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Degree Requirements

Note: The requirements on this page apply to HCDE undergraduates admitted prior to Autumn 2024. The HCDE Department is planning significant curriculum changes for students admitted Autumn 2024 or later, including updates to the math/statistics, natural science, and engineering fundamentals course lists. For more information, see the HCDE Undergraduate Curriculum Changes FAQs.

 

To graduate, students in the HCDE bachelor's program must complete 180 credits of the following:

Students are encouraged to use UW's MyPlan to plan their schedule. Current and prospective HCDE students may also run a DARS report through MyUW to track their progress. Students interested in substituting a course required by HCDE curriculum with another must fill out the form linked below.

General Education Requirements

HCDE undergraduate students complete up to 100 credits of  general education requirements, which includes 12 credits of written and oral communication; 5 credits of Reasoning; 3 credits of Diversity; 30 credits in Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences; and 50 credits of math/statistics and natural science courses. See below for overlap allowances and restrictions.

Written and Oral Communication (12 credits)

English Composition: 5 credits from the University list.

Writing: HCDE 231 or ENGR 231; 4 remaining credits met by coursework in the major

A&H and SSc (30 credits)

Of the 30 credits, minimum 10 credits in Arts and Humanities (A&H, formerly VLPA)

Of the 30 credits, minimum 10 credits in Social Sciences (SSc, formerly I&S)

A minimum of 3 credits of Diversity (DIV) is required for students admitted prior to Autumn 2023. For students admitted in Autumn 2023 or later, this requirement has been increased to 5 credits. The DIV credits may overlap with other degree requirements.

Courses that count toward these requirements are identified as A&H, SSc, and DIV in the quarterly Time Schedule and in the UW Catalogue.

Math/Statistics and Natural Science (50 credits)

Students must complete a minimum of 15 credits in each of the two following areas, with the remaining 20 credits completed from either list:

Math/Statistics

EDPSY 490
IND E 315
MATH 120
MATH 124 or Q SCI 291*
MATH 125 or Q SCI 292*

MATH 126 or 136*
MATH 134
MATH 135
Any 200+ MATH course

QMETH 201

Q SCI 381
STAT 220 or 221 or 290*
Any STAT 300+ course

*Additional credit may not be earned for a course that overlaps in content with a previously completed course. See course catalog descriptions for specific credit allowances for overlapping courses.

A minimum of 5 credits of Reasoning (RSN, formerly QSR) is required. The RSN credits may overlap with the math/statistics courses above.

Natural Science

ASTR 211
ASTR 301
ASTR 321
ASTR 322

ASTR 323
ASTR 423
ASTR 480

ASTR 481
ATM S 211

ATM S 301
ATM S 321
ATM S 358
ATM S 370
ATM S 451
ATM S 452
ATM S 458

ATM S 480
BIO A 201
BIOL 118
BIOL 119
BIOL 130
BIOL 161-162
BIOL 180
BIOL 200

BIOL 220

BIOL 250
Any 300+ BIOL course

Any 300+ B STR course
CHEM 120 or 142 or 143 or 145*
CHEM 152 or 153 or 155*

CHEM 162 or 165*
CHEM 220 or 223 or 237*
CHEM 221 or 224 or 239*
CHEM 238
CHEM 241

CHEM 242
Any 300+ CHEM course
Any 300+ ENVIR course

ESS 212
ESS 213
ESS 313

Any 400+ ESS course
GENOME 371
GEOG 205
Any 300+ MICROM course
PHYS 114/117 or 121 or 141*
PHYS 115/118 or 122 or 142*
PHYS 116/119 or 123 or 143*

Any 224+ PHYS course
PSYCH 202
 

*Additional credit may not be earned for a course that overlaps in content with a previously completed course. See course catalog descriptions for specific credit allowances for overlapping courses.

Core & Elective Courses

HCDE undergraduate students complete a minimum of 82 credits of core courses, which includes 41 credits of HCDE core courses, 12 credits of engineering fundamentals, 4 credits of experiential learning, and 25 credits of HCDE electives.

HCDE Core Courses (41 credits)

Students must complete all of the following HCDE courses:

HCDE 300
HCDE 301
HCDE 308
HCDE 310
HCDE 313
HCDE 318
HCDE 321
HCDE 322
HCDE 492
HCDE 493

Course descriptions are available here.
Planned course schedule is available here.

Engineering Fundamentals (12 credits)

Students must complete at least one of the CSE courses below, plus enough additional credits from the list to reach a minimum of 12 credits.

A A 210
A A 260
CEE 220
CSE 121 or 142*
CSE 122*
CSE 123 or 143*
CSE 160
E E 215
HCDE 496 (up to 4 credits)
IND E 250

I S 300
M E 123
M E 230
MSE 170

PHIL 120

*Additional credit may not be earned for a course that overlaps in content with a previously completed course. See course catalog descriptions for specific credit allowances for overlapping courses.

Experiential Learning (4 credits)

Students must complete 4 credits from the following list. Credits received from HCDE 499, INFO 497, or ENGR 498 credits associated with the Emerging Leaders in Engineering (ELE) Program may also be considered for this requirement via course substitution petition (see below).

ENGR 321 - Internship
HCDE 496 - Directed Research in HCDE

HCDE 497 - Study Abroad: HCDE

HCDE Elective

Standard option: Minimum 25 credits of the following HCDE courses.

HCDE 410
HCDE 411
HCDE 412
HCDE 417
HCDE 418
HCDE 419
HCDE 438
HCDE 439
HCDE 440
HCDE 451
HCDE 485
HCDE 496 (up to 4 credits)
HCDE 497 (up to 10 credits)
HCDE 498
 

Course descriptions are available here.
Planned course schedule is available here.

Human-Computer Interaction option: To complete the HCI elective option, see the HCI Degree Option page. Admission to this degree option will be suspended effective Autumn 2023.

Data Science option: To complete the data science elective option, see the Data Science Degree Option page. Admission to this degree option will be suspended effective Winter 2024.

Free Electives

As needed to complete the 180-credit degree requirements.

Course Substitution Petition

Use this form to request to count a course not listed above towards an HCDE degree requirement (login with UWNetID required). Substitutions will not be made for Written and Oral Communication, A&H, SSc, or in most cases, HCDE Core Courses.

We recommend submitting your petition at least 3 weeks before the quarter in which you plan to take the course. You are required to include a syllabus. Please note that petitions are not guaranteed to be approved. Additional guidance can be found in the petition form.