Add/Drop

It is a student’s responsibility to be aware of the deadlines for enrollment each term. Therefore, students should consult the Office of the Registrar’s website for essential enrollment information and important deadlines. Courses may be added, dropped, or swapped through MyUW Student Center before and during the first 2 weeks of a semester (the first week in the general 8-week summer session).

If a student drops a course, swaps out of a course, decreases credits in a variable credit course (via the “edit” function), or withdraws from the university, tuition and fee refunds are dispensed following a strict refund schedule. Modular courses and summer session courses have a shorter refund period.

International students are not allowed to drop below full-time enrollment unless they have first received authorization from International Student Services (ISS). This will ensure that they remain in compliance with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) visa regulations. International students holding graduate assistantships, fellowships, and traineeships must meet minimum enrollment requirements. For more information and questions, visit International Student Services. Contacting ISS will ensure that a student’s authorization from ISS to drop below full-time enrollment does NOT exempt an international student from meeting the enrollment requirement for a Teaching Assistantship (TA), Program/ Project Assistantship (PA), Research Assistantship (RA), fellowship, traineeship, or dissertator status.

If students enroll for a course and do not attend, they must drop the class or receive a grade of NW (No Work) or,  for audited classes, NR (No Report). If students make a course change after the fee refund deadlines (including audited, modular, and zero-credit courses), they may be charged a fee even if the total number of credits for which they are enrolled does not change. The Bursar’s Office will notify students if they owe additional fees or are entitled to a refund.

Students should be aware that “swap” is a drop action combined with an add action, allowing them to swap from one section to another section within the same course, or swap one course for another course. Some cautions related to swapping courses:

  • Because swap is a DROP and an ADD, the refund and assessment schedules and the dropped (DR) grade notation on the transcript deadline dates apply.
  • All session add/drop deadlines are adhered to as detailed on the Office of the Registrar’s Enrollment Deadlines webpage.
  • Class eligibility controls and prerequisites will be adhered to. If the class is closed or a student is not eligible for that class, the swap will NOT occur.

For more information and questions, contact the Office of the Registrar or Graduate School Office of Academic Services. Demos & Tutorials for course enrollment are available through the Office of the Registrar. For instructions on how to late add/change/drop a class, visit the Late Enrollment/Late Course Change/Late Drop section.

See Authorization for CoursesCourse ChangesCredit ChangesDean’s ApprovalEnrollment RequirementsLate Enrollment/Late Course Change/Late DropRefundsTuition and Fee InformationWithdrawal