Degree applications need to be completed 2 quarters prior to graduation quarter. For example, if you are graduating in the spring, you will need to complete your degree application & major degree evaluation for submission to the registrars by the first week of December.
2. Assemble your Transcripts Evaluation Paperwork: Your Degree Evaluation is found on your Web4U page.
3. Prepare Graduation Materials : Print the following documents PRIOR to meeting with your advisor.
Degree Application
Degree Evaluation
Unofficial transcripts of credits taken at another institution ONLY if they are not listed on your Web4U Degree Evaluation.
Plan to spend approximately 10 minutes with your advisor to conduct a degree evaluation and fill out paperwork.
4.See your Advisor for your Degree Evaluation
Check in AH 315 (the main Anthro office) for the office hours available for your advisor. Advisor office hours are walk-in times, so you do not need to make an appointment. Be prepared to wait during peak periods. If you cannot make the designated office hours, feel free to make an appointment with your advisor. If you do not have an advisor, contact the Anthropology office at 360-650-3620.
Once your advisor has signed off on your Degree Evaluation, please submit all paperwork to the Registrar’s Office.
5.If you have a second major or a minor, go to the relevant department and complete their sign-off to graduate. Please note, our degree evaluation process may differ from another department's evaluation process.
6.Go to the Registrars and submit the following:
Competed degree application form
Web4U Degree Evaluation that has been signed off by your advisor
There will be a graduation fee, which the Registrar’s Office will bill to your account.
Western Washington University Graduation requirements are as follows below:
A minimum of 180 total credits Note: Western allows a maximum of 135 quarter (90 semester) credits to transfer from any combination of regionally accredited institutions, including no more than 105 quarter (70 semester) lower division credits. Additional coursework, which exceeds this amount, may be used to meet specific requirements, but additional credits will not be allowed to count toward the 180 credit requirement for graduation
A minimum of 45 credits through WWU. Correspondence coursework (including Western's Independent Learning Program), credit by examination, and advanced placement credit are not included in this total.
A minimum of60 quarter credits must be upper division (300/400-level).
Complete a minimum of three writing proficiency (WP) points in approved writing proficiency courses at WWU. Approved courses have an attribute of WP1, WP2, or WP3. Anthropology writing proficiency classes are all WP3, so if you have taken any writing proficiency class in Anthropology (for example Anth 490) this requirement will have been fulfilled.
General University Requirements must be completed. (GURs) can be satisfied: (1) on a course-by-course basis, or (2) by the completion of an approved direct-transfer AA degree from a Washington state community college earned prior to initial enrollment at WWU. If any student wishes to complete such a degree in order to have it satisfy the GUR after initial enrollment at Western, it must be earned by the time (1) the student has completed 45 credits at WWU, or (2) one calendar year has passed from initial enrollment at WWU, whichever comes later. All students must satisfy the GURs except those enrolled in Fairhaven College, where a separate core program is required. A list of GURs is available online.
If you have questions about your credits above and beyond having to do with Anthropology credits, please make an appointment first with the Degree Evaluation Department within the Registrar’s Office. Their extension is 3430.
Miscellaneous Facts you should know about Graduation
An approved academic major (at least 50% of the credits required for the major must be earned at WWU).
A minor if required (at least 50% of the credits required for the minor must be earned at WWU – for Anthropology students this means 12 credits MUST be from WWU).
A grade of C- or better is required in any supporting courses for Anthropology majors and minors,
Cumulative GPA at Western of at least 2.00 unless a higher GPA is required by the major.
Final quarter - Must be registered for at least one Western course in the quarter in which degree is to be awarded. Correspondence courses are allowed only by exception. Anthropology students, this is when you complete your Anthropology 496 Portfolio class.
Questions? Contact Credit Evaluation in the Registrar's Office at 360-650-3985 or by e-mail.
Minor Information
If you have applied for a minor but do not complete all the minor requirements, your degree will be awarded without the minor as long as the minor is not required for your program. You must notify a credit evaluator (360-650-3985 or e-mail) if you wish the degree to be held pending completion of the minor.
Official transcripts for course work from other institutions should be ordered and sent to: WWU, Registrar's Office, 516 High St., Bellingham, WA 98225-9008.
Courses that have incomplete status ("K" grade) must be completed—and the final grade submitted by the instructor—by the end of the graduation quarter. It is the student’s responsibility to make arrangements with the instructor to ensure timely submission and processing of the final grade.
Grades for correspondence courses are due at the end of the graduation quarter.
If you plan to continue enrollment at WWU after graduation and interrupt your enrollment for a quarter other than summer, you will need to apply for readmission by contacting the Office of Admissions, Old Main 200, 360-650-3440. Otherwise, you are eligible to register as a post-baccalaureate student. Registration information is available online.
If all degree requirements are not completed by the close of the quarter, a notification will be sent to the diploma address informing you of the problem(s). If the problems are not resolved, your degree will not be awarded and your graduation file will become inactive. You will then need to reapply to this office for graduation under the requirements in effect at the time of your future graduation. Click here for a reapplication form. A degree reapplication fee will be required.
“The purpose of anthropology is to make the world safe for human differences.”
