Equivalency Guide Manual

Table Example

Community College Course	UW Equivalency	Meets UW Requirements?	Effective Date
ENGL& 101 (5) formerly ENG 101	ENGL 131 (5)	[C]	SUM Qtr. 2008
GEG 260 (5)	GEOG 2XX	I&S

Key to Example

Column 1 (Community College Course)
lists specific details about the course from the community or technical college, including course prefix, course number, the number of credits (in parentheses), and if the course was previous taught with a different prefix or number. The prefixes are those used at the community or technical college.

Column 2 (UW Equivalency)
indicates the equivalent UW course prefix and number for the course listed in Column 1. This is how the course transfers to the UW from the community or technical college.

Column 3 (Meets UW Requirements?)
indicates how courses satisfy UW general education requirements. If the column is blank, the course does not satisfy any requirements.

Column 4 (Effective Date)
indicates the effective date for this equivalency. The table that follows includes explanations of effective dates:

Description	Examples	Explanation
Space is blank.		There are no date parameters for the course.
Quarter and year are specified.	AUT Qtr. 2004	The equivalency takes effect beginning with Autumn quarter 2004. This equivalency is not valid before that date. The same course number may be listed immediately below, marked with the §  symbol to indicate “no longer offered” and with a different effective date.
"Prior to" is specified.	Prior to AUT Qtr. 1991	The course equivalency is effective only if taken before, and not including, Autumn quarter 1991.
A range of dates is given.	AUT Qtr. 1988 thru SUM Qtr. 2007	The equivalency is effective only from Autumn quarter 1988 through Summer quarter 2007. The course number may be listed more than once, but with different equivalencies and effective dates.
	AUT Qtr. 1995, and AUT Qtr. 1988 thru SUM Qtr. 1990	The equivalency is effective from Autumn quarter 1988 through Summer quarter 1990 and again beginning with Autumn quarter 1995. To put it another way, the equivalency is not effective from Autumn quarter 1990 through Summer quarter 1995, nor before Autumn quarter 1988.

UW Course Prefixes Used in the Course Equivalency Tables

The tables that follow include the UW prefixes that appear in the Course Equivalency Tables. For a complete list of prefixes used at the UW (as well as detailed information about programs, majors, and courses), see the University of Washington Course Descriptions.

Jump to: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Prefix	Curriculum/Discipline	Name of School or College
A A	Aeronautics and Astronautics	Engineering
AAS	Asian American Studies	Arts and Sciences
ACCTG	Accounting	Foster School of Business
AES	American Ethnic Studies	Arts and Sciences
AFRAM	Afro-American Studies	Arts and Sciences
AIS	American Indian Studies	Arts and Sciences
ANTH	Anthropology	Arts and Sciences
ARCH	Architecture	Built Environments
ARCHY	Archaeology	Arts and Sciences
ART	Art	Arts and Sciences
ART H	Art History	Arts and Sciences
ASIAN	Asian Languages and Literature	Arts and Sciences
ASTR	Astronomy	Arts and Sciences
ATM S	Atmospheric Sciences	Arts and Sciences
B A	Business Administration	Foster School of Business
BIO A	Biocultural Anthropology	Arts and Sciences
BIOL	Biology	Arts and Sciences
BOTANY	Botany	Arts and Sciences
B STR	Biological Structure	Medicine
CEE	Civil and Environmental Engineering	Engineering
CHEM	Chemistry	Arts and Sciences
CHEM E	Chemical Engineering	Engineering
CHID	Comparative History of Ideas	Arts and Sciences
CHIN	Chinese	Arts and Sciences
CHSTU	Chicano Studies	Arts and Sciences
CLAS	Classics	Arts and Sciences
C LIT	Comparative Literature	Arts and Sciences
COM	Communication	Arts and Sciences
CSE	Computer Science and Engineering	Engineering
DANCE	Dance	Arts and Sciences
D HYG	Dental Hygiene	Dentistry
DRAMA	Drama	Arts and Sciences
ECON	Economics	Arts and Sciences
EDUC	Education	Education
E E	Electrical Engineering	Engineering
ENGL	English	Arts and Sciences
ENGR	Engineering	Engineering
ENVIR	Program on the Environment	Environment
ESRM	Environmental Science and Resource Management	Environment
ESS	Earth and Space Sciences	Environment
FISH	Fisheries	Environment
FRENCH	French	Arts and Sciences
GENOME	Genome Sciences	Medicine
GEN ST	General Studies	Arts and Sciences
GEOG	Geography	Arts and Sciences
GERMAN	Germanics	Arts and Sciences
GREEK	Greek	Arts and Sciences
GWSS	Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies	Arts and Sciences
HCDE	Human Centered Design and Engineering	Engineering
HEBR	Hebrew	Arts and Sciences
HIST	History	Arts and Sciences
HSTAA	History of the Americas	Arts and Sciences
HSTAM	Ancient and Medieval History	Arts and Sciences
HSTAS	History of Asia	Arts and Sciences
HSTEU	Modern European History	Arts and Sciences
I S	Information Systems	Foster School of Business
ITAL	Italian	Arts and Sciences
JAPAN	Japanese	Arts and Sciences
KIN	Kinesiology	No longer offered at the UW
KINPE	Kinesiology/Physical Education	No longer offered at the UW
KOREAN	Korean	Arts and Sciences
LAB M	Laboratory Medicine	Medicine
L ARCH	Landscape Architecture	Built Environments
LATIN	Latin	Arts and Sciences
LING	Linguistics	Arts and Sciences
LSJ	Laws, Societies, and Justice	Arts and Sciences
MATH	Mathematics	Arts and Sciences
M E	Mechanical Engineering	Engineering
MICROM	Microbiology	Medicine
MKTG	Marketing	Foster School of Business
MS E	Materials Science and Engineering	Engineering
MUSIC	Music	Arts and Sciences
NORW	Norwegian	Arts and Sciences
NURS	Nursing	Nursing
NUTR	Nutritional Science	Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs
OCEAN	Oceanography	Environment
O E	Organization and Environment	Foster School of Business
PE	Physical Education	No longer offered at the UW
PHIL	Philosophy	Arts and Sciences
PHYS	Physics	Arts and Sciences
POL S	Political Science	Arts and Sciences
PSYCH	Psychology	Arts and Sciences
QMETH	Quantitative Methods	Foster School of Business
REHAB	Rehabilitation Medicine	Medicine
RELIG	Comparative Religion	Arts and Sciences
RUSS	Russian	Arts and Sciences
SCAND	Scandinavian	Arts and Sciences
SIS	International Studies	Arts and Sciences
SISA	Asian Studies	Arts and Sciences
SISAF	African Studies	Arts and Sciences
SISEA	East Asian Studies	Arts and Sciences
SISSA	South Asian Studies	Arts and Sciences
SOC	Sociology	Arts and Sciences
SOC WF	Social Welfare	Social Work
SPAN	Spanish	Arts and Sciences
SPHSC	Speech and Hearing Sciences	Arts and Sciences
STAT	Statistics	Arts and Sciences
SWED	Swedish	Arts and Sciences
URBDP	Urban Planning	Built Environments
ZOOL	Zoology	Arts and Sciences

Types of Transfer Credit

• Courses Without Specific UW Equivalencies
  • Departmental 1XX or 2XX
  • UW 1XX or 2XX
• Courses With Specific UW Equivalencies
  • Credit-Level Differences Between UW and Community/Technical College Courses
• Courses Taken as Part of a Sequence
• Business Courses

Courses Without Specific UW Equivalencies

A 1XX or 2XX instead of a course number indicates that the course transfers but is not equivalent to a specific course at the UW. 1XX indicates community/technical college courses offered at the 100 level; 2XX indicates courses offered at the 200 level.

Departmental 1XX or 2XX: 1XX or 2XX following a departmental prefix indicates that content is not equivalent to a specific UW course but does generally correspond to a specific UW program. In this case, the Biology program accepts the course for credit:

Community College Course	UW Equivalency	Meets UW Requirements?	Effective Date
BIOL 214 (3)	BIOL 2XX	NW

UW 1XX or 2XX:

Alternatively, the UW #XX designation means that the course does not correspond directly to a program offered at the University. In the example that follows, HUM 101 is considered an interdepartmental course as the UW does not have an equivalent department. The course is assigned the generic UW 1XX equivalency and may be used toward graduation requirements as appropriate.

Community College Course	UW Equivalency	Meets UW Requirements?	Effective Date
HUM 101 (5)	UW 1XX

Courses With Specific UW Equivalencies

In the example that follows, the community college course is offered for five credits and is designated as equivalent to a specific UW course, BIO A 201, which is also offered for five credits. The course meets the Natural World (NW) component of UW graduation requirements.

Community College Course	UW Equivalency	Meets UW Requirements?	Effective Date
ANTH 201 (5)	BIO A 201 (5)	NW

Credit-Level Differences Between UW and Community/Technical College Courses:

Some courses from the community and technical colleges are listed with a specific UW course equivalency even though they are offered for more or less credit than the corresponding UW course.

The UW never awards more credit than that earned at the original institution. When a community/technical college course is offered for fewer credits than its corresponding UW equivalent, the community/technical college course will transfer with the specified number of credits listed in brackets, and may fulfill graduation requirements as appropriate.

In this example, only three transfer credits are awarded for GWSS 200 and may count toward the Individuals and Society (I&S) graduation requirement.

Community College Course	UW Equivalency	Meets UW Requirements?	Effective Date
ANTH 230 (3)	GWSS 200 (5) [3 credits allowed]	I&S

When a community/technical college course is offered for more credit than its corresponding UW equivalent, the excess credit is designated as departmental 1XX or 2XX credit, or UW 1XX or 2XX as appropriate. Examples:

Community College Course	UW Equivalency	Meets UW Requirements?	Effective Date
CHEM 199 (1-5, max. 10)	CHEM 199 (1-6) [credit allowed varies 1-6], 1XX (1-4)
HIS 218 (5)	HIST 199 (3-5) [2 credits allowed], UW 2XX (3)	I&S	AUT Qtr. 1994
MATH 221 (5)	MATH 308 (3), 2XX (2)	NW

Courses Taken as Part of a Sequence

In some cases, the student must complete an entire sequence of courses at the community or technical college to be awarded specific UW course equivalencies. In this example, all three Chemistry courses must be completed to earn the UW equivalencies; if only one or two courses are completed, then the credit is usually awarded as departmental 1XX or 2XX.

Community College Course	UW Equivalency	Meets UW Requirements?	Effective Date
CHEM& 162,163 (5,6)	CHEM 152,162 (5,6) if both courses taken; otherwise, CHEM 1XX	NW	SUM Qtr. 2008

Business Courses

Generally, business courses from the community and technical colleges that correspond to those offered in the UW Business Administration program are listed in the Course Equivalency Tables. Courses that are offered for more credit than the corresponding UW equivalent usually receive B A 1XX or 2XX for the additional credits.

Community College Course	UW Equivalency	Meets UW Requirements?	Effective Date
ACCT& 203 (5)	ACCTG 225 (5)

With the approval of the School of Business Administration, a maximum of seven lower-division business credits, beyond the 18 credits of specific coursework required for admission to the program, may apply toward a degree in that program.

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

Language Skills; Reasoning and Writing in Context

• [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, see Additional Writing Requirement.

Examples of how these notations appear in the Course Equivalency Tables:

Community College Course	UW Equivalency	Meets UW Requirements?	Effective Date
ANTH& 217 (5)	ANTH 2XX	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)	HCDE 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.

A community/technical college course may not be listed in the UW Equivalency Guide for any of the following reasons:

• The course may not be transferable. For more information about non-transferable courses, please review Notable Restrictions on Transfer Credit and Courses Receiving No Credit.
• The course may be new, and a review may not yet be completed. The length of time required to review a course can vary widely.
• The course may not appear in the community college catalog. For a course to be considered for review, the community college must include the course in its past, present, or future catalogs.

To find out how an unlisted course will transfer to the UW or to ask an admissions question, contact the Office of Admissions.

If you represent a Washington State community or technical college and have questions about the equivalency review process, see the Guidelines for community and technical colleges for instructions and contact information.