Registration, Course Changes, and Withdrawals

There are multiple stakeholders when considering changing one’s schedule. Please read the following sub-sections and consult with your academic advisor if you have additional questions or concerns. Note that the Office of the Registrar’s deadlines and dates calendars contain time-sensitive information regarding tuition and fees. If you have specific questions regarding tuition and fees, please visit USFSCO’s website.

Adding and Dropping Classes

A student may add a full-semester course during the first 10 instructional days and may drop a course during the first 8 weeks of instruction except where instructors or departments have put other restrictions in place or if the drop would take that semester’s credit hours to less than 12 or more than 18 hours. Part of Term A and B courses (first and second 8-week), summer session courses, and winter session courses have Add and Drop deadlines that differ. You can review the current semester’s academic dates and deadlines, which are controlled by the Office of the Registrar. Additional information on Adding and Dropping courses can be found in Section 3-311 of the Student Code.

Late Course Add and Drop

Once a student has passed the Add or Drop deadline, they must reach out to their assigned academic advisor to obtain approval to either add or drop coursework. When adding a course, the student must complete the Late Course Change form and submit it directly to the College of Media’s Student Services Center for processing. If a student wishes to drop a course, they must complete an Academic Petition and narrative that explains the need to have a course late-dropped.

Per Section 3-307 of the Student Code, it is at the discretion of the College of Media to determine whether or not it is appropriate for a student to late-add a course, to change section, or to late-drop or withdraw from a course. Please note that an approved petition to late-drop or withdraw from a course will result in the student receiving a “W” on their transcript except in the most extenuating of circumstances.

Course Overloads

In a typical progression toward degree completion, students will complete all degree requirements by their eighth academic semester. To maintain this progression, it is recommended that students enroll in an average of 15-16 credit hours per semester. All Media students must graduate with a minimum of 124 hours. See Time to Degree for more information.

Students who wish to take more than 18 credit hours in a fall or spring term must have a minimum 3.0 GPA and have successfully completed a semester courseload of 17-18 credit hours, while maintaining a GPA in that semester. Students who meet these requirements may request an overload with their academic advisor. In addition, a student who is in their final semester and needs additional hours to graduate may be eligible for an overload in consultation with their academic advisor. To discuss summer overload policies, a student should see their academic advisor. No overloads for the winter term are possible.

Overloads may be approved for a future academic term at any point determined by the academic advisor. However, a student for whom an overload is permitted will NOT be allowed to add their additional coursework (those hours which would exceed 18) until after the majority of students across campus have had the opportunity to register for coursework. Please consult your academic advisor for questions regarding this timeline.

Course Underloads

The minimum course load required for full-time status at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is 12 hours. The College of Media allows a student to pursue an underload (“part-time”) once during the student’s undergraduate academic career. Most often, this would be in a student’s graduating semester if all degree requirements will be completed at the end of that semester. Underloads may also be approved due to extraordinary circumstances such as documented illness or via accommodations approved by the Disability Resources & Educational Services. For all situations, students must receive approval from their academic advisor.

International students must consult the International Student & Scholar Services prior to pursuing an underload. Athletes must consult the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics. In addition, students on academic warning status are generally NOT approved to pursue underloads.

Cancellations

Prior to 11:59PM CST the day before the first day of instruction for a semester, a student may cancel their registration via Student Self-Service. There are three ways to cancel registration:

Via Enterprise Self-Service: Enhanced Registration allows students to drop all courses until approximately 10 days prior to the beginning of instruction. Within Classic Registration, a student can drop all but their last remaining class using the Add/Drop Classes option. The student should be provided an option to “Cancel Registration” and should follow all prompts and verifications to confirm their intent to cancel.

Via the Student Services Center: a student may initiate cancellation through the Student Services Center, but please note this must be done no later than 11:59PM CST the day prior to the first day of instruction.

Alternative methods are to submit a request to cancel registration by email to registration@illinois.edu from your Illinois email account; submit a request by letter to the Office of the Registrar at 901 West Illinois Street, Urbana, Illinois  61801; or by request in-person at the Records Service Center at 901 West Illinois Street, Urbana, Illinois. For more information on these alternative methods can be found on the Registrar website.

See Section 3-308 of the Student Code for additional information governing this policy.

Withdrawals

After the semester has begun, College of Media students needing to drop their semester registration should contact their academic advisor to initiate a withdrawal from the semester. Withdrawals require the approval of the Senior Assistant Dean for Student Services, as well as that of additional officials as needed. The withdrawal effective date is the date in which the student notifies their academic advisor of their intent to withdraw. This date also affects the percentage of refund to which the student may be eligible. A student may consult the withdrawal refund schedule.

See Sections 3-312 and 3-313 for General Rules and withdrawal for Military or Other National Defense Services, respectively.