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To graduate with a bachelor’s degree, a student must meet minimum general education and basic skills requirements in addition to the requirements of their academic program. This section outlines only the general education and basic skill requirements. Graduation requirements for each degree program are explained in this catalog.

Students must earn a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0 for all work done in residence at the university. The graduation grade point average is computed when the student has completed all work for the degree and includes only credits earned while in residence at the university.

Students must complete a minimum of 180 academic credits in the following areas:

General Education No fewer than 40 credits of general education courses, to include a minimum of 10 credits in each of three areas of study: Natural Sciences (NSc), Social Sciences (SSc), and Arts and Humanities (A&H)
Writing/Composition A minimum of 15 credits of writing to include 5 credits of English Composition (with a minimum 2.0 grade) and 10 credits of designated writing-intensive courses
Reasoning A minimum of 5 credits of Reasoning (RSN) course work
Diversity A minimum of 5 credits from the approved University list; may overlap with other Areas of Inquiry requirements. For students admitted to the University prior to autumn quarter 2023, the DIV requirement is a minimum of 3 credits.

Final-Year Residency Requirement

Students are required to complete 45 of their final 60 credits as matriculated students in residence at UW Tacoma. Some degree programs may have stricter residency requirements. Fully online degree programs are exempt from this requirement.

The following are considered non-resident credit:

  • Cross-campus courses taken at UW (Seattle campus) and UW Bothell
  • Credit from external sources (AP/IB credit, transfer coursework, by exam, Armed Forces Training School, etc.)

To seek an exception to the residency requirement the student needs to submit a graduation petition two quarters in advance to their academic advisor. Petitions requesting approval of 16-25 non-resident credits will be reviewed by the department awarding the degree. Petitions requesting more than 25 credits will be reviewed by the Academic Policy & Curriculum Committee. See details in the “Waiver of Graduation Requirements” section. If an exception is granted, the student still must present a minimum of 45 credits taken in residence as a matriculated student to be awarded a UW degree.

Catalog for Graduation Requirements

With advisor approval, a student may choose to graduate under the requirements of either the current catalog or the catalog in effect at the time they entered the program from which they are to graduate.

If the student graduates more than 10 years after enrolling in the program, the current catalog must be used for graduation purposes. Exceptions to this rule cannot be made without official approval by the academic program.

Waiver of University or Program Requirements for Graduation

To request a waiver of a program degree requirement a student must submit a petition to their academic program. Students should confer with their advisor before completing the petition. Review is done by the academic program faculty committee or director/dean, as procedures specific to each academic program dictate.

If the student is requesting to waive a university requirement (e.g., residency or the minimum grade for composition), the petition will be submitted to their academic advisor for review by the Faculty Assembly’s Academic Policy and Curriculum Committee (APCC). Once a determination has been made, the student is contacted. The 180-credit minimum and cumulative 2.00 GPA requirement for an undergraduate degree are university requirements that are not petitionable.

To ensure a determination is made in time for graduation, petitions must be submitted at least two quarters before the student’s graduation date to allow time for committee to review and registration.

The decision of the APCC is final. An exemption from a university graduation requirement becomes void at the end of two calendar years from the date the exemption was granted if all degree requirements have not been completed by that date.

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Filing a Graduation Application

The student must make an appointment with their advisor to complete an application for graduation. The application may be filed as early as three quarters before the expected date of graduation. The absolute deadline for filing an application is the Friday of the third week of the quarter in which the student intends to graduate.

Students who will complete their degree requirements in summer quarter but wish to participate in the preceding spring commencement must adhere to the spring deadline.

It is the student’s responsibility to apply for a degree; degrees are not automatically awarded when requirements have been satisfied.

If a student declared a minor but it does not appear on the graduation application, the graduation specialist in the Office of the Registrar will remove it. On the other hand, if a student lists a minor on the degree application, the student must complete that minor or drop it officially, otherwise they will not graduate. This protects the student from being graduated when the actual intent is to continue in order to complete the minor.

Adding minors after applying to graduate

A student who wants to add a minor after the graduation application has been submitted must see their advisor, who will update the application and notify the graduation specialist in the Office of the Registrar.

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Commencement

Formal Commencement exercises are conducted at the end of spring quarter. Programs also hold separate hooding ceremonies for their master’s degree graduates. Information on participating in these ceremonies is posted on the UW Tacoma commencement website.

Students who graduated during the previous autumn or winter quarters and those who anticipate graduating in spring or summer quarters of the current year are eligible to participate in an in-person event if they have filed a graduation application. It is the student’s responsibility to apply for graduation by the deadline, please see Filing a Graduation Application.

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Diploma Distribution

Diplomas are mailed three to four months following graduation. The Office of the University Registrar in Seattle will send graduated students an email with a link to a form where students can indicate a desired diploma name and mailing address. The diploma name does not need to match the student record name. The form may be used to indicate a preferred name, hyphens, spaces, lower/upper case letters, accents, or other special characters. If a student does not complete the form, or misses the deadline provided in the email, the diploma will be printed using the student record name and mailed to the permanent address per UW records.

The diploma will list a student’s name, degree, and any applicable honors. Majors and minors are not listed on UW diplomas.

Students do not receive their diploma at the Commencement ceremony.