Design Credit/No Credit Policy

Undergraduate students pursuing or admitted to majors offered by the Department of Design (Illustration & Animation, Industrial Design, Photography, and Visual Communication Design) and students pursuing or admitted to the Photography Minor, Design Minor, or Design Entrepreneurship Minor should note the Credit/No Credit information outlined below:

Graduate students are not eligible to elect Credit/No Credit for any courses.

What is Credit/No Credit?

Electing Credit/No Credit for a qualifying course means that your final grade in that course will be automatically converted to either “CR” or “NC.” If you elect Credit/No Credit for a course and earn a semester grade of “C-“ or better in that course, the grade will convert to “CR” and it will count toward your credit hours for the semester and toward the requirements of your degree. If you elect Credit/No Credit for a qualifying course and earn a semester grade of “D+” or lower in that course, the grade will convert to “NC” and it won’t count toward your credit hours for the semester or toward the requirements of your degree. Either way, your grade in that course would no longer count toward your GPA.

You may or may not be able to elect Credit/No Credit for a given course depending on restrictions specific to students in your major(s) and/or minor(s).

What courses qualify for Credit/No Credit?

Students pursuing or admitted to the Photography Minor, Design Minor, or Design Entrepreneurship Minor can elect Credit/No Credit for any course taken toward requirements for that minor, so long as Credit/No Credit rules for their major(s) allow that option.

Students pursuing or admitted to a major offered by the Department of Design (Illustration & Animation, Industrial Design, Photography, or Visual Communication Design) can elect Credit/No Credit for an course that isn't fulfilling part of the Foundation Studies or Major Studies requirement of their degree. A list of those courses is available below.

Students pursuing or admitted to other majors and/or minors should consult the academic advising office for their program (listed below).

What courses do not qualify for Credit/No Credit?

The following applies only to students pursuing or admitted to majors offered by the Department of Design. Students pursuing or admitted to other majors should consult the academic advising office for their program (listed below).

Students admitted to majors in the Department of Design cannot elect Credit/No Credit for any ANIM, ILLU, INDD, IXD, PHTO, VISC studios For how many courses can I elect Credit/No Credit?

KU students in most majors - including majors in the Department of Design - can only elect Credit/No Credit for a maximum of one course per semester. Some majors and minors prohibit Credit/No Credit outright. Students pursuing or admitted to other majors and/or minors should consult the academic advising office for their program (listed below).

Can Credit/No Credit affect my eligibility for Honor Roll/Dean's List?

Undergraduate students admitted to degree programs offered by the School of Architecture & Design qualify for Honor Roll in a given semester if they earn a 3.75 or higher GPA in 12 or more credit hours graded A-F completed in that semester.

If you're enrolled in 12 credit hours on that grading scale in fall 2022, electing Credit/No Credit for a course would make you ineligible for the fall 2022 Honor Roll/Dean's List. If you're enrolled in 15 credit credit hours on that grading scale in fall 2022, electing Credit/No Credit for one 3-credit-hour course would not jeopardize your eligibility for the fall 2022 Honor Roll/Dean's List.

Fall 2022 Credit/No Credit Windows

Students can only elect Credit/No Credit within a limited window of time during any given semester. Students don't have the option to elect or rescind Credit/No Credit outside of that limited window or after the semester has concluded.

Students can elect and rescind Credit/No Credit for full-semester fall 2022 courses between September 20 and October 3.

The Credit/No Credit window for short courses varies from course to course. Check here for course-specific deadlines: https://registrar.ku.edu/fall-2022-short-courses

How to Elect or Rescind Credit/No Credit

To elect Credit/No Credit for a fall 2022 course - or rescind an election - use this webform during the Credit/No Credit window for the course in question: http://deptsec.ku.edu/~admiss/forms/form/217

To rescind a Credit/No Credit election for a fall 2022 course, use this webform during the Credit/No Credit window for the course in question: http://deptsec.ku.edu/~admiss/forms/form/218