Courses and Enrollment
Each semester, you will receive an email from the Office of the Registrar with your enrollment appointment time. Before you enroll, consult with your advisor or graduate program to determine the best class schedule for you. Use the Course Search & Enroll app to browse, add, swap, and drop courses.
You are responsible for the accuracy of your enrollment/class schedule and for all tuition, fees, and academic consequences that result from that schedule. You are responsible for meeting enrollment deadlines. Missing deadlines results in extra fees.
Enrollment Requirements
These vary depending on whether you have an appointment as a research assistant (RA), teaching assistant (TA), lecturer student assistant (LSA), or project assistant (PA); whether you hold a fellowship or traineeship; and whether you have dissertator fee status. See the Enrollment Requirements Policy for specific details.
Full-time enrollment
Courses numbered below 300, audit, and pass/fail do not count toward Graduate School enrollment requirements.
| If you are a… | Fall/Spring full-time enrollment is: | Summer full-time enrollment is: |
|---|---|---|
| Doctoral candidate with dissertator fee status | Exactly 3 credits | 3 credits if you are a research assistant or fellow on a 12-month appointment or if you will receive your degree in the summer; not required otherwise |
| RA, non-dissertator | 8 credits | 2 credits |
| 33% TA, PA, or LSA, non-dissertator | 6 credits | 2 credits minimum if you will receive your degree in the summer; not required otherwise |
| 50% TA, PA, or LSA, non-dissertator | 4 credits | 2 credits minimum if you will receive your degree in the summer; not required otherwise |
| Fellow, non-dissertator | 8 credits | 2 credits for 12-month appointments; not required for 9-month appointments. |
| Trainee, non-dissertator | 8-15 credits | 2 credits |
| International student on an F-1/J-1 visa, non-dissertator, if no other category in this list | 8 credits | 4 credits when summer is your first semester; 2 credits when summer is your first semester and you hold an RA appointment or a TA/PA appointment greater than 33% |
| If none of the above, full time enrollment is: | 8-15 credits | 4-12 credits |
If more than one category applies to you, follow the higher number of required credits. The higher credit requirement applies regardless of the percentage of your TA or PA appointment. For example, if you have a fellowship or research assistantship of any percentage, you must enroll in 8 credits to be considered full-time.
Additional requirements for doctoral candidates with dissertator fee status
After you pass your preliminary exam and advance to candidacy, the Graduate School will place you into dissertator fee status. At that point, you must maintain continuous enrollment until you graduate. Audit and pass/fail courses do not count.
Additional requirements for international students
International students are not allowed to drop below full-time enrollment unless you have first received authorization for a reduced course load from International Student Services. A reduced course load from ISS does not exempt students holding assistantships, fellowships, and traineeships from meeting the enrollment requirements relevant to your appointment.
Enrolling in credits above the maximum
Non-dissertators can enroll in up to 15 credits in fall and spring semesters, and up to 12 credits in summer term. All courses count toward this limit, including 100- or 200-level, pass/fail, and audited courses.
If you want to surpass the credit limit, submit the Credit Overload Request Form to the Graduate School at gsacserv@grad.wisc.edu. Overloads above 17 credits will not be approved unless one or more of the total credits are completed outside of the main term session.
Doctoral candidates with dissertator fee status may request an overload of 1-2 credits for summer session, provided the course relates to dissertation research or professional training that is not offered in fall or spring.
Late Enrollment, Late Course Change, or Late Drop
After the enrollment deadline, you need to submit a form to enroll, change courses, or drop courses.
To enroll in a semester after the initial enrollment deadline:
- Complete the Late Initial Enrollment Request Form.
- Obtain written approval from your faculty advisor.
- Email the form and faculty advisor approval to the Graduate School at gsacserv@grad.wisc.edu.
To add a course or courses after the course change deadline:
- Complete the Late Course Add Request Form.
- Obtain written approval from your faculty advisor.
- Email the form and faculty advisor approval to the Graduate School at gsacserv@grad.wisc.edu.
To change credits or sections in a course:
- Complete the Course Change Request in MyUW, either electronically or in print
- Obtain the required signatures.
To drop a course or courses after the drop deadline:
- Complete the Late Course Drop Form.
- Obtain written justification from your faculty advisor.
- Email the form and written justification to the Graduate School at gsacserv@grad.wisc.edu.
Other Types of Courses
Study and research abroad
The university creates an international context for education by providing opportunities for UW–Madison students to study overseas. Because of the variety of programs, students should coordinate their study abroad program with their graduate program, the Graduate School, and International Academic Programs (IAP).
Graduate students who are interested in conducting research abroad can register for IAP’s UW Graduate Research, which allows students to stay continuously registered as UW–Madison students, receive research credit with their faculty advisor, international health insurance, and 24/7 emergency assistance. This is an individualized experience and is not tied to a specific study abroad program. Students will need to have a high degree of independence in arranging housing and logistics for themselves.
All graduate students traveling abroad are encouraged to acquire insurance through Cultural Insurance Services International.
Auditing courses
Auditing allows you to take a course for no grade and no credit. You must get permission from the instructor to audit a course. You are responsible for attending the class lectures as an observer but will not complete assignments or take exams.
See instructions to add or remove audit status for a course.
Variable credit courses
Some courses—such as directed study, research courses, seminars, study abroad, and topics courses—may offer variable credit. This allows you to register for the number of credit hours which correlate to your workload in that course. You and your instructor are both responsible for ensuring your workload correlates to the credit hours for which you registered.
Pass/fail courses
Pass/fail courses do not satisfy any Graduate School requirements, but you still pay tuition for them. For these reasons, very few graduate students choose to take courses pass/fail.
Extension courses
Full-time, non-dissertator graduate students may take courses at UW–Extension for no additional cost (provided they do not exceed the maximum allowable credit load). Your faculty advisor must submit the UW–Madison Tuition Waiver Request Form and a letter of endorsement to the Graduate School at gsacserv@grad.wisc.edu. UW–Extension courses do not fulfill Graduate School credit requirements and don’t appear on your transcript.
Honors courses
Graduate students cannot enroll in honors courses.
Apply to Add or Change a Program, Plan, Certificate, or Sub-major
Definitions
Program (Major): Programs are officially approved courses of study and research leading to a master’s or doctoral degree. They may be administered from within a disciplinary department or across departments by an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary cluster of faculty.
Plan (Degree Level): A student may change their degree level, for example, if students with a master’s degree plan have completed their master’s degree and want to continue in the same program for the doctoral degree.
Named Option (Sub-Major): A named option is a formally documented sub-major within an academic major program. Named options appear on the transcript with degree conferral. Programs may also have unofficial specializations, concentrations, or tracks; unlike named options, these do not appear on the transcript.
Instructions
- Log in to MyGradPortal.
- Select the “Add/Change Programs” tile.
- Choose an action in the “Enrolled Programs” section, which will display an associated window and show fields appropriate for the type of request.
- Complete the fields.
- Select “send” to complete the initial request.
The request will show up as “In Review” in the Requests section on the Add/Change Programs page. Your graduate program coordinator or manager will follow up once your request is decided.
Cancel or Withdraw Enrollment
Before the first day of classes, you can cancel your enrollment by dropping all courses. You will not owe tuition or fees for that term. The semester will not appear on your transcript.
After the first day of classes, you must submit a withdrawal request via the MyUW student center to withdraw from enrollment that term.
Enrollment Holds
An enrollment hold on your student record prevents you from enrolling in classes. Holds can also prevent students from obtaining a transcript, a degree completion letter, certification of status, or a diploma. Check your enrollment notification or MyUW to see the type of hold and where to clear it. Direct questions to the originator of the hold.
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