UCLA’s current design media arts major will be split into three new majors starting fall 2027.

The department will offer separate design, games and computational art majors, said Eddo Stern, a design media arts professor.

Current students will remain in their program and may switch to one of the new majors, he said. However, Stern added that the department has not yet decided ways to switch into one of the three new majors.

“Now having these three majors that have more clarity is, in a way, responding to the way that the culture around technology and the arts has shifted in this 25-year period,” said Casey Reas, the design media arts department chair.

The department will maintain and eventually evenly distribute 180 undergraduate students across the three majors, said Stern, the director of the UCLA Game Lab, a research center focused on experimental art and games.

Students must take three specialized upper division classes depending on their major before they can take other electives, Stern said. He added that total classes offered by the department in a quarter will not change, but certain courses will be offered less often to allow for a greater variety of classes, including 3D modeling and a new computer programming class.

Students will be able to take upper division elective classes from across the department’s three majors, Reas said. Stern added that the lower division requirements for the three majors are similar and will allow students across the majors to take classes together.

“These new majors are ways of grouping those classes together and saying, ‘These classes are related, and taking these related classes will be useful for making your education more coherent,’’’ Reas said.

Decades of conversations among design media arts students and faculty led to the major’s expansion, Reas said. The department is working to balance breadth and depth in its undergraduate degree programs, Stern added.

“Technologies change. Culture changes. With the way people are making things change rapidly, you don’t want to overreact as a department,” Stern said. “On the other hand, we felt that these three distinct areas have been quite stable for a long time.”

The change ensures the majors have a more specific focus, said Mindy Seu, an associate professor of design media arts.

“There’s now three separate history classes, for example, whereas before it was all under one umbrella.” she said.

Sophia Ko, a rising fourth-year design media arts student, said she believes the change will not address existing class enrollment difficulties in the department. Staff should adjust class sizes to accommodate for the program changes, she added.

Most hands-on studio courses are limited to 22 students, according to the department’s website.

“It’s hard enough to get classes that you want,” Ko said.

Seu said the restructuring will help students gain expertise in their fields without having to dedicate more time to figuring out the classes they need.

“We’re very excited that this is being pushed forward,” she said. “We believe in the future of our department and are excited to see this rollout.”