This course is approved by the Kansas Board of Regents for guaranteed transfer among all Kansas Regents public postsecondary institutions. Additional courses may also be eligible for transfer. Please visit a JCCC counselor or the JCCC Registrar's office, and the Transfer Kansas portal to learn more.
University of Kansas
| Johnson County Community College Transfer Program to the University of Kansas | Anna Abernathy, Director of Recruitment and Enrollment |
| School of Architecture & Design | Phone: 785-864-5974 |
| Visual Communication Design or Interaction Design, BFA | Email: agabernathy@ku.edu |
| Academic Year 2025-2026 |
Program Description
**To transfer to KU as a 2nd year student, students must complete 24 credits at JCCC including the courses listed on page 2, as well as two art electives from JCCC to cover the remaining studio credits from the 1st year.**
The Associate of Arts, AA at JCCC is a general transfer degree and partners well with the first two years of most bachelor degree programs. Students pursuing the AA may select courses that satisfy both the AA degree requirements and lower division requirements for a bachelor’s degree at four-year institutions. The elective hours within the AA allow students to complete additional general education and lower division courses required for specific majors. The AA degree requires completion of 60 credit hours. Meeting with a JCCC counselor is strongly recommended for selection of appropriate courses.
Admission Requirements
- Visual Communication Designers shape the information that everybody sees, uses and experiences. The Visual Communication Design program at KU prepares students for current professional demands and provides students with the fundamental design thinking, making and process skills required to build a rewarding career and facilitate life-long learning. Career options for visual communication designers include a wide range of areas such as traditional print media, magazine and book design, corporate marketing communications, branding, packaging design, exhibition and environmental design, motion graphic design, website design, interface design and more.
- Admission for Transfer Students - Admission to the Department of Design is selective and competitive. Complete the online application, select the School of Architecture and Design, then select your major. This application will serve as your application to KU, University scholarships and the Department of Design. In addition, students must have a 3.0+ cumulative GPA from previous institutions, submit official transcripts to the KU Office of Admissions, and submit a portfolio for admission.
- Student should familiarize themselves with policies and resources prior to transferring to the Department of Design.
- Application Deadlines - Spring: Oct. 1 and Fall: Feb. 1
- Transferring credits to KU - Utilize KU's credit transfer tool to learn more about how your courses may transfer to KU. Please note transfer studio courses with a grade of “C+” or lower will not be accepted by the Department of Design for credit. Transfer general education courses with a grade of “D+” or lower will not be accepted by the Department of Design for credit.
- Admission for International Students - International students should apply through the Office of International Recruitment and Undergraduate Admissions.
- Requirements - Visit the English proficiency requirements for KU. Portfolio Requirement - All applicants must submit a portfolio to be considered for admission to the Department of Design. Portfolios are submitted online through SlideRoom. Please select "Undergraduate Student - Portfolio Submission" from the directory. For technical support questions while submitting your online application, please contact Slideroom for assistance. Visit the portfolio requirement for more information.
- The online portfolio submission includes the following requirements:
- Media: Please upload 10-15 images of your strongest creative works. Please title each piece. In the description, include the medium or software used, the size, date of completion, and a brief one to two sentence description. In the case of documented professional or group projects, applicants should indicate personal responsibilities. Your portfolio must include at least two mediums. Examples: sketches, drawings, paintings, ceramics, jewelry, 3-D pieces, logos, branding, publications/yearbook, posters or any art or design-related works. Displaying a variety of work is essential; use your strongest pieces and good judgment.
- Essay: Why are you interested in studying design, what have you done to prepare, and how do you hope to use your degree? To complete your application, you must provide a response to the prompt. Please limit your response to 200-250 words.
- Students must complete a total of at least 120 credit hours. At least 45 of those credit hours must be in "junior/senior-level courses," which are numbered 300 and above. Credit for classes taken at JCCC cannot count toward Jr/Sr hours. At least 30 credit hours must be in residence to receive a degree from the department and KU.
JCCC Transfer Guide Disclaimer
It is the student's responsibility to check for updates to all transfer information. This transfer guide is provided as a service and is updated as needed. Degree requirements at the four-year colleges are subject to change by those institutions. To ensure you have the most accurate information about the program, you must meet with an advisor at the transfer institution.
Visual Communication Design or Interaction Design Requirements
KU Core 34 Requirements
- Students transferring to KU, that complete the General Education requirements required for the Associate of Arts (AA), Associate of Fine Arts (AFA) or Associate of Science (AS) degree from JCCC will be considered to have satisfied KU’s Core 34 general education curriculum.
- Students who transfer to KU, without completing the General Education requirements required for the Associate of Arts (AA), Associate of Fine Arts (AFA) or Associate of Science (AS) degree will have courses evaluated on a course-by-course basis toward meeting KU requirements. To learn more about courses that satisfy KU Core 34 Requirements and KU CredTran.
Visit the KU Core 34 General Education guide for JCCC equivalents.
The Department of Design recommends students complete 5 of the required core classes before transferring to KU to remain on track to graduate.
JCCC | KU | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Course Code | Course Title | Course Hours | Transfer Code | Transfer Title | Transfer Hours | |
| Code | Title | Hours | ||||
| KU Core 34 English (two courses) | 6 | |||||
| KU Core 34 Communications | 3 | |||||
| KU Core 34 Math and Statistics | 3 | |||||
| Select one of the following: | ||||||
| Contemporary Mathematics * | 3 | MATH 105 | Intro Quantitative Reasoning | 3 | ||
OR | ||||||
| Elementary Statistics * | 3 | MATH 107 | Introductory Statistics | 3 | ||
OR | ||||||
| College Algebra * | 3 | MATH 101 | College Algebra Support | 1 | ||
| KU Core 34 Natural and Physical Sciences (lab required) | 4-5 | |||||
| KU Core 34 Social and Behavioral Sciences (Select two courses in two different disciplines) | 6 | |||||
| KU Core 34 Arts and Humanities (Select two courses in two different disciplines) | 6 | |||||
| Select one of the following: | ||||||
| Art History: Ancient to Medieval (recommended)+ | 3 | HA 150 | Hist Western Art: Ancient-Medi | 3 | ||
OR | ||||||
| Art History: Renaissance to Modern (recommended)+ | 3 | HA 151 | Hist Western Art: Ren-Contemp | 3 | ||
| KU Core 34 US Culture (Institutionally Designated) | 3 | |||||
| KU Core 34 Global Culture (Institutionally Designated) | 3 | |||||
Program Requirements:
In order to transfer to KU as a 2nd year student, students must complete 24 credits at JCCC including the following courses as well as two (2) art electives from JCCC to cover the remaining studio credits from the 1st year.
JCCC | KU | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Course Code | Course Title | Course Hours | Transfer Code | Transfer Title | Transfer Hours |
| Code | Title | Hours | |||
| ART 124 | Design 2D | 3 | BDS 101 | Design Thinking and Making | 3 |
| ART 130 | Drawing I | 3 | BDS 103 | Drawing for Design | 3 |
| ART 199 | Fine Arts Symposium (3) | 1 | ADS 320 | KU Design Professional Series | 1 |
| WEB 126 | User Interface Design * | 3 | IXD 101 | Introduction to Digital Design | 4 |
| WEB 231 | User Experience * ^ | 4 | IXD 302 Fundamentals in UI/UX Design | ||
| GDES 134 | Layout Design * | 3 | VISC 101 | Intro Visual Communic Design | 4 |
Major Studio Electives (ADS, VISC) (8 hours): Visit KU CredTran for JCCC equivalents. Any two (2) elective courses from JCCC ART, ANI, or GDES disciplines.
- *
JCCC course has a prerequisite or corequisite.
- +
Required course of the major. Students are strongly advised to satisfy 3 credits of their Core 34 Arts and Humanities by taking this course.
- ^
WEB 231/IXD 302 is not a requirement in the first year of the program but will transfer to fulfill a program requirement.
- 3
Must be successfully taken 3 times.