The Graduate College Handbook for Students, Faculty and Staff
Chapter II: Student Status and Registration
C. Registration
Students must enroll during their term of admission. If enrollment in that term is not possible, students should contact their graduate program to request their admission term be changed. Students are expected to be enrolled for spring and fall semesters throughout their graduate program. Students with fellowships must be enrolled during the terms of their appointments (see chapter VIII for details). Students with assistantships for spring or fall must be enrolled during the term in which they are appointed. However, students with summer assistantships are not required by the University to be registered unless it is their first term (see chapter VIII for details). International students cannot drop below full-time unless they have prior approval from International Student and Scholar Services, and they should see the explanation of full-time status in this handbook (see chapter III.C.1) and the policy on a Full-Time Course of Study for Graduate Students for more information.
Students are responsible for their own registration and for ensuring the accuracy of their schedules. Until the tenth day of instruction, students can register online using the UI Integrate Self-Service registration system. All students are strongly encouraged to register by the tenth day for many reasons including implications for financial aid and insurance coverage. International students must register by the tenth day of instruction or they will be in violation of SEVIS requirements. Students can check their registration online and print their schedules as needed. Students who find errors in their schedules should immediately correct these errors, and this process must be completed before the deadline for adding or dropping a course.
Complete registration information including a link to online registration, a registration checklist, and registration help can be found at the Office of Admissions and Records. In particular, the section on registration procedures includes information on time tickets (the earliest a student can enroll for a future semester), eligibility to register, holds, enrollment requirements and prerequisites, “authorization only” courses, credit-no credit, canceling registration, and withdrawal (including refund deadlines).
- Deadlines
- Leaves
- Audit
- In absentia Registration
- Credit-No Credit
- Off-campus and Online Courses
- Verification
1. Deadlines: The deadlines for students to add and drop classes vary depending on the length of the class (e.g. full semester or part of term) and the term. See the Graduate College Academic Calendar for exact dates in a specific term, and for classes with lengths other than full semester.
After the tenth day of instruction in the fall and spring semesters and until the end of the sixth week of instruction, students wishing to add full semester classes may do so at the Office of Admissions and Records. The forms needed vary depending on registration status and the date the change is requested. Students adding their first class after the tenth day have not yet registered and must complete a Late Registration form. Students adding a course after the tenth day may be required to complete a Late Course Change form. If a class carries departmental restrictions, departmental approval must be indicated on the Late Course Change form. After the sixth week of instruction, Late Course Change forms will be required to add any full semester classes, and Late Registration forms will be required to register. These forms must be stamped by the enrolling department(s) to indicate approval to add courses. Forms must be submitted to the Office of Admissions and Records for completion of the request.
In the fall and spring semesters, students can use UI Integrate Self-Service to drop full semester classes until the end of the eighth week of instruction. After the eighth week and until the end of the twelfth week of instruction, students wishing to drop full semester classes may do so at the Office of Admissions and Records, without receiving a grade of “W”. After the twelfth week, students wishing to drop a class will need to complete the Late Course Change form with academic departmental approval, and will receive a grade of “W” for the class. After classes for the semester are completed (Reading Day and beyond) students must complete a Graduate Student Petition to add or drop a class.
2. Leaves: Many graduate programs have policies governing leaves. A student who has a need to interrupt his or her graduate program should make arrangements with the department and adviser prior to departure. Because of SEVIS regulations, policies concerning leaves are different for international students than for domestic students. A domestic student who has not registered for more than one calendar year must submit a Graduate Student Petition requesting re-entry. A student holding educational loans should consult the lender before choosing not to enroll for a fall or spring semester.
International students who plan not to enroll for a spring or fall semester or plan to leave campus are required to meet with staff from International Student and Scholar Services. International students must petition for re-entry after one missed semester (not including summer), and will need to work with the staff from International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) as well as with their department.
3. Audit: Students wishing to audit a class must make the request using an Auditor’s Permit. An auditor is only a listener in the classes attended; he or she is not a participant in any part of the exercises. Auditors are not permitted in studio, laboratory, or activity courses. A course, once audited, may not be repeated for graduate credit. An audited course will appear on the student’s transcript with a grade of “AU”. Approval from both the instructor and the Graduate College is required. The student should take the Auditor’s Permit form to the first class meeting and ask the instructor to sign, indicating approval. The form should then be submitted to the Graduate College for approval. If approved, the Graduate College will submit the form to the Office of Admissions and Records for processing. Students who are registered for less than twelve hours, not including the audited course, who do not have a tuition waiver will be charged a $15 audit fee. Audited hours do not count toward assessed hours. Please note that an audited course does not count toward the registration requirement for fellows.
4. In absentia Registration: In absentia registration is designed for students who wish or need to remain registered, but plan to be studying or doing research for at least one semester at least 50 miles away from campus. There is no decrease in tuition rates when a student is registered in absentia, and tuition assessment will be based on the student’s college and curriculum of enrollment, their resident or non-resident status, and the number of hours for which the student is registered. In absentia registration recognizes that such students do not access the full range of campus services and resources while away. Therefore students registered in absentia are not assessed any fees except the general fee. Students must realize that if a certain fee is not assessed they are not eligible to receive the services provided by the fee. If, for example, students registered in absentia wish to have health insurance they must make alternative arrangements. Payment of the general fee provides students with access to their university e-mail. Students may register in absentia for any number of credit hours.
A petition requesting in absentia registration should include the student's off-campus address, information on the nature and location of the research planned, the term(s) and year during which in absentia registration is being requested, and the course number (CRN; usually thesis credit) and amount of credit desired. For more information about registering in absentia, see the Office of Admissions and Records.
5. Credit-No Credit: Credit-no credit is a permanent notation on the academic record that may be requested by a student with their adviser’s approval. Students on limited status admission or probation are not allowed to register for credit-no credit course work until the limited status or probation has been removed. In any one semester, a student may take no more than four semester hours on a credit-no credit basis. Over the entire period of a degree program, a student must earn at least two hours of graded (A-D) course work for each hour of credit-no credit course work. Students are advised to check the Class Schedule to be sure that the course desired is not limited to letter grading only, which means the course can not be taken for credit-no-credit. The form to request credit-no credit notation must be completed and submitted to the Office of Admissions and Records before the deadline published in the Graduate College Academic Calendar. After the request is approved and processed, the letter grade reported by the instructor will change to the credit-no-credit notation as follows. A grade of C- or better will be converted to CR (credit), and a letter grade of D+ or lower or a grade of ABS will be converted to NC (no credit). A student may amend a credit-no credit request and return to a regular grade mode by filing a second credit-no-credit form and submitting it by the published deadline as indicated in the Graduate College Academic Calendar. Grades for study abroad and transfer credit are designated on the transcript as credit-no credit. Additional information about credit-no credit can be found in the Student Code.
6. Off-campus and Online Courses: Graduate courses are offered by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign at various sites throughout the state as well as through online and guided individual study instructional delivery methods. Information about these courses is available from the Division of Academic Outreach in the Office of Continuing Education.
7. Verification: Students often need to verify that they are enrolled. The University of Illinois has authorized the National Student Clearinghouse to provide enrollment verification information online.
