NOTE: There can be variations in this timeline, depending on the units and courses you have transferred in and the courses you take at Chico State. It is important to meet with the Social Science Advisor each semester before you register for classes to plan your schedule to achieve the best possible timeline toward graduation.

We do not generally have a problem with students being able to get the courses they need. We reserve seats in many courses for distance education students, and we offer our required core courses every semester.

Be sure to meet with the Social Science Advisor each semester before your register for classes to ensure you get the courses you need to move toward graduation.