Admission Requirements

Listed below are the academic requirements needed for admission into our undergraduate programs.

High School Applicants

BDes and BFA applicants must submit a portfolio in addition to meeting the requirements listed below in order to be considered for admission. BA applicants do not require a portfolio.

High school applicants to the BFA or BDes program require at least a 70% average, and applicants to the BA program require an average that is competitive for the given year*, on 5 eligible high school subjects, as follows:

• English 30-1
• Four other eligible 30-level subjects
• Of these four subjects, a maximum of one eligible 30-level Fine Arts course may be used.
• Your admission average will automatically be calculated on the 5 highest grades that meet these requirements.
• Some BDes routes have specific high school course requirements

For more information on eligible subjects, please visit the page for the program of your choice:

• BFA Program Eligibility
• BDes Program Eligibility (General Route - you can find other routes through this page as well)
• BA Program Eligibility

Applicants from other provinces and countries must have a comparable average on equivalent courses.

Students from other Canadian provinces, visit the Provincial Admission Course Equivalents page.

*Applicants to the BA program can learn more about competitive averages on the Undergraduate Programs and Admissions page.

Transfer Applicants

Transfer applicants require at least a 2.2 GPA*, depending on the competitive admission average for the year, on at least 24 credits of transferable post-secondary coursework.

* Please note: BFA and BDes applicants whose portfolio applications are successful require at least a 2.0 GPA.

Other Ways to Begin Your Studies with Us

Learn about Open Studies.

Please visit the Faculty of Arts page in the Calendar, for information about any of the following:

• Special Student
• Visiting Student
• Non-matriculated applicant

International Applicant Information

For information about English Language Proficiency requirements, International Admission subjects and scores, etc., please research International Admissions on the main U of A homepage.

Note to BDes Applicants

For BDes applicants, please note:

• for the Bachelor of Design Engineering Route, Pure Math 30 or Math 30-1 is required and Math 31 and Physics 30 are recommended.
• for the Bachelor of Design Social Sciences Route with a concentration in psychology, Math 30 is a prerequisite for certain course.