Add/Drop

Registration

Adding Courses

You can add courses to your schedule through the first seven days of each quarter. After that, you must fill out an add/drop form and get approval from the instructor for each course you wish to add. If you're an undergraduate student, you may also need approval from your adviser. Completed forms should be returned to the Office of the Registrar in University Hall.

Before seeking approval to add a class, check to ensure you've satisfied all prerequisites and have no registration restrictions. Review your existing credits and course load — if by adding the course you'd be enrolled in more than 18 credits, you must also get overload approval.

You cannot, under any circumstances, add a course after the eighth week of the quarter (the last 10 business days).

Dropping Courses

  • Official Drop/Withdrawal Periods for Quarterly Courses

    Courses dropped through the first five business days of a quarter (summer session excluded) are deleted from your record. Tuition charges will be refunded, if applicable.

    Courses dropped after the first week of the quarter will be recorded as withdrawals with a grade notation of "W." This means you have not earned the course's credit hours, nor will it factor into your GPA.

    You may withdraw from a course without instructor approval through the sixth week of each quarter. However, if you are failing, the instructor may deny your withdrawal request. Instructor approval is required to withdraw from courses after the sixth week of the quarter.

    You cannot withdraw from a course during the two weeks, or 10 business days, preceding its final exam.

    Five-week courses and workshops, as well as interterm, summer session and semester courses (Sturm College of Law) might have different deadlines.

    View other important registration and billing dates.

  • Administrative Withdrawal from a Canceled Course

    If a course is canceled, we'll delete it from your record and refund tuition charges, if appropriate. The department, college or school responsible for canceling the course will notify you of the change.

  • Mandated Withdrawal Resulting from Non-Attendance

    Instructors determine the attendance policies for their own classes. If you fail to attend the first week of classes (or equivalent number of business days) and haven't confirmed the absences with your instructor in advance, you may be required to drop the course.

    If your instructor mandates that you drop the course, you must officially withdraw via the Office of the Registrar. If you choose not to withdraw after being asked to do so, you'll earn a failing grade. If you've been asked to leave a class due to non-attendance, you must pay all course tuition and fees accumulated at the time of your withdrawal, or, should you fail to withdraw, the entire cost of the course.

  • Academic Dishonesty

    If you're suspected of academic dishonesty, you may be prevented from dropping a course, or have a course from which you've already withdrawn reinstated. The Office of the Registrar is not required to notify you of reinstatement.

    If, after hearing your case, the Office of Student Conduct rules that you've been academically dishonest, your instructor may assign you a failing grade for the course in question, even if you officially withdrew and were previously assigned a "W" notation.

    If the Office of Student Conduct acquits you of academic dishonesty, and you had previously attempted to officially drop the course during the automatic withdrawal period, we'll process your request and assign a "W" to your record.

  • Exception Approval

    Undergraduate students who need to withdraw from classes after the deadline due to extenuating circumstances may file a petition for exception to academic policy.

    Graduate students in these circumstances must appeal through the Office of Graduate Education by submitting a petition for academic exception. Check with your program, school or college for additional procedures regarding late withdrawals.

  • Student Responsibility

    With the exception of administrative withdrawals, if you stop attending a course without officially dropping it through the Office of the Registrar, you will remain enrolled and receive a failing grade. Courses dropped after the sixth week of the quarter require instructor approval via a signed add/drop form to complete the withdrawal process. We won't process withdrawal requests without the required approvals, and as a result, you'll remain enrolled in the course and receive a failing grade. It is your responsibility to ensure all drops and withdrawals are fully approved and processed.

    Approvals to drop courses are academic decisions and do not necessarily entitle you to any tuition or fee reimbursement for the dropped course. See the tuition refund appeal process for financial appeal information.