How to Apply to Art and Design at UC Santa Cruz: No Portfolio for First-Year Art B.A. Applicants, a Portfolio Review or Two Foundation Courses for Transfers, and the Screening Games + Playable Media Major, with Portfolio Requirements and Timeline for Chinese and Canadian High School Students and Transfer Students

At the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), undergraduate art and design sits in the Arts Division: the Art Department offers the B.A. in Art (studio art), and the Department of Performance, Play & Design offers the B.A. in Art & Design: Games + Playable Media (AGPM). UCSC uses the University of California (UC) application. This guide sets out what UCSC and the UC system publish for fall 2027 entry for students at high schools in China, students at Canadian high schools (including British Columbia and Vancouver) and transfer students.

Note: this guide did not use the UCSC admissions website (admissions.ucsc.edu). Check it for UCSC-specific deadline notes, scholarships for international students and screening-major criteria; the system-wide requirements below come from the UC admissions website.

1. Majors

• B.A. in Art: courses in drawing, animation, painting, photography, sculpture, print media, intermedia, critical theory, electronic art, public art, environmental art, social art practice and interactive technologies. Upper-division studios are open only to declared art majors. The major totals 85 credits.
• Not a design school: the department’s portfolio review page says students who want to specialise in graphic design or illustration should consider another program, as UCSC has no specialty in those areas.
• B.A. in Art & Design: Games + Playable Media (AGPM): the Arts Division lists it as a screening major. It centres on games as art and activism, including board games, role-playing games, immersive experiences and digital games, as well as VR and AR interactive art. The department urges students who want to enter as frosh to make interactive work in high school (paper game prototypes, choose-your-own-adventure text stories) and to develop an arts practice in any medium. The screening criteria are on the UCSC admissions website, which this guide did not use. Transfer students must show proficiency in programming, visual art and game design.
• Other Arts Division majors: Creative Technologies (an online major), Film and Digital Media, History of Art and Visual Culture, Music, and Theater Arts (with a design focus option). The Digital Arts and New Media program is on hiatus.

2. How the B.A. in Art works

• First year: two of ART 10D (2D Foundation, fall), 10E (3D Foundation, winter) and 10F (4D Foundation, spring). an AP 2D Art score of 3 or above can replace 10D, and an AP 3D Art score of 3 or above can replace 10E.
• Other lower-division courses: the online ART 80T (Digital Tools for Contemporary Art Practice); two History of Art and Visual Culture courses (one on Europe and the Americas, one on Africa, Asia, Oceania, Native Americas or the Mediterranean; AP Art History can cover the first); and, in the sophomore year, any three ART 20 introductory studios (print media and drawing, sculpture and public art, photography, drawing and painting, new media and digital artmaking, or online drawing, which AP Drawing at 4 or 5 can replace).
• Upper division: seven upper-division studios; ART 190A (Writing for Artists, the disciplinary communication requirement); and a comprehensive requirement met by an exhibition with faculty review, a portfolio with faculty review, ART 190B Senior Project, or a senior project within an upper-division studio.
• Three-year pathway: frosh can aim to finish in three years, but must take summer courses in all three years; contact the art advisor in your first year.
• Enrolment: ART 10 foundation courses have 150–250 seats and are reserved for proposed art majors in first-pass enrolment; ART 20 studios average 25 students. The department warns that delaying foundation courses to the sophomore year may delay graduation.

3. First-year applicants: no portfolio

• The Art Department states that first-year students need no prior art experience or coursework, that a portfolio is not required for admission, and that portfolio review is not an option for frosh.
• Choose Art on the UC application and you are admitted as a proposed art major; you can declare after passing two ART 10 foundation courses. Students can also add Art as a proposed major with the department’s form after enrolling.
• Dates (UC system, fall 2027): the application opens 1 August 2026 and is submitted 1 October to 30 November; decisions are usually released in March (some campuses earlier); admitted first-year students submit their Statement of Intent to Register by 1 May; final transcripts are due 1 July and official AP and IB results 15 July.
• GPA: UC requires nonresidents to have at least a 3.4 GPA in A-G courses.
• Application fee: the amount is not on the pages used for this guide; the UC application shows it.

4. Transfer students: portfolio review (due 1 April 2027)

• Two routes: Art is not a screening major, but transfer students must either pass the portfolio review or complete two ART 10-equivalent foundation courses before entering (check equivalents on assist.org) and send unofficial transcripts as a PDF to the art advisor instead.
• Getting the application: indicate Art on your UC application. Admissions sends the department a list in January, and the department emails the portfolio application in late January; if you have not received it by 1 March, email the art advisor (artadvisor@ucsc.edu).
• Materials: the application form; an optional written statement (350 words maximum); transcripts from all colleges attended (unofficial is fine; the department cannot get the copies sent to Admissions); and 5–8 images of finished artwork in a single PDF, not separate files by medium. All documents should be PDFs; Google Docs are not accepted.
• Deadline: received by 1 April 2027 (not postmarked). Results come before the Statement of Intent to Register is due.
• What the committee looks for: quality over quantity, time spent, thought in generating and executing the work, use of materials and processes, and exploration of form and technique. Use work from community college or prior university courses; leave out high school work unless it is truly exceptional.
• Courses before entering: at least three lower-division studios in different areas comparable to UCSC’s (the department says three is a minimum and may not be enough for the competitive review), two History of Art and Visual Culture courses, two foundation courses and ART 80T.
• If you do not pass: students who neither pass the review nor complete two foundation courses cannot take art classes during the academic year even if UCSC admits them, and must pursue another major. Admission to UCSC does not guarantee admission to the Art program, and passing the review does not guarantee UCSC admission.
• Transfer dates (UC system, fall 2027): Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) in September; applications 1 October to 30 November; the Transfer Academic Update opens 15 December (priority deadline 31 January); decisions 1 March to 1 May; Statement of Intent to Register by 1 June.

5. International, Chinese and Canadian students

• English (UC minimums, completed by December of the final year of high school): IELTS 6.5 (One Skill Retake not accepted); TOEFL iBT 4.5 on the scale from January 2026, or 80 before then (MyBest not accepted); Duolingo 115; or AP English 3 or above, IB English A SL 6 or HL 5 or above, ACT ELA 24 or above, or SAT Writing and Language 31 or above. The UC page sets the exam condition for applicants who completed all secondary school in a country where English is not the language of instruction, and notes that a campus may require higher scores or an interview.
• Chinese national curriculum: list every course and mark from grade 9 to grade 12 exactly as on your records; if admitted, submit the senior middle school graduation certificate and official records. IGCSE/A-Level students need at least 5 IGCSE/O-Levels and 3 A-Levels. Whether the Gaokao or art exams are considered is not published.
• Canada: outside Quebec, the provincial high school diploma after 12 years; in Quebec, the DES plus the two-year DEC. No separate British Columbia grade requirement is published.
• Aid: the UCSC financial aid site says international students are usually not eligible for federal, state or university need-based aid, but may consider private loans with a qualified U.S. co-signer and external scholarships. UCSC entrance scholarships for international students are not described on the pages used here; check the admissions website.

6. Costs and scholarships

• 2026-27 estimate for entering students (USD, on campus): tuition and fees 17,439 (15,588 tuition and student services fees plus 1,851 campus fees), nonresident supplemental tuition 39,270, health insurance 4,209, housing 15,120, food 6,837, books and supplies 1,212, transportation 993 and personal expenses 2,727, for a nonresident total of about 87,807. UCSC notes these are estimates based on currently approved amounts and may change.
• Art Department awards (for current students): the Irwin Scholarship, by faculty nomination, gives 12 students $2,500 each and a group show; the Eduardo Carrillo Memorial Scholarship supports art students with documented financial need, up to $1,000, by invitation in winter quarter. Whether international students are eligible is not published.
• Art course material or studio fees are not listed on the pages used here.

Checklist

Students at high schools in China:

• Submit the UC application 1 October to 30 November 2026, choosing Art (or AGPM)
• Report all grades from grade 9 to 12; reach a 3.4 A-G GPA; take IELTS 6.5, TOEFL 4.5 (80 on the old scale) or Duolingo 115 by December of grade 12

Students at Canadian high schools (including BC and Vancouver):

• Same deadlines; apply with your provincial grade 12 diploma (Quebec students need the DEC)
• No portfolio for first-year Art B.A. applicants; take two ART 10 foundation courses in your first year

Transfer students:

• Apply by 30 November and indicate Art; watch for the department’s email in late January
• Submit the portfolio (5–8 images in one PDF) by 1 April 2027, or show two completed ART 10-equivalent courses; complete at least three studios in different areas before entering

Sources: UC Santa Cruz and the University of California, Art Department: B.A. in Art (Studio Art); Information for frosh; Information for transfers; Major requirements; Transfer portfolio review; Three-year pathway; Art scholarships; Arts Division undergraduate programs; Art & Design: Games + Playable Media; 2026-27 cost to attend; Aid for international students; UC requirements by country; UC English proficiency; UC GPA requirement; First-year dates; Transfer dates. Information is for fall 2027 entry (costs are 2026-27 figures). Check UC Santa Cruz for the latest details.