Fast-Track Your Growth as an Entrepreneur

The SCET Certificate in Entrepreneurship & Technology offers UC Berkeley undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to build networks, start and grow their own startups, and strengthen leadership, collaboration, and communication skills. The Certificate equips students with the mindsets and skills to become leaders in any industry.

Certificate Requirements

Policy Update

Important Update — Effective After May 21, 2027

For students completing requirements after May 21, 2027, the following changes will apply:

Startup credit will no longer be accepted.
Students may count only one ENGIN 198 / DeCal course toward the 5 additional SCET units (regardless of unit value).
All courses must be taken for a Letter Grade when available.

Two Paths to Earn the Certificate:

Course Track: ENGIN 183A/283A (Newton) + 5 units of eligible SCET courses
Study Abroad Track: Successful completion of the SCET Study Abroad program

Note on Timing: Work completed by May 21, 2027 can still be counted under the previous requirements (including Startup credit). Students who complete all requirements before this date may still use the old tracks even if they apply later.

Students must complete all requirements in one of the tracks below to earn the Certificate.

Coursework Track

Richard Newton Lecture Series (one of the following 1 unit classes):

ENGIN 183A (Fall 2022 and beyond)
ENGIN 283A (Fall 2022 and beyond)
INDENG 95 (prior to Fall 2022)
INDENG 195 (prior to Fall 2022)
INDENG 295 (prior to Fall 2022)

+

5 additional units from the Approved Course List below and taken for a letter grade when applicable.

= 6 units in total

Newton cannot be repeated towards additional units.

Startup Track

Richard Newton Lecture Series (one of the following 1 unit classes):

ENGIN 183A (Fall 2022 and beyond)
ENGIN 283A (Fall 2022 and beyond)
INDENG 95 (prior to Fall 2022)
INDENG 195 (prior to Fall 2022)
INDENG 295 (prior to Fall 2022)

+

4 additional units from the Approved Course List below (Newton cannot be repeated towards additional units and courses must be taken for a letter grade when applicable)

+

Startup credit will be reviewed and granted based on the following areas, and should be submitted as a single pdf document. The criteria is as follows:

Startup company background
- 500 or less employees
- Less than 10 years old
- Not further than Series C funding
- The company has a product (i.e., not consulting)
- Startups that came out of an SCET class will not be considered
A letter of completion from the company on company letterhead
- Offer letters will not be accepted
- Letters of completion must include the student name, their responsibilities, dates that they interned, and approximate number of hours worked
Written submission of what you learned and what you did during the internship, with bullet points outlining:
- What you did at your internship
- What you accomplished
- What you learned

Startup credit will also be granted to students that participate in the LeadersShape Institute program. Students must upload a certificate of completion for the program. An acceptance letter will not be accepted. Please note due to the volume of Certificate applications that we receive you MUST submit all required documentation as noted. Failure to do so will result in a denial of your certificate requiring you to apply the following semester. Internship experience will only be considered if it was completed during your Berkeley Career (between matriculation and year of graduation).

Study Abroad Track

Approved Course List

Note that not all courses listed below are offered each year or semester. Refer to the Academic Guide for the current offerings.

ENGIN 183 - Special Topics in Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship (1-4 units)*
ENGIN 283 - Special Topics in Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship (1-4 units)*
ENGIN 183B - Berkeley Method of Entrepreneurship Bootcamp (2 units)
ENGIN 183C - Challenge Lab (4 units)*
ENGIN C183F - Challenge Lab (4 units)*
ENGIN 183G/283G- Startup Catalyst (3 units)
ENGIN 183D - Product Management (3 units)
ENGIN 183E - Technology Entrepreneurship (3 units)
ENGIN 198 - SCET DeCal or other SCET Group Studies and must say in the class notes that it can be applied towards the certificate since not all sections of 198 are taught through SCET (1-4 units)*

→ See our SCET courses page for details on current or upcoming course offerings and search and enroll for SCET classes on classes.berkeley.edu using our SCET: Entrepreneurship & Tech tag.

Notes:

Starting Fall 2022, SCET classes are listed under Engineering course numbers as ENGIN 183 (undergraduate) and ENGIN 283 (graduate).
*Denotes that multiple sections of a course may count towards the requirements if the topics are different.
Only classes taught by SCET count towards the Certificate.
All courses must be taken for a letter grade when grading is an option. If only P/NP is the only option (ENGIN 183A/283A and ENGIN 198) it is accepted.

To qualify for the Certificate in Entrepreneurship & Technology, students must take SCET courses from the list above, except for the exceptions taken before Fall 2023 listed below:

Pre Fall 2023: Courses taught outside of SCET

Notes:

Starting Fall 2023 course substitutions will not longer be accepted. Only courses taught by SCET will be accepted. If you took a course prior to Fall 2023 and it was approved then it will still count towards the certificate.
The course must be the topic listed below in order to count towards the certificate.
Typically, we do not allow the full unit value of the class to be applied towards the certificate requirements. See below for the number of units that can be applied to the certificate.
If you have questions about these courses, contact the department offering the course for more information.

COMPSCI 198 Blockchain Fundamentals (1 unit apply towards E&T) (Pre-Fall 2021)

COMPSCI 198 Blockchain for Developers (1 unit apply towards E&T) (Pre-Spring 2022)

COMPSCI 294-84 Integrated Device Design (2 units apply towards E&T)

COMPSCI 294-85 / NWMEDIA C203 Critical Making (2 units apply towards E&T)

ENGIN 1 Engineering Your Life: Skills for Leadership, Discovery and Service (1 unit apply towards E&T)

ENGIN 120 Principles of Engineering Economics (1 unit apply towards E&T)

IAS 150 Social Innovator On Ramp (2 units apply towards E&T)

INDENG 170 Industrial Design and Human Factors (2 units apply towards E&T)

MBA 295T.2 Lean Transfer (2 units apply towards E&T)

MECENG 110 Introduction to Product Development (2 units apply towards E&T)

SOCIOL 121 Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Social and Cultural Context (2 units apply towards E&T)

UGBA 105 Leading People (1 units apply towards E&T)

UGBA 190T Intellectual Property for Entrepreneurs (1 units apply towards E&T)

Pre-Fall 2022: Courses taught by SCET

In Fall 2022, SCET courses are moving to Engineering (ENGIN) course numbers. Prior to Fall 2022, SCET courses were listed under the Industrial Engineering and Operations Research (INDENG) course numbers below. If you took any of the courses listed below prior to Fall 2022, they will count towards the certificate requirements. Note that not all of the courses listed below will continue to be taught through SCET after Summer 2022. Refer to the list of "Taught by SCET (Fall 2022 and beyond)" courses to see which courses can be used towards the certificate if taken Fall 2022 and beyond.

Notes:

The course listed below must have been taught through SCET in order to count towards the certificate and eligibility is indicated in the class description in the class schedule
The full class unit amount can count towards the certificate requirements
* denotes that multiple sections of a course may count towards the requirements if the topics are different

INDENG 135/235/290 Applied Data Science with Venture Applications/Data, Systems and Signals "Data-X" (3 units)

INDENG 171 Technology Firm Leadership (3 units)

INDENG 185 Challenge Lab (4 units)*

INDENG 186 Product Management (3 units)

INDENG 190B Finance for Entrepreneurs (2 units)

INDENG 190C Adv. Topics in IEOR (Collider Sprints) (1 unit applies towards E&T)

INDENG 190E Adv. Topics in IEOR: Entrepreneurship & Innovation (1-4 units)*

INDENG 190G Startup Semester: Introduction to Silicon Valley (1 unit)

INDENG 191 Technology Entrepreneurship (3 units)

INDENG 192 Berkeley Method of Entrepreneurship Bootcamp (2 units)

INDENG 98/198 SCET DeCal (1-4 units)*

INDENG 290 Special Topics in IEOR (2-3 units)*

Completing the Certificate

To earn the Certificate, the Certificate Completion Application should be submitted by the last day of the semester in which all requirements will be complete. The certificate will be sent to the email on file. Certificate completion is not displayed on transcripts.

Certificate Completion Application

Certificate Ceremony

SCET holds a Certificate Ceremony once a year for graduates who have received the Certificate during their time at Berkeley. Only those graduating in that Spring or previous Fall are eligible to participate. If you are not on the SCET student list please request to add yourself by emailing scet-academics@berkeley.edu to receive notification of when application to participate open.

FAQs

Is this certificate only for students in the College of Engineering?

Can I earn a certificate in all three tracks?

Do I need to submit an application before I take the classes?

Can I count the same courses towards my major/ minor towards the certificate? Is it okay if they overlap?

Do I need to receive a minimum grade for these courses?

Students must successfully complete coursework applied toward the certificate by earning a C or better for letter graded courses and Satisfactory or Pass for non-letter graded courses. If the course is offered for a letter grade, it must be taken for a letter grade in order to count towards the certificate requirements.

NOTE: Due to the recent changes in grading policies, classes taken in Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Spring 2021 and Summer 2021 do not need to be taken for a letter grade in order to count towards the certificate. If a class is taken for P/NP or S/U, a grade of P or S is still required in order to apply the class towards the certificate requirements.

May I request to have courses not on the approved list to count toward the certificate?

What information is required for the program participant verification for the startup track?

Startup credit will be reviewed and granted based on the following areas, and should be submitted as a single pdf document. The criteria is as follows:

Start up company background:
- 500 or less employees
- Less than 10 years old
- Not further than Series C funding
- The company has a product (ie not consulting)
  1. Startups that came out of an SCET class will not be considered
A letter of completion from the company on company letterhead
- Offer letters will not be accepted
- Letters of completion must include the student name, their responsibilities, dates that they interned, and approximate number of hours worked
Written submission of what you learned and what you did during the internship
- Bullet points outlining
  1. What you did at your internship
  2. What you accomplished
  3. What you learned

Startup credit will also be granted to students that participate in the LeadersShape Institute program. Students must upload a certificate of completion for the program. An acceptance letter will not be accepted. Please note due to the volume of Certificate applications that we receive you MUST submit all required documentation as noted. Failure to do so will result in a denial of your certificate requiring you to apply the following semester. Internship experience will only be considered if it was completed during your Berkeley Career (between matriculation and year of graduation).

How long will it take to receive my certificate after submitting the Certificate Completion Application?

Applications are due by the last day of the semester in which you will complete your certificate requirements. SCET reviews applications at the end of each term. We do not review applications throughout the term. If you submit your application after the last day of the semester it will not be reviewed until the end of the following semester.

Eligible students will receive their certificate as a pdf via email within one month after final grades are posted. If your application is not approved, you will receive an email with that information.

Can I complete the certificate requirements during my last semester at Cal?

Who do I contact if I have additional questions?

Can I still apply if I did not submit my application in the term when I completed the certificate requirements?

How do I participate in one of the programs for the startup track?

Can I repeat courses to count towards the certificate?

Certificate in Entrepreneurship & Technology