Registration Policies

Nondegree Students

Summer 2012 Course Updates and Registration:

• OCE course descriptions will display on Wednesday, March 14th
• OCE nondegree registration opens Wednesday, April 11th

Fall 2012 Course Updates and Registration:

• OCE course descriptions will display on Wednesday, June 6th
• OCE nondegree registration opens Wednesday, June 20th

If you are a student (or a prospective transfer student) who is not currently admitted into a degree program on the Urbana-Champaign campus, you are considered a nondegree student, and may register in off-campus site-based and online course sections as a nondegree student. Both University of Illinois graduate and undergraduate degree students at the Urbana-Champaign campus may use the UI Integrate/Banner student self-service system to view and update personal information, access academic history, view holds and grades, order transcripts, etc.

HOWEVER, nondegree students should REGISTER for courses through OCE's Online Registration system.

Nondegree students are not permitted to register in more than three off-campus site-based or online courses at any one time. When students submit a course enrollment, they agree to pay tuition and fees to the University according to the payment policies and schedules adopted by the Board of Trustees. In addition, nondegree students do not qualify for student loans or in-school deferments.

Community Credit

Enrollment in on-campus courses through the Online & Continuing Education's Community Credit program is restricted to nondegree students who currently hold a baccalaureate degree. Enrollment is not permissible if the individual is currently an admitted degree-seeking student at the University of Illinois.

Nondegree students can only enroll in up to two on-campus course sections per term, pending approval of the academic unit offering the section. Online & Continuing Education cannot guarantee enrollment in any on-campus course section. Nondegree enrollment is subject to approval from the offering department. Our office will contact the offering department(s) to obtain approval. Registrations in on-campus sections will not be processed until after Online & Continuing Education has the approval from the department offering the section.

A nondegree student enrolling in the Community Credit program is not subject to the late registration fine, provided the registration is completed within the time specified. Notification of registration status and other information will be sent to the e-mail address students provide in the registration process. Students assume complete responsibility for contacting the Office of Continuing Education concerning their enrollment and change of registration status (cancelling, withdrawing, adding, or dropping a course).

NOTE: Nondegree registrations through the Online & Continuing Education's Community Credit (on-campus course sections) may not be processed until after the new term begins. Some course and degree program prerequisites and restrictions may apply as stated in the University of Illinois course catalog description. Nondegree students registering through the Community Credit Program are expected to comply with these regulations and enrollment requirements. Failure to do so may result in the student being not enrolled or removed from the course.

Nondegree Status and Degree Requirements

Enrollment as a nondegree student does not constitute admission to a degree program on the Urbana-Champaign campus. There are limits to the number of credit hours earned while on nondegree status that can be applied to a degree program. The Graduate College’s policy limits the number of hours that can be petitioned into a graduate program to 12 credit hours; however, individual graduate departments may be more restrictive and only allow fewer credit hours. At the undergraduate level, individual academic departments determine the number of credit hours that can be petitioned into a degree program.

It is the student’s responsibility to contact the department of interest to determine how many hours earned on nondegree status may be applied to a particular program of study. Nondegree-seeking students should also determine in advance the likelihood that a particular course will be accepted into the program and whether a minimum grade needs to be earned. Nondegree students seeking to apply University of Illinois credit to a degree at another institution are responsible for checking with that other institution to determine whether credit will be accepted in transfer and applied to specific degree requirements.

Nondegree students must apply for admission (through the Office of Admissions and Records for undergraduates or the Graduate College for graduate students) to be considered for degree status, and credit earned on nondegree status is not applicable to a degree except after admission and by successful petition for application of such credit to the degree. The petition form should only be submitted after the student is admitted to the degree program. For graduate programs, the formal petition must be submitted to the Graduate College. For undergraduate programs, the petition must be submitted to the student’s academic department.

Registration in Online and Site-based Courses

1. Nondegree students must meet course and/or program prerequisites to enroll in open enrollment site-based and online courses.
2. Cohort-based courses are closed to nondegree-seeking students except by approval from the department offering the course section(s). These courses are restricted to students admitted to a specific degree program(s) and/or cohort(s).
3. Students who have been dropped from the University of Illinois for poor scholarship or disciplinary issues must obtain the recommendation of the dean of their college before registering in a course offered through OCE.

High School Students

High school students (any persons 15 years of age or older who have never attended a collegiate institution) are eligible to enroll in self-paced and semester-based online courses to earn (depending on their institution) college credit, advanced high school credit, or both. In order to do so, however they must meet the following requirements and provide the necessary documents:

• Evidence that he/she possesses the requisite background and ability to pursue profitably courses for which he/she is qualified
• Written permission from high school guidance counselor or administrator upon enrollment
• Cumulative grade point average of at least 3.5 or better out of 4.0 (note: University Laboratory High school students: 3.0 or better out of 4.0)
• Copy of official high school transcript upon enrollment

Registration as an Auditor

Permission to enroll in an off-campus site-based or online course section as an auditor must be granted by the instructor and/or academic department. A Change of Status form must be submitted when an enrolled student wants to request a change from credit status to audit status or from audit to credit status. Students on “dropped” status are not eligible to audit classes.

Late Registration

Individual colleges determine the latest date on which their students may register. A late registration fine of $15 (amount subject to change) is charged to students registering after 5:00 PM on the first day of instruction. The late registration fine may be waived upon petition. The late registration fine is not covered by scholarships or other tuition and fee waivers. Students registering only for courses that begin in the middle of the semester are not registering late, provided their registration is completed before the beginning of such courses.

Registration Restrictions

A student’s eligibility to enroll in course sections is subject to holds that may be imposed by the individual’s college of enrollment or an administrative office. Registration restrictions imposed by the colleges and academic departments determine which course sections a student is eligible to enroll in. Conditions for course enrollment are generally stated in the course descriptions in our online catalog. Academic units can cancel a course offering or section for legitimate educational reasons, for example, when minimum enrollment numbers have not been met. Academic units can also terminate a continuing nondegree student’s enrollment authorization at any time prior to the beginning of a term.