BA in Art Admissions

Overview

The Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Art is an open major with minimum requirements and it is the same process for all the program concentrations. Enrolled UW students and admitted transfer students who meet the prerequisites are eligible to declare the major. The BA in Art does not accept post baccalaureate applicants.

Declaring the Major

Eligibility

• Must be an enrolled student at UW
• Have a minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA
• Have completed any 5 credit 100- or 200-level studio art class with a 2.5 GPA or higher

Process

There is no application process. Students may declare the major as soon as they have met the prerequisites listed above and decided on a concentration. To declare the major, please make an appointment with Academic Advising.

Meet with an Adviser

When should I declare the Art major?

University policy requires that students declare a major by the time they have accumulated 105 credits or five quarters, whichever comes last. Most students declare the BA in Art as their major by the end of their freshman year after completing the studio art class requirement.

Transfer students who meet all the requirements (including the studio art class requirement) at the time of being admitted, may declare the major after their registration date. Students transferring with 90 or more credits should be prepared to declare the major during the first quarter of attendance at UW. 

Transferring Credits

A maximum of 15 credits of studio art and 10 credits of Art History may be transferred in and applied towards the credit requirements for the BA in Art.

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:

• 20 credits of Arts and Humanities
• 20 credits of Social Sciences
• 20 credits of Natural Sciences
• 5 credits of English composition
• 10 credits of “writing” (most 200 numbered Art History courses have the “writing” designation)
• 4 credits of class with “reasoning” designation
• Foreign language: Through third quarter of first year college-level sequence, min. 2.0 GPA required; or three years of high school language in one language; or native speaker of language other than English; or placement test in foreign language with a result of “through third quarter of college-level” or higher

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.