Many passionate and motivated students around the world have contacted us about starting DeCal-like programs at their own universities. Some student-initiated programs have been around for a while, some have just gotten started, and some are still on the drawing board.

If you think your university could use a democratic education program, read our advice on how to start one. It’s not as difficult as you might think. In the meantime, read up on how it’s going at other universities.

UC Campuses

UC Davis has a chapter of the Education for a Sustainable Living Program (ESLP), which offers “Action-Research Projects” for credit. These are student-initiated projects having to do with environmental sustainability issues.

UC Irvine has UTeach, “where advanced UCI undergraduates propose, develop and teach their own seminar classes.”

UCLA has a Undergraduate Student Initiated Education (USIE) program which finished a two year pilot period and was made official in 2007!

UC San Diego has many students interested in student-initiated coursework, though they haven’t really organized yet. COGS 91 was taught by Professor Jaime Pineda but in subsequent quarters had more oversight from the CSSA (Cognitive Science Student Association). In Spring 2007, Jenn Shin co-taught a senior seminar with Physics Professor Hirsch entitled “UC-made nuclear bombs: Good or Bad?” We’re waiting to hear more.

UC Santa Barbara showcases democratic education through its Education for a Sustainable Living Program (ESLP). They are working on making their courses more accessible for the general student body.

UC Santa Cruz also has a chapter of the Education for a Sustainable Living Program (ESLP). In Spring 2006 they offered many courses, including “UC and the Bomb,” modeled after the long-running UC Berkeley course examining the relationship between our University and nuclear labs.

Around the World

Oberlin College has Experimental College (ExCo) with about 60-90 courses on average per semester.

Stanford University has Student Initiated Courses, started by the Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU)

Tufts University has an Experimental College administered jointly by students and faculty members.

Carnegie Mellon University has a Student College (StuCo) founded in 2001, which offers entirely student-run classes and a student-run advisory committee.

University of Virginia has Cavalier Education: Student Initiated Courses at UVa (CavEd) which was founded in 2006 and is run by the Student Council.