Visiting Graduate Student status permits eligible students to enroll in University of Washington coursework without being admitted to a University of Washington graduate degree or certificate program. This status does not provide priority or preference for future admission to any graduate program.
[NOTE: All applications for Visiting Graduate Student status are administered by the Graduate School’s Graduate Enrollment Management Services (GEMS) office. For process details see: Visiting Graduate Students].
3.4.1 Enrollment for Visiting Graduate Student Status
There are two categories of visiting graduate students, each with distinct eligibility and enrollment requirements.
3.4.1.1 Enrollment by Graduate Students in Good Standing at Another Institution
Graduate students who are actively pursuing a graduate degree at another college or university may be hosted by a University of Washington graduate program as visiting graduate students.
Visiting graduate students may only be hosted by one graduate program at a time and may not hold any other student status while enrolled as a visiting graduate student. The length of enrollment is determined by the student’s home institution and the hosting graduate program.
Graduate School Admissions criteria:
- The student must have been admitted to a graduate program at a regionally accredited college or university in the U.S. or its equivalent from a foreign institution, be in good standing, and actively pursuing a graduate degree at that institution.
- The student must be approved by a University of Washington graduate degree granting department/program and meet the qualifications for admission described in Graduate School Policy 3.1.1.
- Students who are non-native English speakers must satisfy English Language Proficiency requirements as described in Graduate School Policy 3.2. Test scores used to meet this requirement must be at the “Recommended” level or higher.
3.4.1.2 Enrollment by Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistants (FLTA)
Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistants (FLTA) may be hosted by UW programs in Visiting Graduate Student status. Programs and the FLTA students share responsibility for ensuring compliance with FLTA program enrollment requirements.
Graduate School Admissions criteria for Fulbright FLTA applicants:
- There are no University of Washington Graduate School admissions criteria for native speakers of English who have been accepted into the FLTA program.
- Students who are non-native English speakers must meet the expectations of Policy 5.2: Conditions of Appointment for TAs who are not Native Speakers of English.
3.4.2 Unsatisfactory Performance
A program may discontinue a student’s Visiting Graduate Student status using procedures outlined in Policy 3.7.5 (Expedited Status Changes) if the student fails to:
- meet performance expectations documented in the host program’s offer letter or in program policy.
- maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 in UW coursework.
Policy 3.4 created: March 2022, Revised: May 2026