Registration Policies and Procedures

Check the Academic Calendar for important registration dates and deadlines, verify the exam schedule, meet with academic advisor(s) and review course load policies before registering.

• Class Schedule
  The class schedule for an upcoming semester is published in Workday in time for the advising and registration period.
• Exam Schedules
  Not every course has a traditional “exam” as its final assessment; students should check class descriptions and details in the class schedule when considering taking a course, both to set academic expectations and plan schedules. Click here for Final and Evening Exam Schedule information.
  • Course Load Policies
    Unit limits and progress guidelines vary by program; check with the school and program coordinator for more information.
  • Undergraduate students in traditional, residential programs are required to register for full-time enrollment, which is between 12 and 21 units of credit per semester. Full details and options are published in the Bulletin.
  • Undergraduate programs in CAPS are designed to be completed on a part-time basis. Check with the school or an advisor for more information.
  • Graduate students in semester-based programs:
    Academic load policy which determines the number of units that lead to part-time or full-time status, is defined at the University level.
• Re-enter after an absence
  Students who have taken time away from the university must formally work through reinstatement according to the steps outlined at their time of departure, typically  with their school and any other relevant offices such as WashU Cares or OISS. 
• Registration Holds
  Certain required activities will result in registration holds if not completed. These may include payment of outstanding financial balances, advising check-ins or required vaccination documentation. Students should visit their Workday profile or Academics Hub to identify any existing holds and address them before registering.

• Appointment Time
  A registration schedule and prioritization process is used at the beginning of fall and spring registration, which allows some groups of students to register before others. Undergraduate students who began their WashU studies earlier than others and therefore have less time left to fulfill requirements, register before newer students since they have a greater amount of time to fulfill requirements.
  
  Registration windows typically begin at 7:30 a.m. Central Time. Student-specific registration times are published in Workday several weeks before registration begins.
• Registration
  Workday students may register for classes using several different methods including from a saved schedule, from an academic plan or from the course sections report.
• Time Conflicts
  Students may not register for different courses that have conflicting meeting patterns. A course’s credit is based upon the amount of contact time and engagement between instructors and students over the course of the semester. Since time conflicts automatically reduce this engagement time, such enrollment is not typically allowed. For more information visit the Office of the Provost’s website.
• Registration Permissions
  Students must review class section details to verify eligibility requirements, such as pre-requisite courses or pursuit of a certain major, that control registration.
• Registration Holds
  Certain required activities will result in registration holds if not completed. These may include payment of outstanding financial balances, advising check-ins or required vaccination documentation. Students should visit their Workday profile or Academics Hub to identify any existing holds and address them before registering.

• Add/Drop/Swap
  After the initial registration period begins, students without holds may adjust their schedules by adding, swapping or dropping classes until the published deadline.

• Grade Option Change
  Many classes are available to register for either quality grades (A,B,C, etc.), pass/no pass or audit (no credit, no grade). Students are expected to pay attention to their program’s policies related to the grade options and minimum grades required to apply courses to their academic requirements, and register accordingly.
  
  Students may have room in their schedules, depending on their program’s policies, to explore courses to take on a pass/no pass or audit basis. If they later wish to adjust the grade option, they may do so until the published deadline. After that they are not allowed to adjust grading.
• Waitlist
  Some courses, if no seats are available, may offer the option to waitlist in case seats later become available. Depending upon the policies of the offering unit, if seats become available waitlisted students will be notified in their Workday My Tasks inbox with a “Confirm Waitlist Advancement” alert. At that point a student will have 72 hours to accept the seat or removed themselves from the waitlist. This window of time is intended to allow students to adjust their schedule if necessary, i.e., to drop a class section that conflicts with the waitlisted section or make room within their unit limit. If 72 hours expires with no response, the next student on the waitlist is offered the seat.
  
  Typically, waitlisted students are expected to behave as if they are registered (check the Canvas website, attend class meetings) so if they eventually gain full registration, they are not behind the rest of the class.
• Withdraw
  Students may withdraw from a class after the drop deadline and before the withdrawal deadline. Course withdrawals are permanently noted in students’ records and on transcripts with with an administrative W grade notation.
  
  Students are expected to be familiar with their programs’ policies on the impact of withdrawals on academic standing, as well as any impact to their status if they are international students, or if they receive financial aid.
• Deadlines
  Students are responsible for their own status at the university. Students are expected to engage with all registration processes, whether their programs offer self-service or administrative registration, including ensuring their registration is reflected accurately by the relevant deadlines.
  
  These deadlines affect financial aid, immigration status, the availability of services such as health insurance or stipends and accurate compliance reporting.

• Login and Passwords Issues
  For assistance with logging in to University web applications, visit the WashU IT website.
• Closed Class/Waitlist
  Students on waitlists are expected to pay attention to their Workday notifications. Tip: if you previously changed your notification preferences in Workday, you may wish to review them to ensure the Custom Business Processes option is not set to Mute so you will receive any emails related to waitlists.
• Registration holds
  Certain required activities will result in registration holds if not completed. These may include payment of outstanding financial balances, advising check-ins or required vaccination documentation. Students should visit their Workday profile or Academics Hub to identify any existing holds and address them before registering.