DeCals are a unique feature of the UC Berkeley campus that enable students to design and facilitate a credit bearing course on any topic of their choosing. Adding 300+ courses to our school’s curriculum each year, DeCal courses and the students that lead them further Berkeley’s dedication to intellectual discovery and knowledge production.
The “DeCal” nickname for these courses originates from the Democratic Education at Cal (DeCal) Program, a student group whose mission is to provide support, outreach, and publicity for classes initiated and facilitated by students. The Program’s success in publicizing classes has led, over the years, to the "DeCal" program name being used as a synonym for all student-initiated and -facilitated "directed group study" classes that fall under the 98/198 (for lower and upper division, respectively) special studies courses umbrella.