diff --git a/app/src/components/CourseSelection.tsx b/app/src/components/CourseSelection.tsx
index 6d32a5f..0a79197 100644
--- a/app/src/components/CourseSelection.tsx
+++ b/app/src/components/CourseSelection.tsx
@@ -51,11 +51,13 @@ function ElectiveSet({
   return (
     <div
       style={{
-        border: isPinned ? '1px solid #3b82f6' : '1px dashed #ccc',
+        border: isPinned ? '1px solid #3b82f6' : '1px solid #ccc',
+        borderStyle: isPinned ? 'solid' : 'dashed',
         borderRadius: '8px',
         padding: '12px',
         marginBottom: '8px',
         background: isPinned ? '#eff6ff' : '#fafafa',
+        transition: 'border-color 200ms, background-color 200ms',
       }}
     >
       <div style={{ display: 'flex', justifyContent: 'space-between', alignItems: 'center', marginBottom: '8px' }}>
@@ -78,11 +80,25 @@ function ElectiveSet({
           </button>
         )}
       </div>
-      {isPinned ? (
+      {/* Pinned view */}
+      <div style={{
+        maxHeight: isPinned ? '40px' : '0',
+        opacity: isPinned ? 1 : 0,
+        overflow: 'hidden',
+        transition: 'max-height 250ms ease-out, opacity 200ms',
+      }}>
         <div style={{ fontSize: '14px', fontWeight: 600, color: '#1e40af' }}>
           {pinnedCourse?.name}
         </div>
-      ) : (
+      </div>
+      {/* Course list view */}
+      <div style={{
+        maxHeight: isPinned ? '0' : '500px',
+        opacity: isPinned ? 0 : 1,
+        overflow: 'hidden',
+        pointerEvents: isPinned ? 'none' : 'auto',
+        transition: 'max-height 250ms ease-out, opacity 200ms',
+      }}>
         <div style={{ display: 'flex', flexDirection: 'column', gap: '4px' }}>
           {courses.map((course) => {
             const ceiling = ceilingMap.get(course.id);
@@ -136,7 +152,7 @@ function ElectiveSet({
             );
           })}
         </div>
-      )}
+      </div>
     </div>
   );
 }
diff --git a/app/src/components/CreditLegend.tsx b/app/src/components/CreditLegend.tsx
index 80258d2..c225e50 100644
--- a/app/src/components/CreditLegend.tsx
+++ b/app/src/components/CreditLegend.tsx
@@ -14,7 +14,11 @@ export function CreditLegend() {
       >
         {open ? '▾ How to read this' : '▸ How to read this'}
       </button>
-      {open && (
+      <div style={{
+        maxHeight: open ? '300px' : '0',
+        overflow: 'hidden',
+        transition: 'max-height 200ms ease-out',
+      }}>
         <div style={{ marginTop: '6px', padding: '10px', background: '#f9fafb', borderRadius: '6px', border: '1px solid #e5e7eb', color: '#555', lineHeight: 1.6 }}>
           <div style={{ marginBottom: '8px' }}>
             <strong>Credit bar:</strong>
@@ -42,7 +46,7 @@ export function CreditLegend() {
             Maximum 3 specializations can be achieved (30 total credits ÷ 9 per specialization).
           </div>
         </div>
-      )}
+      </div>
     </div>
   );
 }
diff --git a/app/src/components/ModeToggle.tsx b/app/src/components/ModeToggle.tsx
index 77f49b0..1b96e23 100644
--- a/app/src/components/ModeToggle.tsx
+++ b/app/src/components/ModeToggle.tsx
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ export function ModeToggle({ mode, onSetMode }: ModeToggleProps) {
             background: mode === 'maximize-count' ? '#fff' : 'transparent',
             boxShadow: mode === 'maximize-count' ? '0 1px 3px rgba(0,0,0,0.1)' : 'none',
             color: mode === 'maximize-count' ? '#111' : '#666',
+            transition: 'background 150ms, box-shadow 150ms, color 150ms',
           }}
         >
           Maximize Count
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@ export function ModeToggle({ mode, onSetMode }: ModeToggleProps) {
             background: mode === 'priority-order' ? '#fff' : 'transparent',
             boxShadow: mode === 'priority-order' ? '0 1px 3px rgba(0,0,0,0.1)' : 'none',
             color: mode === 'priority-order' ? '#111' : '#666',
+            transition: 'background 150ms, box-shadow 150ms, color 150ms',
           }}
         >
           Priority Order
diff --git a/app/src/components/Notifications.tsx b/app/src/components/Notifications.tsx
index 88f69ec..52097c2 100644
--- a/app/src/components/Notifications.tsx
+++ b/app/src/components/Notifications.tsx
@@ -12,18 +12,22 @@ export function ModeComparison({
   const currentSpecs = new Set(result.achieved);
   const altSpecs = new Set(altResult.achieved);
 
-  if (
+  const isVisible = !(
     currentSpecs.size === altSpecs.size &&
     result.achieved.every((s) => altSpecs.has(s))
-  ) {
-    return null;
-  }
+  );
 
   return (
     <div
       style={{
         background: '#fef3c7', border: '1px solid #fcd34d', borderRadius: '6px',
-        padding: '10px', marginBottom: '8px', fontSize: '12px',
+        fontSize: '12px',
+        overflow: 'hidden',
+        opacity: isVisible ? 1 : 0,
+        maxHeight: isVisible ? '80px' : '0',
+        padding: isVisible ? '10px' : '0 10px',
+        marginBottom: isVisible ? '8px' : '0',
+        transition: 'opacity 200ms, max-height 200ms ease-out, padding 200ms, margin-bottom 200ms',
       }}
     >
       <strong>Mode comparison:</strong> {altModeName} achieves {altResult.achieved.length} specialization
@@ -32,4 +36,3 @@ export function ModeComparison({
     </div>
   );
 }
-
diff --git a/app/src/components/SpecializationRanking.tsx b/app/src/components/SpecializationRanking.tsx
index b44e11f..3a41876 100644
--- a/app/src/components/SpecializationRanking.tsx
+++ b/app/src/components/SpecializationRanking.tsx
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ function CreditBar({ allocated, potential, threshold }: { allocated: number; pot
           style={{
             position: 'absolute', left: 0, top: 0, height: '100%',
             width: `${potentialPct}%`, background: '#bfdbfe', borderRadius: '3px',
+            transition: 'width 300ms ease-out',
           }}
         />
       )}
@@ -47,13 +48,14 @@ function CreditBar({ allocated, potential, threshold }: { allocated: number; pot
         style={{
           position: 'absolute', left: 0, top: 0, height: '100%',
           width: `${allocPct}%`, background: allocated >= threshold ? '#22c55e' : '#3b82f6',
-          borderRadius: '3px',
+          borderRadius: '3px', transition: 'width 300ms ease-out',
         }}
       />
       <div
         style={{
           position: 'absolute', left: `${(threshold / maxWidth) * 100}%`, top: '-2px',
           width: '2px', height: '10px', background: '#666',
+          transition: 'left 300ms ease-out',
         }}
       />
     </div>
@@ -105,22 +107,40 @@ function SortableItem({ id, rank, total, name, status, allocated, potential, isE
     setNodeRef,
     setActivatorNodeRef,
     transform,
-    transition,
+    transition: dndTransition,
     isDragging,
   } = useSortable({ id });
 
   const style = STATUS_STYLES[status] || STATUS_STYLES.unreachable;
   const isAchieved = status === 'achieved';
 
+  // Track changes and flash on status/credit updates
+  const prevStatusRef = useRef(status);
+  const prevAllocatedRef = useRef(allocated);
+  const [flash, setFlash] = useState(false);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const statusChanged = prevStatusRef.current !== status;
+    const creditsChanged = prevAllocatedRef.current !== allocated;
+    prevStatusRef.current = status;
+    prevAllocatedRef.current = allocated;
+    if (statusChanged || creditsChanged) {
+      setFlash(true);
+      const timer = setTimeout(() => setFlash(false), 400);
+      return () => clearTimeout(timer);
+    }
+  }, [status, allocated]);
+
   const rowStyle: React.CSSProperties = {
     transform: CSS.Transform.toString(transform),
-    transition,
+    transition: [dndTransition, 'background 400ms ease-out, box-shadow 400ms ease-out'].filter(Boolean).join(', '),
     opacity: isDragging ? 0.5 : 1,
     marginBottom: '4px',
     borderRadius: '6px',
-    background: isDragging ? '#e8e8e8' : style.bg,
+    background: isDragging ? '#e8e8e8' : flash ? '#fef9c3' : style.bg,
     border: '1px solid #ddd',
     padding: '6px 10px',
+    boxShadow: flash ? '0 0 0 2px #facc15' : 'none',
   };
 
   const arrowBtn: React.CSSProperties = {
@@ -159,16 +179,20 @@ function SortableItem({ id, rank, total, name, status, allocated, potential, isE
           style={{
             fontSize: '11px', padding: '2px 6px', borderRadius: '10px',
             background: style.color + '20', color: style.color, fontWeight: 600,
-            whiteSpace: 'nowrap',
+            whiteSpace: 'nowrap', transition: 'background 200ms, color 200ms',
           }}
         >
           {style.label}
         </span>
       </div>
       <CreditBar allocated={allocated} potential={potential} threshold={9} />
-      {isAchieved && isExpanded && (
+      <div style={{
+        maxHeight: isAchieved && isExpanded ? '200px' : '0',
+        overflow: 'hidden',
+        transition: 'max-height 200ms ease-out',
+      }}>
         <AllocationBreakdown specId={id} allocations={allocations} />
-      )}
+      </div>
     </div>
   );
 }
diff --git a/app/src/index.css b/app/src/index.css
index 07cee87..756a469 100644
--- a/app/src/index.css
+++ b/app/src/index.css
@@ -26,3 +26,10 @@ h1, h2, h3, h4 {
 button {
   font-family: inherit;
 }
+
+@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
+  *, *::before, *::after {
+    animation-duration: 0.01ms !important;
+    transition-duration: 0.01ms !important;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/openspec/changes/enhance-ui-animations/.openspec.yaml b/openspec/changes/enhance-ui-animations/.openspec.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0b4defe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/openspec/changes/enhance-ui-animations/.openspec.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+schema: spec-driven
+created: 2026-03-01
diff --git a/openspec/changes/enhance-ui-animations/design.md b/openspec/changes/enhance-ui-animations/design.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..287f1d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/openspec/changes/enhance-ui-animations/design.md
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+## Context
+
+The app uses React 19 with inline styles and no CSS framework. Current animations are limited to:
+- A `skeleton-pulse` keyframe for loading placeholders in CourseSelection
+- `transform` + `transition` on mobile banners (MobileStatusBanner, MobileCourseBanner)
+- dnd-kit's built-in drag transform/transition on sortable items
+
+All other state changes (course pin/unpin, credit bar updates, expand/collapse, status badge changes, mode toggle) are instant. The app has no animation library dependency.
+
+## Goals / Non-Goals
+
+**Goals:**
+- Smooth transitions for all interactive state changes so users can follow what changed
+- Keep bundle size unchanged — CSS-only approach using `transition` and `@keyframes`
+- Respect `prefers-reduced-motion` globally
+- Maintain existing inline-style pattern (no migration to CSS modules or Tailwind)
+
+**Non-Goals:**
+- Page/route transition animations (app is single-page, no routing)
+- Drag-and-drop animation improvements (dnd-kit handles this already)
+- Loading skeleton animation changes (already animated)
+- Mobile banner slide animations (already implemented)
+- Scroll animations or parallax effects
+
+## Decisions
+
+### 1. CSS transitions on inline styles, no animation library
+
+**Choice**: Add `transition` properties to existing inline styles.
+
+**Rationale**: The app already uses inline styles everywhere. Adding framer-motion or react-spring would introduce a runtime dependency (15-40 KB) for effects that CSS `transition` handles natively. CSS transitions are GPU-accelerated and zero-JS-overhead.
+
+**Alternative considered**: framer-motion `AnimatePresence` for mount/unmount animations. Rejected because the bundle cost isn't justified — we can approximate enter/exit with max-height or opacity transitions on always-mounted wrappers.
+
+### 2. Expand/collapse via max-height + overflow, not conditional rendering
+
+**Choice**: For CreditLegend and AllocationBreakdown, keep elements mounted but toggle between `max-height: 0; overflow: hidden` and `max-height: <value>` with a transition.
+
+**Rationale**: CSS cannot transition elements that are conditionally rendered (`{open && <div>...}</div>`). To animate open/close, the element must remain in the DOM. Using `max-height` with a generous upper bound (e.g., `500px`) provides a smooth slide without needing to measure actual content height.
+
+**Alternative considered**: `requestAnimationFrame` + `scrollHeight` measurement for precise height animation. Rejected — adds JS complexity for marginal visual improvement. The max-height approach is standard and sufficient.
+
+### 3. Global `prefers-reduced-motion` reset in index.css
+
+**Choice**: Add a single CSS rule in `index.css`:
+```css
+@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
+  *, *::before, *::after {
+    animation-duration: 0.01ms !important;
+    transition-duration: 0.01ms !important;
+  }
+}
+```
+
+**Rationale**: A global rule is simpler and more reliable than adding motion checks to each component. This is the recommended pattern from MDN. Using `0.01ms` instead of `0s` ensures transition events still fire.
+
+### 4. Credit bar transitions via CSS `transition: width`
+
+**Choice**: Add `transition: width 300ms ease-out` to the CreditBar's inner `<div>` elements.
+
+**Rationale**: The bars already use percentage-based widths. Adding a transition property is a one-line change that produces a smooth fill/drain animation as credit allocations change.
+
+### 5. Status badge color transitions
+
+**Choice**: Add `transition: background 200ms, color 200ms` to the status badge `<span>` in SortableItem.
+
+**Rationale**: When a specialization's status changes (e.g., achievable → achieved), the badge colors will cross-fade instead of snapping. Since the badge is always rendered (just with different colors), a simple transition property works.
+
+### 6. Mode toggle sliding indicator
+
+**Choice**: Add `transition: background 150ms, box-shadow 150ms` to both toggle buttons.
+
+**Rationale**: The toggle already swaps `background` and `boxShadow` between active/inactive. Adding transitions creates a smooth switch effect with no structural changes.
+
+### 7. ModeComparison banner enter/exit
+
+**Choice**: Always render the banner div but use `opacity` + `max-height` transitions to animate in/out, with the conditional logic controlling style values rather than mount/unmount.
+
+**Rationale**: Same pattern as expand/collapse. The banner either shows or hides based on whether the two modes differ. Transitioning opacity provides a fade effect.
+
+### 8. Course set pin/unpin transitions
+
+**Choice**: Add `transition: border-color 200ms, background 200ms` to the ElectiveSet container div.
+
+**Rationale**: When a course is pinned, the set's border changes from dashed gray to solid blue and background shifts. Transitioning these properties creates a visual confirmation of the selection.
+
+## Risks / Trade-offs
+
+- **max-height overshoot**: Using a fixed max-height (e.g., 500px) means the transition timing won't perfectly match content height. Short content will appear to "accelerate" at the end. → Mitigation: Use `ease-out` timing and a reasonable max-height close to typical content size.
+
+- **Inline style transitions are slightly verbose**: Each component gets `transition: ...` added to its style object. → Mitigation: This is consistent with the existing pattern. Extracting shared transition strings into constants keeps it DRY.
+
+- **Content flash on expand/collapse refactor**: Changing from conditional render to always-mounted-but-hidden may cause brief layout shifts during the transition. → Mitigation: Use `overflow: hidden` on the collapsible wrapper to clip content during animation.
diff --git a/openspec/changes/enhance-ui-animations/proposal.md b/openspec/changes/enhance-ui-animations/proposal.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b55005e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/openspec/changes/enhance-ui-animations/proposal.md
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+## Why
+
+UI state changes (course selection, status transitions, panel expand/collapse) happen instantly, making interactions feel abrupt. Adding subtle CSS transitions and animations will make the app feel more polished and help users track what changed after each action.
+
+## What Changes
+
+- Add CSS transitions to course pin/unpin so the elective set smoothly shifts between its "open" and "pinned" states (border, background color, content swap)
+- Animate credit bar width changes so users can visually follow how selecting a course redistributes credits across specializations
+- Add expand/collapse transitions to CreditLegend and AllocationBreakdown instead of instant mount/unmount
+- Animate status badge changes (e.g., "Achievable" → "Achieved") with a brief highlight or color transition
+- Add a smooth transition to the ModeToggle active indicator when switching optimization modes
+- Animate the ModeComparison notification banner entrance/exit
+- Keep all animations CSS-only (transitions + keyframes) — no new runtime dependencies
+
+## Capabilities
+
+### New Capabilities
+- `ui-transitions`: CSS transition utilities and patterns for smooth state changes across all interactive components (course selection, credit bars, expand/collapse, status badges, mode toggle, notification banners)
+
+### Modified Capabilities
+<!-- No existing specs to modify -->
+
+## Impact
+
+- **Components affected**: CourseSelection, SpecializationRanking, CreditLegend, ModeToggle, Notifications (ModeComparison)
+- **CSS**: New transition declarations added to inline styles; possible new keyframe definitions in index.css
+- **Dependencies**: None — CSS-only approach, no new packages
+- **Accessibility**: All animations will respect `prefers-reduced-motion` media query
+- **Performance**: CSS transitions are GPU-accelerated; no JS animation loops
diff --git a/openspec/changes/enhance-ui-animations/specs/ui-transitions/spec.md b/openspec/changes/enhance-ui-animations/specs/ui-transitions/spec.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2d5df1d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/openspec/changes/enhance-ui-animations/specs/ui-transitions/spec.md
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+## ADDED Requirements
+
+### Requirement: Course set pin/unpin transition
+The ElectiveSet container SHALL transition its border-color and background-color over 200ms when a course is pinned or unpinned.
+
+#### Scenario: User pins a course
+- **WHEN** user clicks a course button in an unpinned elective set
+- **THEN** the set's border smoothly transitions from dashed gray to solid blue and background fades from gray to blue-tinted over 200ms
+
+#### Scenario: User unpins a course
+- **WHEN** user clicks the "Clear" button on a pinned elective set
+- **THEN** the set's border and background smoothly transition back to the unpinned style over 200ms
+
+### Requirement: Credit bar width transition
+The CreditBar's allocated and potential bar segments SHALL animate their width changes over 300ms with ease-out timing when credit allocations change.
+
+#### Scenario: Credits increase after pinning a course
+- **WHEN** a course is pinned that contributes credits to a specialization
+- **THEN** the CreditBar's filled segments smoothly grow to their new width over 300ms
+
+#### Scenario: Credits decrease after unpinning a course
+- **WHEN** a course is unpinned that was contributing credits
+- **THEN** the CreditBar's filled segments smoothly shrink to their new width over 300ms
+
+### Requirement: Status badge color transition
+The specialization status badge SHALL transition its background-color and text color over 200ms when the specialization's status changes.
+
+#### Scenario: Status changes from achievable to achieved
+- **WHEN** a course selection causes a specialization to reach 9 credits
+- **THEN** the badge colors cross-fade from blue (achievable) to green (achieved) over 200ms
+
+#### Scenario: Status changes from achieved to achievable
+- **WHEN** a course is unpinned causing a specialization to drop below 9 credits
+- **THEN** the badge colors cross-fade from green back to blue over 200ms
+
+### Requirement: CreditLegend expand/collapse animation
+The CreditLegend help panel SHALL animate open and closed with a sliding transition instead of instant mount/unmount.
+
+#### Scenario: User opens the legend
+- **WHEN** user clicks "How to read this"
+- **THEN** the legend content slides open over 200ms using a max-height transition with overflow hidden
+
+#### Scenario: User closes the legend
+- **WHEN** user clicks the toggle again while the legend is open
+- **THEN** the legend content slides closed over 200ms
+
+### Requirement: AllocationBreakdown expand/collapse animation
+The AllocationBreakdown detail panel in achieved specializations SHALL animate open and closed with a sliding transition.
+
+#### Scenario: User expands an achieved specialization
+- **WHEN** user clicks an achieved specialization row to view its allocation breakdown
+- **THEN** the breakdown content slides open over 200ms
+
+#### Scenario: User collapses an achieved specialization
+- **WHEN** user clicks the row again to hide the breakdown
+- **THEN** the breakdown content slides closed over 200ms
+
+### Requirement: Mode toggle transition
+The ModeToggle buttons SHALL transition their background, box-shadow, and text color over 150ms when the active mode changes.
+
+#### Scenario: User switches optimization mode
+- **WHEN** user clicks the inactive mode button
+- **THEN** the active indicator (white background + shadow) smoothly transitions to the newly selected button over 150ms while the previous button fades to the inactive style
+
+### Requirement: ModeComparison banner enter/exit animation
+The ModeComparison notification banner SHALL fade in when it appears and fade out when it disappears, instead of instant mount/unmount.
+
+#### Scenario: Banner appears after mode switch reveals a difference
+- **WHEN** the comparison banner becomes relevant (modes produce different results)
+- **THEN** the banner fades in with an opacity transition over 200ms
+
+#### Scenario: Banner disappears when modes align
+- **WHEN** the comparison banner is no longer relevant (modes produce same results)
+- **THEN** the banner fades out with an opacity transition over 200ms
+
+### Requirement: Reduced motion accessibility
+All transitions and animations SHALL be effectively disabled when the user's system has `prefers-reduced-motion: reduce` enabled.
+
+#### Scenario: User has reduced motion enabled
+- **WHEN** the operating system or browser is configured with `prefers-reduced-motion: reduce`
+- **THEN** all transition and animation durations are reduced to near-zero (0.01ms) so state changes are instant
+
+#### Scenario: User does not have reduced motion enabled
+- **WHEN** no reduced-motion preference is set
+- **THEN** all transitions play at their specified durations
diff --git a/openspec/changes/enhance-ui-animations/tasks.md b/openspec/changes/enhance-ui-animations/tasks.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b71328d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/openspec/changes/enhance-ui-animations/tasks.md
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+## 1. Global Accessibility Setup
+
+- [x] 1.1 Add `prefers-reduced-motion` media query to `index.css` that sets all animation and transition durations to 0.01ms
+
+## 2. Course Selection Transitions
+
+- [x] 2.1 Add `transition: border-color 200ms, background-color 200ms` to the ElectiveSet container div in `CourseSelection.tsx`
+
+## 3. Credit Bar Transitions
+
+- [x] 3.1 Add `transition: width 300ms ease-out` to both the allocated and potential bar segments in the CreditBar component in `SpecializationRanking.tsx`
+
+## 4. Status Badge Transitions
+
+- [x] 4.1 Add `transition: background 200ms, color 200ms` to the status badge span in the SortableItem component in `SpecializationRanking.tsx`
+
+## 5. Expand/Collapse Animations
+
+- [x] 5.1 Refactor CreditLegend to always mount the content panel and use `max-height` + `overflow: hidden` + `transition: max-height 200ms ease-out` instead of conditional rendering
+- [x] 5.2 Refactor AllocationBreakdown in SortableItem to always mount and use `max-height` + `overflow: hidden` + `transition: max-height 200ms ease-out` instead of conditional rendering
+
+## 6. Mode Toggle Transition
+
+- [x] 6.1 Add `transition: background 150ms, box-shadow 150ms, color 150ms` to both mode toggle buttons in `ModeToggle.tsx`
+
+## 7. ModeComparison Banner Animation
+
+- [x] 7.1 Refactor ModeComparison in `Notifications.tsx` to always render the banner div and use `opacity` + `max-height` transitions for enter/exit instead of returning null
+
+## 8. Verification
+
+- [ ] 8.1 Manually verify all transitions play correctly: pin/unpin courses, toggle mode, expand/collapse legend and breakdown, observe credit bars and status badges
+- [ ] 8.2 Verify reduced-motion: confirm all animations are effectively instant when `prefers-reduced-motion: reduce` is active
+- [x] 8.3 Run existing tests to ensure no regressions from the refactored conditional rendering