Liberal Arts Policies and Guidelines

As a member of the RISD community, you are expected to familiarize yourself with institutional academic policies, including those of the Liberal Arts division. For the full list of policies, see RISD’s policies and procedures library. If you have any questions, please contact us at la@risd.edu. 

First-year requirements

Most first-year students are registered for 15 credits in the fall semester and 12 in the spring semester, unless they receive permission to take a reduced course load after submitting an academic policy exception request. Find the full breakdown of your Liberal Arts undergraduate requirements in RISD’s online course catalog.

Required courses

All undergraduate students must take the following Liberal Arts courses in order to graduate (you cannot waive these courses, unless you are a transfer student who has taken an equivalent college course):

• HPSS-S101 Topics in History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences (for students who entered before September 2025)
• HPSS-S301 Advanced Inquiry Seminar (for students who entered September 2025)
• LAS-E101 First-Year Literature Seminar
• THAD-H101 Theory and History of Art and Design
• THAD-H102 Theory and History of Art and Design II

Transfer credits

We generally grant Liberal Arts transfer credits for courses in the humanities, natural sciences, foreign languages, mathematics, computer science and social sciences, as well as interdisciplinary courses involving those disciplines.

Liberal Arts transfer credits are not accepted for courses in athletics, dance, instruction in musical instruments and/or musical performance, computer applications or extracurricular activities. Courses in education and business are only accepted if they are taught from a humanities or social science perspective. View RISD’s full transfer credit policy for more information.

After matriculation, you must complete a prior approval form before registering for any courses at other institutions, either domestically or abroad. If you have any questions about Liberal Arts transfer credits, contact Senior Academic Specialist Gail Hughes. More information about transfer credits is available via the Registrar’s Office.

Apply for this faculty resource to help cover costs of conference travel, special research, curricular projects and event organizing. (Refer to the application guidelines for eligibility criteria and further details.)