Student FAQs

The purpose of Discover UC San Diego is to address existing inequities in college access by giving students the opportunity to enroll in university-level courses, at low or no cost, before they apply to college.

The current Discover  UC San Diego pilot program has been designed with high school students in mind. Current high school students (9^th through 12^th )grade from one of our partnerships (See Get Involved for the current listing of participating partners) qualify for this program.

Graduating seniors (completed by spring semester/quarter) do not qualify for the program.

In the future, community colleges and other learners in California will be able to participate as well.

Discover UC San Diego courses provide lower division credit. The courses are UC/CSU/CC transferable, and students will earn 4 quarter units at UCSD. For participating SDUSD students, 2 weighted SDUSD units will count towards your elective credit.

Course Numbers 

XSD - Accepted for unit and subject credit for all requirements of specific University of California departments, schools, and colleges, as well as for general University requirements, if the corresponding regular course on the corresponding University campus is normally accepted

The enrollment process is managed in partnership with one of our partnerships (See Get Involved for the current listing of participating partners)

If you are a high school student interested in taking Discover UC San Diego courses, please contact your school counselor or contact us at discover4hs@ucsd.edu.

All drop requests must be submitted to the Discover UC San Diego Team in writing at discover4hs@ucsd.edu prior to the deadline. Notifying the instructor of the intent to drop or not attending does not constitute an automatic drop of course. Drops are effective as of the date in which we receive the written request, regardless of when the student ceases attendance.

For Winter 2024 program, the deadline to drop the course will be Friday, March 29, 2024 by 11:59PM. We will honor the date in which the written drop request has been received.

Discover UC San Diego and the Division of Extended Studies strives to provide equal access and an exceptional learning environment for all students. In accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, we provide support services and reasonable accommodations based on your disability-related needs.

We handle all correspondence and documentation in confidence.

To ensure our instructors can support students with accommodations, we'll need documentation to be sent to UC San Diego. To begin the process, please complete the Discover UC San Diego Accommodation Request Form

Upon successful completion of your Discover UC San Diego course, you will be able to order official transcripts through the Division of Extended Studies here: Transcript Requests

Students will need to add the school to their profile in the application.  In the Academic History section of the application, the student will be able to indicate colleges/universities that they took courses via Discovery. From the option menu, students will select  UC San Diego Extension.