Transfer, Guest, and Returning Students

Admission & Advising

If you attended another college or university after high school, you will first need to apply to UW-Whitewater as a transfer student.

After you are admitted to UW-Whitewater, you will need to attend a Student Orientation, Advising, and Registration (SOAR) program where you will meet with advisors and select classes for the upcoming term.

After you attend a SOAR program you will be assigned to a specific advisor based on the number of credits you have earned and your major. Students who have earned less than 24 credits or are undeclared in their major will be advised by the Academic Advising & Exploration Center. Students who have earned 24 or more credits with a declared major will be advised by their College. For more information on advising, visit the UW-Whitewater College Advising Offices website.

Transfer Credits & Evaluation

As a part of your admission process, you will need to provide official transcripts of the coursework you have already completed at all previous and current institutions. For more information about this, visit the Admissions website. If you submit transcripts before your grades have been finalized, you will need to submit another official transcript to update your record. A documentation hold will be put on your account until updated official transcripts have been received and reviewed.

If you have questions about your transfer coursework once a transfer credit evaluation has been completed, please contact the advising office of your major for next steps.

General Education Requirements for Transfer Students

Most University of Wisconsin-Whitewater students, whether they arrive on campus as a freshman or later in their college career, must fulfill the university's general education requirements. When you are admitted as a transfer student, our admissions department will prepare a transfer credit evaluation for you, and you will receive credit for classes you have already taken that are equivalent to classes offered at Whitewater. Afterwards, you can sit down with one of our advisers to map out your plan to complete your degree.

1. Students with fewer than 21 transfer credits should follow the General Education Program. 
2. Students who have earned an Associate Degree (Assoc. of Arts, Assoc. of Science, Assoc. of Arts and Sciences) from an approved General Education transfer program are waived from all University General Education Requirements (including World of Ideas). Contact the Admissions Office for information.
3. Students without an approved Associate's Degree will need to fulfill Gen Ed requirements including Diversity and must have 32 units of Gen Ed coursework as outlined below.

Students must still complete specific UWW requirements for their degree (BA, BBA, BS, BSE, BM, etc.), for their majors, and their minors.

Note: The US Racial/Ethnic Diversity requirement is waived for some Associate Degrees, but not others. Check your Academic Advising Report for information.

Admission

If you are hoping to take a few courses without pursuing a degree at UW-Whitewater, you are considered a Guest or Special student. Enrolling in a course is a three-step process:

1. First apply to UW-Whitewater.
2. Request permission to enroll in a course. You must be admitted to request permission to enroll in a course.
3. Enroll through WINS.

For more information on this process, visit Post-Bacc/Special/Guest Students.

Advising

Special Full Credential Students

Students who have already obtained a bachelor’s degree or are seeking a second major, minor, or license are considered Special Full-Credential students. After being admitted, students will receive communication from the Admissions office about the next steps to enroll in courses. For advising, students may contact the advising office in the College which houses the credential they are seeking.

Special No Credential (Guest) Students

Students who have not received a bachelor’s degree and are simply taking courses for credit are considered Special No Credential students. After being admitted, students can contact the Department that houses the class(es) in which they’re hoping to enroll to gain permission.

Helpful Links

Schedule of Classes
Course Catalog
Course Equivalencies (Transferology)

Admission

Have you attended UW-Whitewater before? This is you! First, check WINS or contact Admissions to see if you need reapply. If you no longer remember your password or logging into WINS, contact Information Technology Services (ITS) for help.

Advising

Returning students will be admitted back into the program that they were in when last enrolled and will have the same advisor that they had before. If that individual is no longer working at UW-Whitewater, the student will be assigned a new advisor in that program. If the student does not meet the requirements for that major, they may be asked to change their major.

Looking to change your major?

Not sure where to find your advisor? See where your advisor is listed in WINS.  

Before you can enroll in courses, you’ll need to resolve any holds that you may have on your WINS account. To check your holds, log onto WINS and click on your Tasks tile.