To graduate with a baccalaureate degree, a student must complete a minimum of 180 academic credits. In the College of Arts and Sciences, at least 90 of the 180 credits must be completed outside the student's major department.

Generally, to graduate with a baccalaureate degree, a student must earn a cumulative GPA of at least 2.00 for all work done in residence (see below) at the University. The College or School may also require a 2.00 minimum GPA in the major at the time of graduation. Some programs require a higher GPA, overall and/or in the major.

To graduate with a baccalaureate degree , a student must complete at least 45 credits in residence at the UW. Residence credits are UW credits earned through the campus granting the degree. In addition, 45 of the last 60 credits a student takes must be taken in residence; this is referred to as the final-year residence requirement. The idea is that in order to earn a UW degree, the majority of your final courses — which are usually upper division courses in your major — should be taken through the UW. These courses may be part of a study abroad program as long as the courses are offered as part of a UW program.

A matriculated student is one who has been admitted to a UW school or college, as a pre-major or declared major. To be granted an undergraduate degree, a student must complete at least 45 UW credits as a matriculated student.

The General Education portion of a degree will be structured to a significant extent by Basic Skills courses and Areas of Inquiry courses, which consist of three broad areas of study: Arts & Humanities (A&H), Social Sciences (SSc), and Natural Sciences (NSc). In addition, students must also complete coursework in these areas: Composition, Additional Writing, Reasoning, and Diversity.

The courses you take to meet the requirements for your degree will almost certainly not exactly total the 180 credits you need to graduate. The credits you need to bring your total to 180 are called "general electives." If you choose a major that requires 50 credits you could have up to 65 credits that can be anything at all. There are a few programs, mostly in the sciences and engineering, that are so full of required courses that there are few or no electives. On average, most students end up with 30 credits or so of electives.

Asian Languages & Literature

Cinema & Media Studies

Classics

Comparative History of Ideas

English

French & Italian Studies

German Studies

Linguistics

Middle Eastern Languages & Cultures

Scandinavian Studies

Slavic Languages & Literatures

Spanish & Portuguese Studies

Undergraduate students need to complete a graduation application with us before they complete their degree requirements in their final year. The deadline for submitting the application is the third Friday of the quarter in which the student intends to graduate.

Students graduating in Summer Quarter who plan to participate in Commencement must meet the Spring Quarter application deadline.

The Academic Calendar has full information on graduation application deadlines.

The reason why this system exists is because degrees are not automatically awarded when requirements have been satisfied. It is the student’s responsibility to apply for their degree.

To be eligible for Graduating Senior Priority registration, students should contact a departmental adviser for information about the deadline.

Questions about application for undergraduate degrees can be directed to:

Graduation and Academic Records (GARS): ugradoff@uw.edu.

Full step-by-step instructions on working with a student to submit a graduation request can be found here.

While its important to note that each department may also have its own registration policies, UW registration policies are as follows:

Academic Satisfactory Progress: Students are expected to make satisfactory progress toward the attainment of that degree and are expected to enter a major and graduate after completion of a reasonable number of credits and quarters. Undergraduates must declare a major by the time they have completed five (5) academic-year quarters and earned 105 credits or a hold will be placed on their registration. Transfer students who are admitted to the University with 105 or more credits are expected to declare a major before their second quarter at the UW, or obtain an extension from an adviser.

The University’s satisfactory progress policy requires students to complete their undergrad degree programs within 30 credits beyond the minimum required for the degree. Because most degrees require 180 credits, students generally must complete their programs by the time they earn 210 credits.

Auditing Classes: Some classes do not allow for auditing, but those that do require students first register for the course on MyUW and then complete a Registration Transaction Form.

Class Attendance: If you do not attend regularly scheduled class meetings during the first week of the quarter, you are subject to being dropped at the discretion of the teaching department to allow enrollment space for other students.

Cross-Campus Registration: Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, and post- baccalaureate students enrolled at one UW campus may register for courses at another UW campus beginning in Period 2 registration.

Full Time Requirements: Students should register for 12 or more credits to be considered full-time at the undergrad level. Credits between 12-18 carry the same tuition rate; anything below or above that is prorated.

Immunization: All first-time, matriculated students must provide proof of immunity to certain diseases. Hall Health Center administers the UW Immunization Requirement program. Visit the UW Immunization Requirement website for instructions on how to submit proof of immunization. Sometimes, international students find registration holds because they haven’t completed this requirement.

Late Registration: Courses can be added by students after registration deadlines only.

Placement Tests: Most students need to take one year or more of college world language to complete their degree. For full details on how students can test in different languages, please visit the HAS testing page.

Quarterly Credit Limits: Undergraduates will be limited to 19 credits during Registration Periods I and II to allow all students a chance to develop a basic schedule. Additional credits may be added during Registration Period III and the Late Add Period. The absolute registration limit is 30 credits per quarter. When you register for courses at the University of Washington, you are obligated to pay the associated tuition and related fees for those classes unless you officially drop your classes by the end of the first week of the quarter.

Between 10 and 18 credits, the tuition rates are the same. Under 10 or over 18 credits, students pay more or less tuition on a pro-rated basis. International students have their own registration policies. In general, F-1 students must be registered full-time. This is defined as at least 12 credits each quarter for undergraduate students.

Registration & Transcript Holds: A hold will stop students from either registering or getting a copy of their transcript or both. A Registration or Transcript hold is placed on a student record when the students has an outstanding financial obligation to the University or has not met a particular enrollment requirement. Students will receive written notification from the department placing the hold on the student record.

A department may also place an academic hold on a student record. For instance, once a student has completed 105 credits at the University, the Office of the University Registrar will place a Registration hold until the student has either declared a major area of study or has requested a pre-major extension.

Some departments place holds directly on the Student Data Base. Other departments request the Office of the University Registrar to place holds on their behalf. In the latter circumstance, the department will need to contact the Office of the University Registrar to release the hold. Students are encouraged to check on how long it will take the department to have the hold removed once the student has resolved the issue with the department.

Registration Capacity Reached: When a student receives a “Registration Capacity Reached” message, indicates the database record of quarterly registration activity has reached its capacity. The student must contact the Office of the University Registrar, 2nd floor of Schmitz Hall by phone at 206-543-8580 or regoff@uw.edu to have inactive entries removed in order to be able to add more courses to their schedule.

Registration Eligibility: Registration at the University of Washington is a web-based service, available on MyUW. All students at the university who remain in good standing and comply with other rules and regulations, with no outstanding financial obligations, are guaranteed the opportunity to register each quarter as long as they maintain continuous enrollment. Continuation must be in the same classification (e.g., undergraduate, postbaccalaureate (fifth-year), graduate, etc.). Once a student earns a baccalaureate degree, they must apply for admission as a post baccalaureate (fifth-year), nonmatriculated or graduate student. Exceptions to the registration guarantee:

• students under disciplinary action
• students with a registration hold
• students not meeting their departmental continuation policies
• students not meeting the university’s satisfactory progress policy

Repeating Courses: With the approval of the academic department offering the course, an undergraduate may repeat a course once. Both the original grade and the second grade are computed in the GPA but credit is allowed only once. Veterans receiving benefits must receive approval from the Veterans Education Benefits Office before a course is repeated.

Courses considered to have been taken once include any with a numerical grade or those with grades of I, CR/NC, or S/NS. Withdrawn or dropped courses and courses with X or no grade reported will not count as the first taking of a course. If you are currently enrolled in a course, registration for the same course in the following quarter will be counted as a repeat registration. A 2nd repeat (taking a class for a third—or greater—time) cannot be done using MyUW. A 2nd repeat requires the department register you into a course. Grades in the third or subsequent takings will not be included in the grade-point average (GPA).

Time Conflicts: Typically, students may not register for two courses that meet at the same time or for courses with overlapping meeting times. Students who would like to replace a course already on their schedule must use MyPlan and submit both the drop and add in a single transaction.

For virtual/ remote instruction, students who want to register for two classes at the same time must complete the Registration Transaction Form and provide an email from the instructor or adviser approving it. Both instructors must sign the Registration Transaction Form for courses that conflict more than one hour a week.

Instructors may report grades from 4.0 to 0.7 in 0.1 increments and the grade 0.0. The number 0.0 is assigned for failing work or if a student does not officially withdraw. Grades in the range 0.6 to 0.1 may not be assigned. Grades reported in this range are converted by the Office of the University Registrar to 0.0. Read more about the grading system here.

Students are expected to make satisfactory progress towards their degree, enter a major and graduate after completion of a reasonable number of credits and quarters. The satisfactory progress policy looks at total credits, but when counting quarters, only regular academic-year quarters – autumn, winter, and spring – are considered. Courses and credits a student takes during summer quarter counts towards their degree requirements and are included in credit totals, but are not added to the satisfactory progress quarter total. Summer quarter(s) do not count against the number of quarters a student may complete before the satisfactory progress credit limit is enforced.

The 105-credit rule

Undergraduates must declare a major by the time they have completed five (5) academic- year quarters and earned 105 credits or a hold will be placed on their registration. Transfer students who are admitted to the University with 105 or more credits are expected to declare a major before their second quarter at the UW, or obtain an extension from an adviser.

Advisers can grant pre-major extensions if the student is pursuing a “reasonable goal” and has a good chance of being accepted to their chosen major when they do apply. If a student’s path is unrealistic, advisers can deny extension requests until a suitable degree plan is created.

The 210-credit rule

The University’s satisfactory progress policy requires students to complete their undergraduate degree programs within 30 credits beyond the minimum required for the degree. Because most degrees require 180 credits, students generally must complete their programs by the time they earn 210 credits and complete 12 academic quarters (not including summer).

Exceptions to this rule include students with Running Start, Advanced Placement 

Full information can be found here.

A student whose GPA falls below 2.00 in his or her first quarter at the University receives an academic warning. If a cumulative GPA of at least 2.00 for courses earned in residence at the University is not achieved by the end of the next quarter, they are placed on academic probation.

If a student is placed on academic probation at the end of any quarter (except for the first quarter at the University, when an academic warning is issued) the student remains on probation until the cumulative GPA is raised to at least 2.00. If this requires more than one quarter's work, the student must maintain a quarterly GPA of at least 2.50 each succeeding quarter or the student is dropped from the University for low scholarship.

Reinstatement

A student who has been dropped under low-scholarship rules is readmitted to the University only at the discretion of the dean of the school or college to which readmission is sought. A student readmitted after being dropped under these rules re-enters on academic probation. The student's GPA is the same as when dropped from the University, and the student may not use grades from other colleges or universities to raise his or her UW GPA. A readmitted student is dropped if he or she fails to attain either a 2.50 GPA for the following quarter's work or a cumulative UW GPA of 2.00 at the end of that quarter. The student is removed from probation at the end of the quarter in which a cumulative GPA of 2.00 or better is reached.

Probation for Senior in Final Quarter

A senior who has completed the required number of credits for graduation, but whose work in what would normally be his or her final quarter places him or her on probation, does not receive a degree until removed from probation. A senior who has completed the required number of credits for graduation, but whose work in his or her last quarter results in his or her being dropped for low scholarship, does not receive a degree until readmitted and removed from probation.

Several petition forms exist for students to submit in different circumstances: these include late add petitions, hardship withdrawal petitions, and registration fee refund petitions. You can find these forms through the registrar’s office here, but departments may have their own petition processes to follow.

Withdrawal Policies for Autumn, Winter, or Spring Quarters

It is the student's responsibility to withdraw if they are unable to attend for the quarter. Through the end of the Unrestricted Drop Period, students may withdraw by dropping all courses from their MyUW registration page. Beginning the first day of the Late Course Drop Period through the last date of instruction, students must withdraw by following the Adviser Assisted Drop process, as listed on the Current Quarter Drop webpage. Students will not be able to completely withdraw or drop all courses using the MyUW registration tools or by emailing the campus registration team.

If students drop their last course using the Current Quarter Drop process and do not add another course they will be considered withdrawn for the quarter. Beginning the eighth calendar day of the quarter, if they drop their last course they will be charged a Change of Registration Service fee plus any tuition forfeiture. Tuition forfeitures will be applied for any drop resulting in a change of tuition cost in this period.

No withdrawals are accepted after the last day of instruction.

Withdrawing from the University

As long as students are not registered for any courses for upcoming quarters that they are not planning to attend, there is no paperwork that they need to formally complete through the Office of the University Registrar.

Quarter-Off Eligibility Policy

If an undergraduate has completed the preceding quarter here at the University of Washington, they may take a quarter off under the Quarter-Off Eligibility Policy.

More information about Withdrawal and Quarter-Off policies can be found here.

Current Quarter Drop

Several UW policies affect when and how students can drop classes. Each quarter, students may add and drop classes with no restrictions until the end of the second week of the quarter, which is the Unrestricted Drop period. After that, students may drop one class between the 3rd and the last date of instruction for the quarter, which is the Late Course Drop period, using MyUW. To drop more than one class during the Late Course Drop period, students may use the Advisor-Assisted Drop Process. Students are encouraged to review the tuition forfeiture policy when considering dropping — they may not get all their tuition back. Review the Current Quarter Drop process here.

Returning Student Process

The Returning Student Process is designed for undergraduate students wishing to return to the University of Washington after an absence of one quarter or more (excluding summer quarter).

Students may request to return to the University of Washington if they:

• Have been away for more than one quarter (excluding summer quarter). Withdrawing from one quarter and not attending the subsequent quarter constitutes an absence of two consecutive quarters, which triggers the need to submit the Returning Student Request Form, AND
• Have not obtained a degree in their last enrolled student category, either from the University of Washington or from another institution.

Read more about the Returning Student Process here.