Adding Courses

During fall and spring semesters, students are permitted to add a course during the first five days of the term without either the instructor’s permission or a fee. Those missing the initial add deadline have five additional days¹ to add a class if they successfully petition to do so and pay a $25 fee for each change. A late add petition must be signed by the chair of the department, the student’s advisor, and the faculty member teaching the class. Petition forms are available in the Records Offices.

After the tenth day of the term, students will not be allowed to add a course unless a student generated petition is approved. Only under exceptional circumstances such as prolonged illness or death in the family would a petition to add a course after the tenth day of a semester be received favorably. Any student seeking exceptional consideration must complete the petition form and receive approval from the course instructor, the student’s advisor, and the School Dean. The $25 late add fee also applies to those student petitioning to add after the tenth day of the term. Petition forms are available in the Records Office.

For terms (or classes) shorter than a 15 week semester, please refer to the table above. Students taking an online course have five days to drop any course that is seven weeks or shorter in length.

Music ensembles, newspaper or yearbook production, practica, internships, and departmental honors research or thesis are exempt from this policy and may be added after the first ten days of classes with signatures of the instructor and advisor. Also exempt are schedule changes students are advised to make within a department to better align with the student’s readiness for a course such as moving to a higher or lower level mathematics and/or elementary foreign language course.