Course Add and Drop Policies
Adding Courses
First-year (first semester) students:
Through the first five business days of the semester*, approval must be obtained from the student’s academic advisor.
After the fifth business day of the semester*, approval must be obtained from the student’s academic advisor and course instructor. Section changes for the same course do not require an academic advisor approval.
All other students:
Through the first five business days of the semester*, no approval is required to add a course or change sections.
After the fifth business day of the semester*, students must obtain approval from the course instructor to add a course or change a section.
Deadline
The last day to officially add a full semester course is the established census date of each semester*.
*Courses offered in a time format other than 14 weeks or outside of the official semester dates will be prorated accordingly.
Dropping Courses
Courses dropped through the census date will not be recorded on the student’s permanent record. Beginning the day after the census date through the end of the twelfth week of the semester, courses dropped will be indicated by a grade of 'W' on the student's permanent record. The effective date of the course drop will be the date the request is fully approved. Drop requests that are initiated but not approved by the deadline will be managed on a case-by-case basis.
First-year (first semester) students
Beginning the first day of the semester through the end of week 12, approval must be obtained from the student’s academic advisor to drop a course.
All other students
Beginning the day after the established census date* through the end of week 12, approval is required to drop a course. At a minimum, undergraduate students must obtain approval from their academic advisor and graduate students must obtain approval from the Graduate School. Additional approvals may be required as applicable (e.g., student athletes, international students).
Deadline
The last day to drop a full semester course without financial liability is the established census date of each semester*.
After the twelfth week, a student may request a late drop from the Dean of Students Office, which will only consider those requests that clearly involve extenuating circumstances beyond a student’s control. Comments from the academic advisor and instructor will be requested prior to final approval. If approved, the course will appear on the student’s permanent record with the grade of W.
Students who drop all of their courses will be withdrawn from school as of the date the last course was dropped.
*Courses offered in a time format other than 14 weeks or outside of the official semester dates will be prorated accordingly.
Add/Drop Process
Questions regarding the add/drop process can be referred to the Registrar’s Office.
Definition
The Census Date is a standard date each college/university must establish to take an official snapshot of enrollment for federal financial aid regulation compliance purposes. Students’ number of enrolled credits captured on the Census Date will be used to determine the final, official calculations of financial aid that can be awarded to a student. It is the last day to add/drop classes without financial penalty or permanent academic records of withdrawal. It is also the date that enrollment data for reporting purposes is captured.
Proposal 33-26:
Adopted by Senate: 02 April 2026
Approved by Administration: 10 April 2026
Proposal 18-12:
Adopted by Senate: 18 April 2012
Approved by Administration: 08 May 2012
Proposal 27-05:
Adopted by the Senate: 13 April 2005
Approved by President Mroz: 20 April 2005
Proposal 27-04:
Adopted by Senate: 10 March 2004
Approved by Administration: 10 April 2004
Proposal 17-02:
Adopted by Senate: 30 January 2002
Approved by Administration: 7 February 2002