Metadata
Title
School of Art + Art History + Design
Category
general
UUID
f6488470c03e4c288541f8cdaa27ada5
Source URL
https://art.washington.edu/registration-policies
Parent URL
https://art.washington.edu/design/bdes-visual-communication-design
Crawl Time
2026-03-23T10:49:05+00:00
Rendered Raw Markdown

School of Art + Art History + Design

Source: https://art.washington.edu/registration-policies Parent: https://art.washington.edu/design/bdes-visual-communication-design

Registration Policies

General Education Requirements

In addition to major requirements, undergraduate students must complete the UW General Education Requirements. Each UW school and college interprets the General Education requirements somewhat differently. Art, Art History, and Design majors at the School must complete the GE Requirements required by the College of Art & Sciences.

Many Art History courses have the "W" designation to meet the UW writing requirement. Completing a 200-level art history writing class in your first year is highly recommended.

Transferring Credits

Transfer students with 90 or more credits should (but are not required to) have most of the General Education requirements at the time of transferring.

The School of Art + Art History + Design does not evaluate credit equivalency for prospective transfer students prior to being admitted to the University of Washington. For more information, visit the UW Transfer credit policies.

Course Registration Policies + Tips

Studio Art Courses

First Day Attendance Policy:Demand for Art classes is extremely high. Instructors assume that if you are not present for roll call on the first day of a studio art class you have decided not to remain enrolled. If you miss the first day without permission, it is your responsibility to drop the course. You may contact the instructor in advance and ask for permission to be absent on the first day.

Registration:Please read the ‘NOTES’ section of the registration page carefully. These restrictions are in place to allow students who require courses for their majors to register and they are not normally waived. Additionally:

Over-Limit Policy:Beginning the first day of the quarter (Period 3 registration), all registration must be approved by the instructor via a late-add slip. To obtain late-add permission, students must be present at roll call on the first day of class.

Auditors/Non-Matriculated/Access students: Due to the participatory nature of studio art courses, we do not allow auditors or Access students during any quarter. We are unable to offer studio courses to non-matriculated students during the regular school year due to space and resource limitations. Non-matriculated students may register for art classes during summer quarter.

Summer Quarter:Non-majors may take art classes during summer quarter. Matriculated UW Seattle students are eligible to register for art classes during Period 1, 2. Most art classes still require prerequisites but many of these are waived in the summer to accommodate non-majors and visitors. Please contact the instructor to override prerequisites.

Art History Courses

Registration: After the first week of the quarter, instructor permission is recommended prior to registering. Classroom contact is critical for full understanding of class content, and therefore missing classes is a severe detriment to your success in the course.

Lower Division Courses: It is HIGHLY recommended to start with lower division classes (200 & 300 level), particularly if you have no previous background in Art History at the college level. These classes will give you an introduction to the study of art in a variety of cultural contexts and provide you with the vocabulary and methodology to participate in 300 level (and above) course work.

Upper Division Courses: Many upper division Art History classes recommend specific subject background prior to enrolling. These recommendations are made to enhance the content of the course. Be sure to check the course descriptions before registering.

Auditors, non-matriculated undergraduates, and Access students are welcome to take Art History courses on a space available basis. You must obtain instructor and adviser signatures prior to registering for the course. Please note that approval signatures do not guarantee your space in the class.

Design Courses

Registration: The Design Program is a competitive admissions program. With the exception of DESIGN 150 (What is Design), DESIGN 166 (Design Foundations), and DESIGN 250 (Visualizing Ideas), during the regular school year, Design courses are strictly reserved for students who have been accepted through the competitive admission process.

Summer Quarter:Design courses offered during the summer quarter are open to all students, regardless of major. Non-matriculated students are welcome in summer quarter classes.

Auditors/Access students are not eligible for Design courses.

Get Support

We recommend that you meet with an adviser if you have questions or need course recommendations to meet your degree requirements.

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