[Additional regulations regarding Enrollment and Registration Procedures are located in Chapter 478-161 WAC.]
1. Registration for Courses
A. Registration Required
Students are required to register for any course in which they participate. No person, other than guests approved by the instructor, may take part in a University course in which that person has not been registered.
B. Preferred Name
The University provides students with the opportunity to have a preferred name displayed on non-legal documents and applications such as class lists and advising tools.
S-B 173, April 6, 2007; S-B 177, April 14, 2010; S-B 180, February 27, 2014: all with Presidential approval; AI, February 9, 2015; S-B 183, January 23, 2017; S-B 217, December 2, 2024: both with Presidential approval.
2. Methods of Registration
A. Registration
Students register using the University’s online registration system or are registered by University school officials, depending on their program funding structure.
The University has a continuous registration system organized into three distinct priority periods that are referred to as periods 1, 2, and 3. Undergraduates cannot enroll in more than 19 credits prior to the beginning of the quarter so that all students have access to build a starting schedule for the quarter. Credits beyond 19 can be added, subject to college restrictions, after the quarter begins.
B. Registration Period 1
Registration period 1 is for currently registered matriculated students and takes place in the latter half of the quarter preceding that for which the student is registering excluding Summer Quarter. Registration priority dates are assigned according to the following sequence:
- Eligibility based on disability accommodations, eligible veterans and national guard members and their spouses, domestic partners, and dependents;
- Contracted ROTC students, students with graduating senior priority status, NCAA student athletes;
- Graduate and Professional students;
- Seniors and Post-Baccalaureate students;
- Juniors;
- Sophomores;
- First Year Undergraduate students.
C. Registration Period 2
Registration period 2 takes place prior to the beginning of the quarter and is for new and returning students, and students from other University campuses.
D. Registration Period 3
Registration period 3 takes place during the first seven calendar days of the quarter and is for registration changes. ACCESS students and tuition exempt faculty and staff may register beginning the third day of the quarter in period 3. Washington State employees register on the fourth day. Non-matriculated students who are affiliated with the University through UW Bothell, UW Tacoma, and UW Continuum College are registered by staff into available courses.
S-B 175, May 29, 2008; S-B 177, April 14, 2010 both with Presidential approval; RC, December 3, 2013; S-B 180, February 27, 2014 with Presidential approval; RC, January 25, 2017; RC, February 1, 2017; S-B 187, June 2, 2017 with Presidential approval; RC, October 27, 2017; S-B 217, December 2, 2024 with Presidential approval.
3. Cross-Campus Enrollment
A. Home Campus Enrollment Requirement
Credits are required on a student’s home campus before cross-campus enrollment is allowed. Once admitted, first year undergraduates are required to have completed 25 credit hours on their home campus before enrolling in courses on other University campuses. Newly admitted undergraduates above the first year level of class standing must have completed 15 credits on their home campus before cross-enrolling.
B. Maximum Credits Per Academic Year
A maximum of 15 credits per academic year may be taken on a campus other than the home campus.
C. Maximum Credits Per Degree
A maximum of 45 credits from a University campus other than the home campus may be counted toward the degree.
D. Waiver Petitions
Individual petitions for waivers of the credit requirements may be considered by the chancellor, dean, or dean-designee of the degree-granting unit. However, the approval of such a waiver does not obligate the campus unit listing the desired course(s) to grant special consideration for course admission.
S-B 177, April 14, 2010 with Presidential approval; RC, December 2, 2013; RC, October 27, 2017; S-B 217, December 2, 2024 with Presidential approval.
4. Late Registration Fee
Except for tuition-exempt and ACCESS students, any student who registers for the first time during or after period 3 will be charged a late registration fee.
S-B 175, May 29, 2008; S-B 177, April 14, 2010 both with Presidential approval.
5. Change of Registration
A. Online Academic Calendar
Information on dates and procedures for registration changes is published in the online Academic Calendar.
B. Registration Change Fee
No registration change fees are assessed for changes in registration during periods 1, 2, and 3. A registration change fee will be assessed for changes in registration after period 3.
C. Withdrawals
No registration change fees are assessed for a complete withdrawal from the University. However, after the end of period 3, students are charged tuition forfeiture for a complete withdrawal.
D. Courses Dropped Before the First 14 Days
Courses dropped through the first 14 calendar days of the quarter will not be recorded on the University transcript. If all courses are dropped during this time and no additional courses are added, a statement of WITHDRAWN with the date of withdrawal will be recorded on the University transcript.
E. Courses Dropped After the First 14 Days
Courses dropped after the 14th calendar day through the last date of instruction of the quarter will be recorded with a grade of RD for Registrar Drop.
F. Former Quarter Drop
Courses that have been approved for a Former Quarter Drop will be annotated with an RD for Registrar Drop and the GPA points and grade awarded for the course will be removed from the transcript. (See Scholastic Regulations, Chapter 113, Section 3.)
G. Instructor or Departmental Approval
Courses added after registration period 3 through the third week of the quarter require instructor or departmental approval as determined by departmental policy. After the third week of the quarter the student must have the permission of both the department chair and the instructor. Approval is granted only in very unusual circumstances.
H. Dropped Courses
A course is officially dropped only when transacted through the University’s online system or when accepted by a representative of the campus registration team. An academic department can request a student to drop a course if the student does not meet publicized departmental participation requirements.
I. Tuition and Fees for Dropped or Added Courses
Students dropping courses may receive some refund of tuition and fees depending upon the number of credits dropped and the time of the quarter. Students adding courses may be required to pay additional tuition and fees as determined by the fee schedule.
J. Summer Quarter
Proportional schedules will be publicized in the Academic Calendar for Summer Quarter a, b, and full terms.
AI, June 1976; S-B 150, March 1990; S-B 167, November 26, 2001; S-B 175, May 29, 2008; S-B 177, April 14, 2010: all with Presidential approval; RC, December 3, 2013; S-B 180, February 27, 2014; S-B 201, June 7, 2021; S-B 217, December 2, 2024: all with Presidential approval.
6. Registration for Graduate Courses
A. Courses Open to Graduate Students
Courses numbered 500 and above are intended for and ordinarily restricted to graduate students. Some courses numbered in the 300s and 400s are open both to graduates and to upper-division undergraduates. Such courses, when acceptable to the student’s graduate program and the Graduate School, may be applied toward graduate degree requirements. 300-level coursework may not be applied toward the graduate degree minimum 18 graded credits. 300-level coursework may not be applied towards more than one-third of total degree requirements, except as previously approved by the Graduate School.
B. Registration in Graduate Courses by Undergraduate Students
Undergraduate students who wish to register for a 500-level course must obtain permission from the instructor of the class.
C. Minimum Credit Workload for Full-Time Status
For students in the Graduate School, a minimum of 10 credits per quarter is required for full-time status.
GSR, December 1956; AI, February 9, 2015; S-B 217, December 2, 2024 with Presidential approval.
7. Continuous Enrollment of Graduate Students
A. Continuous Enrollment Requirement
Beginning with the time of first enrollment, every student in the Graduate School is required to be registered each quarter or be on-leave until the completion of all requirements for the graduate degree for which the student is working, including the filing of the thesis or dissertation, the passing of the master’s or doctoral final examination, and the awarding of the degree. Failure to maintain continuous enrollment constitutes presumptive evidence that the student has withdrawn and has resigned from the Graduate School. During Summer Quarter only, on-leave enrollment is automatic for all students who are either registered or on-leave the prior Spring Quarter. A graduate student must be enrolled and registered on campus or in absentia as a full-time student or a part-time student or in on-leave student status.
B. Student Supervision
A graduate student enrolled and registered as a full- or part-time student pays the usual fees and is engaged in course work or research work on the campus or in absentia as a regular student and is supervised by the graduate program adviser, or the graduate program adviser’s representative in the student’s field, or by the chair of the student’s supervisory committee.
C. On-Leave Status
If a graduate student in good standing plans to be away from the University and out of contact with the University faculty and facilities for a period of time, usually not to exceed four successive quarters, the student must request and be approved quarterly for on-leave status. A petition for on-leave status must be approved by the graduate program adviser or the supervisory committee chair. The student must have registered for and completed at least one quarter of work as a matriculated graduate student at the University to be eligible for on-leave status. This status maintains a place for the student in the graduate degree program and permits the student to use the University Library. On-leave status does not entitle the student to any of the other University privileges of a regularly enrolled and registered full- or part-time student. The student pays a quarterly, nonrefundable fee to obtain on-leave student status (excluding summer). If circumstances require an additional leave of absence, the student must proceed again in the same manner as for an initial leave of absence.
D. Military On-Leave Status
Military on-leave status is available to a student whose degree program is interrupted by compulsory military service after the completion of at least one quarter of graduate work at the University. An approved on-leave petition gives continuous enrollment status for up to one year from the date the on-leave status is granted or for up to one year after discharge from the armed services. The enrollment fee is waived for military on-leave status. Enlistment in a branch of the armed services in lieu of induction into the Army entitles the student to military on-leave status. Presentation of an induction document or affirmation on the on-leave petition with specifics as to notices and dates of induction is necessary to support this type of request. On-leave status is also available for class I-A-O and class I-O applicants.
In unusual cases, a graduate student may need to work in absentia at a place distant from the campus and yet actively continue in correspondence or conferences with professors at the University and proceed with the thesis or dissertation research. In this situation the student enrolls and registers as a full-time student in absentia or a part-time student in absentia and pays the usual fees for a full- or part-time student, after previously having had a petition for in absentia work approved by the student’s graduate program adviser or supervisory committee chair.
E. Request for Reinstatement
A student previously registered in the Graduate School who has failed to maintain continuous enrollment but who wishes later to resume studies within the same graduate program must file a request for reinstatement. If the student’s program approves the request, the student pays the reinstatement fee and the request is forwarded to the Graduate School for approval and processing. When the student is reinstated, registration will occur during the registration period for the quarter of reinstatement.
F. Request for Re-Entry for Graduate Certificate and Stacked Degree Students
A student previously registered in the Graduate School, who is in only a Graduate Certificate or in a Stacked Degree program, and who has failed to maintain continuous enrollment but who wishes later to resume studies within the same graduate program, must file a request for re-entry. If the student’s program approves the request, the request is forwarded to the Graduate School for approval and processing. Registration will occur during the registration period for the quarter of re-entry.
GSM 9, July 1, 1963; RC, December 3, 2013; S-B 180, February 27, 2014 with Presidential approval;
AI, February 9, 2015; S-B 217, December 2, 2024 with Presidential approval.
8. Distance Learning or Online DL Courses
A. DL Designation
DL-designated courses are posted to the University internal/unofficial record, but the DL designation does not appear on official University transcripts.
B. DL Course Guidance
UW Continuum College provides advising for nonmatriculated students desiring guidance in selection of DL courses. Matriculated students who wish to take DL courses should consult with their academic advisors before registering.
HB, 1946; S-B 91, June 1963 with Presidential approval; AI, May 1972; AI, November 1978; AI, May 1989; S-B 167, November 26, 2001; S-B 173, April 6, 2007; S-B 177, April 14, 2010: all with Presidential approval; RC, December 3, 2013; RC, October 27, 2017; S-B 217, December 2, 2024 with Presidential approval.
9. Concurrent Registration at Other Collegiate Institutions
Courses taken concurrently at another collegiate institution while the student is in residence at the University may be credited toward graduation from the University if accepted by the department chair, the dean of the college in which the student is enrolled, and the University department in which the course is offered. Such acceptance should be obtained by the student in writing prior to the quarter in which concurrent registration takes place. Nothing in this rule may make mandatory the granting of any credit by the University.
S-B 23, February 1946; S-B 34, April 1948; S-B 217, December 2, 2024: all with Presidential approval.
10. Study Abroad
The University recognizes that it is valuable for students to have international academic experiences as part of their University degrees. Students should refer to UW Study Abroad for guidance on different types of programs, on the transfer of academic credit from abroad, and on the support available during their international academic experience. University students must be enrolled through UW Study Abroad while participating in an official international academic program.
S-B 177, April 14, 2010; S-B 217, December 2, 2024: both with Presidential approval.