Major advisors typically work with undergraduate students already admitted to or declared into majors. Major advisors can:

• Partner with you in clarifying and planning your academic career
• Teach you how to navigate academic planning tools
• Review both departmental and university policy in regard to major and graduation requirements
• Educate you about campus resources and deliver information to support your education

Major advisors listed by school can be found here: Guide to Academic Advising

Academic advisors and recruiters are also available for graduate students and/or prospective graduate students. 

Graduate students should connect with their academic advisor to create a program plan that fulfills the requirements for their certification and/or degree.

Graduate advisors and recruiters listed by program can be found here: Guide to Academic Advising

The University of Washington Tacoma considers each applicant as they apply based upon their own merits, course work and documents. The admission process is both competitive and holistic, giving each applicant an opportunity for a comprehensive and individual review. Applicants who apply early have the best chance for full university and program consideration.

Graduate admission is managed by individual academic programs and processed through the UW Graduate School. Requirements vary by academic program, but all applicants must hold an undergraduate degree with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 from a regionally accredited college or university in the U.S. or its equivalent from a foreign institution for the last 90 graded quarter credits or 60 graded semester credits from a baccalaureate degree (for a Master's, doctoral, or professional degree, the total cumulative average may be used). Proficiency in English is required for graduate study at the University of Washington. Therefore event applicant whose native language is not English must demonstrate English Language Proficiency Requirements. Some graduate programs may require additional admission requirements, including a higher grade-point-average. Inquire with the academic program for further information.

Applicants must simultaneously be admitted to the UW Graduate School and an academic program at UW Tacoma. For detailed graduate admissions information, see the individual graduate school sections.

In general, financial need is defined as the following:

Cost of Attendance (Student's Budget)

- Student Aid Index (SAI)

- Financial Assistance (Scholarships, long-term loans, benefits)

= Financial Need

Cost of Attendance

The Cost of Attendance is the estimated amount to attend the University of Washington Tacoma for a single academic year. Tuition is based on the student’s program of study; factors such as housing and food, books, personal expenses, transportation are revised each year. Housing is based on where a student will live during the academic year: at home with family/relatives, away from home in Court 17 on the UW Tacoma Campus or off-campus in an apartment but not with family. Books are based on an average amount for each quarter. Actual personal and transportation costs may very per student. With the exception of tuition, all factors in the cost of attendance or only estimates and represent the potential expenses students will have while enrolled. 

Student Aid Index

The Student Aid Index (SAI) is determined by a standard government method and is used by financial aid offices to determine eligibility for federal, state and/or institutional funding. Parent, or if married, student’s spouse information may be required on the application. Students who would like to request financial assistance through the Financial Aid Office must complete either the FAFSA or the WASFA and provide requested documentation for our office to receive the SAI and create your financial aid offer. 

Financial Need

With the exception of the Federal Pell Grant, financial need is based on the difference between your cost of attendance and the Student Aid Index. Grant and loan aid will be offered to meet this amount.

The University of Washington Tacoma Campus offers the following scholarships:

• General Scholarship
• Merit Scholarship
• First Step Scholarship
• External lists are available through the Office of Student Financial Aid as well as department websites. For information regarding scholarship opportunities, visit our Financial Aid website

The total aid and scholarships received for one academic year cannot exceed the calculated need. When this happens, need-based loan and grant funding may be reduced. 

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the basic application for federal, state and institutional financial aid. Students and contributors must complete their respective portions of the application. It is recommended that students and families complete the application online. To do so, students and application contributors must obtain a Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID by registering through fsaid.ed.gov.

To access FAFSA on the Web, go to https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa. The University of Washington FAFSA School Code for all three campuses is 003798.

Undocumented students/other select applicant students who are not eligible to complete the FAFSA, you may submit a WASFA instead. Washington Application for State Financial Aid (WASFA), available at https://wsac.wa.gov/wasfa.

To qualify for federal financial aid, a student must:

• Be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident or other eligible non-citizen
• Be admitted to the university in an approved program and meet minimum enrollment requirements (most distance learning, correspondence, and non-matriculated students do not qualify for financial aid)
• Not be in default on a previous student loan or owe a repayment on a grant or loan for which the student was not eligible Maintain satisfactory academic progress based on federal, state, and institutional requirements.
• Provide financial information (including parents’ information, where required)

To qualify for Washington state aid, a student must:

• Be a Washington State resident
• Be ineligible for the FAFSA due to immigration status
• Have other select reasons for not completing the FAFSA.

Eligible students are considered for funding based financial need as determined through the FAFSA or WASFA, class level and degree program eligibility, and state residency status. Need determines priority for those programs within the class level. Students with the fewest resources are given first priority for all aid funds.

The University of Washington FAFSA/WASFA Priority Filing Date is January 15. 

In general, students whose FAFSA or WASFA is received after January 15, will still be considered for limited forms of financial aid. Eligible students may still be eligible for the Federal Pell grants and/or Washington College Grants (for undergraduates pursuing first bachelor’s degree) and the Federal Direct Loan programs.                 

For students eligible to file a WASFA, the application must also be received by the processor by the university's annual priority application date.

Financial aid recipients should remember to keep copies of financial documents used in completing the FAFSA or WASFA, continuously monitor their UW email account for official correspondence from the Office of Student Financial Aid, and notify the Office of the Registrar of any change in address.

Summer Quarter is the start of the next academic year for financial aid purposes. Students who plan to enroll for Summer Quarter must complete the next year's FAFSA or WASFA. After receipt of the acknowledgement email from our office, students must sign-in to their Financial Aid Status page to complete the Summer Aid Application. It will be available April 1 of each year.

The Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships has funds available for short-term loans to assist students with temporary cash flow problems. Short-term loans are available only to students who are currently attending the university (loans cannot be processed between quarters). Students who are auditing courses or those enrolled but not earning credits are not eligible for short-term loans. Funds are generally available within one to four working days depending on if the loan is paying charges on your account or you are having the funds sent to your bank via direct deposit.

More information is available at https://www.washington.edu/financialaid/types-of-aid/loans/short-term-loans/

UW Tacoma students will occasionally need to enroll at a community college to complete admission deficiencies for their major. The credits at the community college may be counted toward the student’s total quarter enrollment credits using a financial aid consortium request available through the Financial Aid Office. Both UW Tacoma and the community college financial aid offices must approve consortium agreements. Students cannot receive aid at the host school as well as from UW Tacoma for the same quarter. If approved, students will receive their UW Tacoma financial aid based on the combined credits of both institutions. Requests must be submitted no later than three weeks prior to the start of the quarter. Students may also qualify to receive aid if enrolled in the UWT-TCC Dual Enrollment program.

Washington State's Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) program is a 529 college savings program named for the section of the IRS code that defines these types of plans. This program allows individuals to prepay for students’ college educational expenses. Funds from the GET program are used to reduce qualified educational expenses. The amounts used to pay these expenses are not taxable or reported to the IRS on the 1098T forms that the UW provides students for filing their tax returns.   

The University of Washington Tacoma reserves the right to drop students who have not attended class during the first week of the quarter to make space for other students waiting to enroll. However, a student should not assume that they will be automatically dropped from a course if they do not attend. It is the student's responsibility to drop the course through MyUW. Students who are registered for a course section but do not attend will be assigned a failing grade by the instructor.

Restrictions on Attending Classes

No person, other than a faculty member attending informally with the approval of the instructor, may attend a UW Tacoma course in which that person has not been registered. An instructor may allow a student to attend their class only if the student's name is on the official class list from the Office of the Registrar. An unregistered student may attend through the fourteenth calendar day of the quarter.

Auditing a Course

Attendance in courses as an auditor is by consent of the instructor and only as space permits. Permission to audit is ordinarily granted for lecture classes only. Students who intend to audit a course must first register for the class through MyUW, then seek permission from the instructor and complete a Registration Transaction Request form to elect to use the audit grade option. The form including the approval is submitted to the Office of the Registrar. The deadline to change to audit status is listed on the Academic Calendar each quarter on the registration website. A $20 fee may be imposed depending on the timing of the transaction. Standard tuition and fees apply.

Auditors may not participate in discussion or laboratory work and the auditor’s registration may be canceled at the discretion of the instructor. No record of audited courses is kept.  To receive credit for an audited course, the student must register for the class for credit and complete the course requirements in a subsequent quarter.

To be classified as a full-time student by UW Tacoma, an undergraduate student must register for and complete at least 12 credits per quarter. A graduate student must register for and complete at least 10 credits per quarter.

To be classified as a half-time student by the University, an undergraduate must register for and complete at least six credits per quarter. A graduate student must register for and complete five credits per quarter.

Please note that financial aid and tuition rates do not necessarily correspond to the above credit requirements.

A student’s initial class standing is determined by the total number of transfer credits awarded by UW Tacoma, not by the number of years of college study or completion of an associate degree. The following table lists the required credits for each class.

Students should note that satisfying UW Tacoma graduation requirements depends not only on the number of credits completed (a minimum of 180) but also on completion of all program requirements.

Undergraduate students who have completed a quarter at UW Tacoma, may take the following quarter off and remain eligible to register during Registration Period I for the subsequent quarter without re-enrolling as a returning student. Any quarter from which a student has completely withdrawn does not constitute a completed quarter. Summer quarter enrollment is not required to maintain continuous registration eligibility. The quarter-off policy is not available for graduate students; graduate students must apply for On-Leave Status.

Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, and post-baccalaureate students enrolled at UW Tacoma may register for courses at another UW campus (Seattle or Bothell) beginning in Period 2 registration via MyUW.

All students may cross-register during the summer quarter and they may register during Period 1 registration. Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors and post-baccalaureates must complete the required number of home-campus credits first.

Visit the Office of the Registrar website for details on cross-campus registration.

Eligibility

• A maximum of 15 credits per academic year (autumn through summer quarter) may be taken on a campus other than the home campus.
• A maximum of 45 credits taken through cross-campus registration may be counted toward the degree.

Policy reference for information in this section may be found in the UW Policy Directory in the following sections: Student Governance and Policies.

With the approval of the academic department offering the course, a student may repeat a course once with both the original grade and the second grade computed in the grade point average. However, credit will be allowed only once.

A second repeat (taking a class for a third- or greater-time) cannot be done using MyUW. Grades in the third or subsequent takings will not be included in the grade-point average (GPA).

Veterans receiving benefits must receive approval from the veteran coordinator in the Veteran and Military Resource Center before a course is repeated.

To protect the student's investment of educational effort and the value of the degree, UW Tacoma will not award credit for classes that repeat work done elsewhere. It is the responsibility of students who have earned credit at other colleges to determine whether courses they plan to take at UW Tacoma would duplicate any previously earned credit. Duplicate credit will not be awarded for a course that is equivalent to courses previously passed. Students who are in doubt should consult with an academic advisor before registering.

Withdrawal for Military Service

Students who are called to active military duty may withdraw through the end of the seventh week of instruction and receive a full refund but no academic credit. A copy of the student’s military orders is required. If a student withdraws after that date, the student may receive either a full refund or academic credit and no refund. Students who withdraw for military reasons will be allowed to return to the university without having to pay another application fee. Documentation in the form of military orders will be required. Please consult with the Office of the Registrar for complete details.

Complete Withdrawal for a Registered Quarter

Dropping all courses for the quarter

It is the student’s responsibility to withdraw from all courses if they are unable to attend. Students may withdraw on MyUW through the Unrestricted Drop Period. Official withdrawals must be submitted through the Advisor-Assisted Current Drop process prior to the final day of instruction.

Tuition owed will be based on the date the complete withdrawal is received. Withdrawals are not accepted after the last day of instruction for the quarter.

The tuition forfeiture schedule for complete withdrawal from the university is as follows:

• Students who withdraw on or before the seventh calendar day of the quarter do not pay tuition.
• Students who withdraw after the seventh calendar day through the 30th calendar day continue to owe one-half of their tuition.
• Students who withdraw after the 30th calendar day continue to owe full tuition.

The following principles apply to complete withdrawal from the university:

• Courses dropped as part of a complete withdrawal from the university during the first two weeks of a quarter are not recorded on the student’s UW transcript; however, the date of the complete withdrawal is recorded.
• A recipient of veteran benefits should immediately notify the Veteran and Military Services Resource Center of withdrawal.
• A student with a scholarship or loan awarded through the university should notify the Office of Student Financial Aid of withdrawal.

Former Quarter Drop

Students may petition to drop courses for a former quarter using the Former Quarter Drop process. The Registrar will grant such a petition if, in their judgement, the student was unable to complete the course in question. Approved drops will be annotated on the student’s transcript as an RD (Registrar Drop).

A student who tampers or attempts to tamper with the registration records of another student, including but not limited to dropping courses and adding courses, may be subject to disciplinary sanctions as defined in the Student Conduct Code (WAC 478-121).

Registration Abuse

The registration system is provided for the sole express purpose for students to register themselves into sections. Any use of the registration system other than for this purpose is considered abuse of the system. Such abuse includes, but is not limited to, buying or selling one’s seat in a class, or otherwise registering for a section that one has no intention of taking.

To help conserve University resources and ensure the registration system is available to all, students are locked out of Web Registration after a specific number of excessive submission attempts and/or transactions are made per day. This threshold is sufficient for students’ regular use and should not interfere with typical use. The use of robots and other automated tools to submit registration requests is expressly forbidden.

A student whose account is locked out for excessive use must wait until the registration system removes the lockout – within 24 hours. The Office of the Registrar is unable to override a locked account.

System Abuse

Because use of scripts, robots, or other automated queries can adversely impact University network and computing resources and interferes with equal access to registration, such automated querying of registration-related resources is expressly forbidden. Violators may have their access to University network and computing resources terminated and may be subject to action by the University under applicable law, regulation, or policy, including but not limited to, discipline under any applicable University conduct code.