Courses from the community and technical colleges, regardless of their course-equivalency assessment, may satisfy various general-education requirements at the University of Washington.
"MEETS UW REQUIREMENTS?"
The "Meets UW Requirements?" column in the Course Equivalency Tables may include the following notations:
Areas of Knowledge- I&S Individuals and Society
- NW Natural World
- VLPA Visual, Literary, and Performing Arts
- [C] Composition
- [Q] Quantitative/Symbolic Reasoning
NOTE: [W] Writing credit is assigned on an individual basis and not included in the equivalency guide. For more information about [W] credit, go to http://www.washington.edu/students/ugrad/advising/ged/gedw.html
Examples of how these notations appear in the Course Equivalency Tables:
| Community College Course | UW Equivalency | Meets UW Requirements? | *Effective Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ANTH 230 (3) | WOMEN 200 (5) [3 credits allowed] | I&S | |
| ASTR 101 (5) | ASTR 101 (5) | NW [Q] | |
| BIO 106 (5) | BIOL 1XX | I&S, NW | |
| DRAMA 120 (3) | DRAMA 1XX | VLPA | |
| ENGL 111 (5) | T C 231 (3), 1XX (2) | [C] | |
| ENGL 240 (5) | LING 200 (5) | VLPA, I&S [Q] |
ENGLISH COMPOSITION OFFERED FOR FEWER THAN FIVE CREDITS
A three-credit course may be used toward satisfying the English composition requirement. However, a minimum of five credits is still needed to fulfill the requirement.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE GRADUATION REQUIREMENT
Fifteen quarter credits of foreign language are required for graduation from the College of Arts and Sciences (all majors), as well as from the Occupational Therapy and Social Welfare majors.
- Foreign Language And The Admission Requirement
Applicants who have not satisfactorily completed two years of a single foreign language in high school may satisfy the foreign language admission requirement by completing 10 quarter credits of a single language at the community college. All applicants are required to have foreign language credit prior to enrolling at the UW, regardless of their prospective UW major. However, because all UW majors in the College of Arts and Sciences, Occupational Therapy and Social Welfare require foreign language proficiency thru the third quarter of a language, students taking foreign language for admission are strongly urged to complete the entire 15 credit sequence prior to enrolling at UW. - Foreign Language and the VLPA Requirement
Classes used to satisfy the foreign language graduation requirement may not be used toward the Visual, Literary, and Performing Arts (VLPA) requirement. However, up to 15 credits of first-year courses in an additional foreign language may be used for VLPA (except in the College of Engineering) upon completion of a full 15 credits in the sequence.
The UW operates on a quarter system. To convert quarter credits to semester credits, multiply by two-thirds. To convert semester to quarter credits, multiply by 1.5. For example, a student who has earned 30 credits at an institution on a semester calendar would earn 45 quarter credits at the UW.
