Fine & Performing Arts Graphic Arts
Description
The graphic arts major offers students the ability to learn about creative visual communication in the context of a liberal arts degree. Foundational course work provides a solid base of knowledge in the principles and history of art and design. Additional design courses are selected to fulfill the remaining major requirements, which are complemented by an outside area of study, such as a minor or dual degree.
Degree at a Glance
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ACE Requirements | 30 | |
Some ACE outcomes may be satisfied by courses taken for other requirements | ||
| Languages-Classical/Modern | 0-6 | |
All courses must be selected from the list of Approved Courses found under College Degree Requirements | ||
| Graphic Arts Major Requirements | 57 | |
| Minor(s) | 18-24 | |
| Electives | 3-15 | |
| Total Credit Hours | 120 | |
Admission
Any student who meets college admission requirements may declare a major in graphic arts.
College Requirements
College Admission
Requirements for admission to the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts are consistent with general University admission requirements. These include:
- English (4 units)
- Mathematics (4 units)
- Social studies (3 units)
- Natural sciences (3 units)
- Foreign language (2 units)
NOTE: One unit equals one year of high school credit.
One of the following performance standards must also be met:
New Freshmen: Minimum ACT 20 (composite), minimum SAT 950 (combined), or rank in top half of high school graduating class.
Transfer and Readmit Students: Completed 12 or more semester credits from a post-secondary institution with a minimum cumulative 2.0 GPA and 2.0 GPA during the last semester of record at the time of application. (Emerging media arts majors: minimum cumulative 3.0 GPA and 3.0 GPA during the last semester of record at the time of application.)
International Students: Minimum TOEFL 70 (Internet) or 523 (paper).
Individual departments may have higher standards for acceptance into the different degrees and options. Please check with the individual departments for these standards.
Auditions/Portfolio Reviews
Auditions are required for admission to the Glenn Korff School of Music for music, music education, and dance majors. Auditions are also required for admission to the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film for the acting major. A separate application and portfolio review are required for acceptance into all other programs in the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film.
Admission Deficiencies/Removal of Deficiencies
Students who are admitted through the Admission by Review process with core course deficiencies will have certain conditions attached to their enrollment at Nebraska. These conditions are in this catalog under “Removal of Deficiencies.”
Students with one deficiency, two deficiencies but not in the same category, or two deficiencies in a world language who receive a Deferred Admission or Admission by Review, may be considered for admission to the college. Students who are admitted through the Admission by Review process with core course deficiencies will have certain conditions attached to their enrollment at Nebraska. These conditions are explained under Admission to the University, Removal of Deficiencies in this catalog.
College Degree Requirements
College General Education Requirements
World Languages/Language Requirement
The language requirement serves to help students gain a working familiarity with a language and a culture other than their own.
All students pursuing bachelor of arts or bachelor of music degrees are required to complete the intermediate level in one world language. The language requirement is fulfilled by the completion of the 4th level of a single language (either in high school or in college). Language study at UNL is currently available in Arabic, Chinese, Czech, French, German, Greek, Japanese, Latin, Russian, Spanish, and American Sign Language. Courses offered at UNL that complete the sequence include: ARAB 202, CHIN 202, CZEC 202, FREN 202 or FREN 210, GERM 202, GREK 301 & GREK 302, JAPN 202, LATN 301 & LATN 302, SLPA 202, SPAN 202 or SPAN 210 or SPAN 300A.
NOTE:
- A student who has completed the fourth-year level of one world language in high school is exempt from the language requirement.
- A student whose language proficiency is not reflected on a transcript may demonstrate proficiency of the intermediate level through assessment with the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. (Greek, Latin, and American Sign Language are not included in this process.) Report of the results will be made to the academic advisor for consideration of a waiver of the language requirement without credit toward the degree.
- International and domestic students whose first language is not English will be exempt from the requirement without credit toward the degree based on documentation of previous study.
Minimum Hours Required for Graduation
A minimum of 120 semester hours of credit is required for graduation from the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts. Students in the College are required to maintain a minimum current and cumulative GPA of 2.0. Individual departments may require a higher current and cumulative GPA.
Grade Rules
C- and D Grades
The College will accept no more than 15 semester hours of grades lower than C (includes C-, D+, D, and D- grades) from schools outside of the University of Nebraska system.
Courses with grades lower than C—either those earned at Nebraska or transferred from other schools—cannot be applied toward requirements in a major, but may be applied toward total hours and other requirements that do not have a minimum grade threshold.
Pass/No Pass
University regulations for the Pass/No Pass privilege state: The Pass/No Pass option is designed to be used by a student seeking to expand his/her intellectual horizons by taking courses in areas where he/she may have minimum preparation without adversely affecting his/her grade point average.
- Neither the P nor the N grade contribute to a student’s GPA.
- P is interpreted to mean C or above. Some professional education courses require a C+ or above.
- A change to or from Pass/No Pass may be made until mid-term (1/2 of the course).
- The Pass/No Pass or grade registration cannot conflict with the professor’s, department’s, college, or University policy governing grading option.
- Prior to the mid-term deadline, changing to or from the Pass/No Pass requires using the MyRED system to change the grading option or filing a Schedule Adjustment Form with Husker Hub in the Canfield Administration Building. After the mid-term deadline, a student registered for Pass/No Pass cannot change to a grade registration unless the Pass/No Pass registration is in conflict with a professor’s, department’s, college, or University policy governing Pass/No Pass.
- The Pass/No Pass grading option cannot be used for the removal of C- or D or F grades.
Pass/No Pass privileges in the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts are extended to students according to the following additional regulations:
- Pass/No Pass hours can count toward fulfillment of ACE requirements up to the 24-hour maximum.
- Students may not elect to take courses on a Pass/No Pass basis to fulfill degree requirements in the major. Departments may allow up to 6 hours of Pass/No Pass to be taken in the minor offered by the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts.
- Departments may specify that certain courses can be taken only on a Pass/No Pass basis.
- The College will permit no more than a total of 24 semester hours of Pass/No Pass grades to be applied toward degree requirements. This total includes all “pass” grades earned at Nebraska and other schools.
Individual departments vary in their policies regarding Pass/No Pass hours as applied to the major and minor. Consult the individual departmental listings for these policies.
GPA Requirements
Students are expected to maintain a minimum 2.0 grade point average each semester. Some programs within the College may have higher GPA requirements to keep in good academic standing.
Transfer Credit Rules
Ordinarily, hours earned at an accredited college are accepted by the University. The College, however, will evaluate all hours submitted on an application for transfer and reserves the right to accept or reject any of them. The maximum number of hours the University will accept on transfer from a two-year college is 60.
Students wishing to include credits transferred from another institution in their program of study must submit a transcript to the Office of Admissions. Students who have previously had transfer credits evaluated in another University of Nebraska–Lincoln college must have the credits reevaluated upon entering the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts.
All transfer students must complete the Residency Requirement (see “Residency Requirement”), and at least 9 hours in the major field must be completed at the University regardless of the number of hours transferred.
The Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts will accept no more than 15 semester hours of D grades from schools other than UNO or UNK. All grades may be transferred from UNO or UNK. However, transfer courses within a student’s major or minor will be evaluated by that unit and held to the same minimum grade standards as courses taken at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
The applicability of transfer credits toward major requirements is determined by the school offering the major. Requests for waiver or substitution involving courses not offered by the student’s home school must have the approval of the appropriate University of Nebraska–Lincoln department.
Transfer Credit from Foreign Institutions
Credit for courses taken at foreign universities and colleges will be transferred only after validation by the appropriate department. This evaluation may include examination of the student over subject matter studied at the foreign institution.
International Baccalaureate Credit
Students who have studied art, music, or theatre within the International Baccalaureate Program will be given credit for courses at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln according to the guidelines established by each academic unit. Contact the department office for specific course information.
Course Level Requirements
Upper-Level Requirement: Thirty of the 120 semester hours of credit must be in courses numbered above 299.
Residency
Students must meet either of the following residency qualifications:
- At least 30 of the last 36 hours of credit must be registered for and completed while enrolled at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
- A total of 90 credits must be registered for and completed while enrolled at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
Credit earned during education abroad may be used toward degree requirements if students participate in prior approved programs and register through the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Credit awarded from an institution other than Nebraska will be subject to transfer credit and residency rules.
Experiential Learning Requirement
All undergraduates in the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts must complete an Experiential Learning (EL) designated course.
ACE Requirements
All students must fulfill the Achievement Centered Education (ACE) requirements. Information about the ACE program may be viewed at ace.unl.edu.
Catalog Rule
Students who first enroll at Nebraska under the 2025-2026 Undergraduate Catalog must fulfill the requirements stated in this catalog or in any other catalog which is published while they are enrolled in the College, provided the catalog they follow is no more than ten years old at the time of graduation. A student must, however, meet the requirements from one catalog only rather than choosing a portion from one catalog and the remainder from another.
Exception: Students pursuing any degree in the Glenn Korff School of Music who fail to take at least one course that will fulfill their major requirements during a 12-month period must re-audition. They will then move to the catalog in effect at that time.
Students who have transferred from a community college may be eligible to fulfill the requirements as stated in the catalog for an academic year in which they were enrolled at the community college prior to attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The decision to utilize a previous catalog should be made in consultation with academic advisors and must be requested within the first two semesters of enrollment after transferring. Students must complete all degree requirements from a single catalog year and within the time frame allowable for that catalog year.
Eligibility to use a prior catalog is dependent upon:
- Admission to the university as a transfer student
- Enrollment at a community college during the catalog year being used
- Continuous enrollment at the previous institution for one academic year or more
- Proceeding to enrollment at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln within one calendar year from the last enrollment at the previous institution
- Maintaining the same major after the admission process
Learning Outcomes
Graduates of graphic arts will be able to:
- Explore the depth and breadth of graphic design and the roles of designers.
- Develop a graphic design vocabulary.
- Demonstrate a contextualized understanding of design history.
- Explore technological innovation and problem solving strategies through rigorous study and an engagement with a wide variety of tools and media.
- Discover and apply user-centered design methods and practices in order to solve complex design problems.
- Examine the concepts and ethical responsibilities inherent to design authorship.
- Build strong verbal, visual, and written communication skills.
- Engage in collaboration with others, both inside and outside the design discipline, to understand the ways in which visual communication design has the ability to contribute knowledge and social capital.
- Study the complexities of visual information as it relates to form, structure, and context in order to gain a better understanding of how meanings are constructed.
- Learn how to visualize complexity in ways that are interesting, appropriate, ethical, beautiful, and functional.
- Acquire meaningful knowledge in an academic area outside of art.
- Develop a practical grasp of a foreign language.
Critical