Registration & Enrollment | Oklahoma State University

The registration process at Oklahoma State University involves planning your class schedule with your academic advisor, registering for classes (online via Student Self-Service), adjusting your class schedule if needed within the published drop/add deadlines, and paying your bursar bill. Click on a topic below for more details.

Audit Enrollment

A student who does not wish to receive credit in a course may enroll as an auditor, provided space is available and the student obtains approval from the instructor of the course and his or her advisor. (Note: Advisor permission is only required for currently enrolled students.) A student who enrolls as an auditor must verify that he or she will not petition to receive credit for the audited course by any method other than that described below under "Audit to Credit." Instructor discretion will determine the auditor's level of class participation.

Audited courses do not count in the determination of full-time student status and do not apply toward Veterans Affairs benefits. Laboratory courses, private music lessons, studio art courses, outreach courses, and other courses that require special course fees are not open for audit enrollment.

Initial enrollment in a course as an auditor may be completed only between the first and the tenth class day (inclusive) of a 16-week semester and proportionate periods for shorter sessions by submitting a completed Audit Enrollment form to the Office of the Registrar on the Stillwater campus, or the Enrollment Services office on the Tulsa campus.

Audit to Credit - the allowable time to change from audit to credit enrollment is between the first and tenth class day (inclusive) of a 16-week semester and proportionate periods for shorter sessions. Students changing enrollment status from audit to credit must have been admitted to OSU.

Credit to Audit - a student who is already enrolled for credit in a course may change the enrollment to audit only if the student officially drops the course (or, if appropriate, withdraws) at the time the student changes to audit. This action is not allowed after the drop/withdraw deadline for the course. The audit action will not remove the original course withdrawal notation from the student's transcript.

Audited courses appear on a student's official transcript with an indication that the course was an audit enrollment. An "AU" appears where the grade would normally appear. The "AU" does not contribute to a student's GPA, and no credit hours are earned for the course.

Audit enrollments follow the same resident and non-resident tuition and fee policies as credit enrollments. Late enrollment fees are waived for audit enrollments. Any individual 65 years or older may audit a class at no charge. The audit tuition and fees are also waived for faculty and staff who have retired from the University under the Oklahoma Teacher Retirement System's "Rule of 80" or "Rule of 90" regardless of age at time of retirement (OSU Policy 2-0108).

Before Registering

Schedule a meeting with your academic advisor to plan your class schedule. You won’t be able to enroll until your advisor clears you for registration. Contact your advisor early, as advising appointments fill quickly.
From Student Self-Service, check your Student Profile to see if you are eligible to register for classes. Find your enrollment date in the Notes section, and check for Holds in the upper right corner of your profile. All registration holds must be cleared before you will be able to enroll.
You can plan your schedule in Self-Service using Plan Ahead under the Registration menu. Plans created here will be available when you register for classes (on the Plans tab).
Access Prepare for Registration to view registration permits/overrides that have been granted to you.
To find more details, visit our Registration System webpage.

Cancelling Enrollment

Cancellation occurs when a student drops all classes before classes begin. Cancelling enrollment removes all tuition charges. No grades are recorded, and no record of the enrollment remains on the official transcript.

How do I cancel my enrollment?

A student may cancel enrollment by submitting the Withdrawal Form.

Cancellation requests must be submitted before the first day of classes for the term. After classes have begun, students must withdraw from enrollment according to the withdrawal instructions below.

Failing to attend classes or nonpayment on your Bursar account does not constitute notice of cancellation.

Distance Students Enrolled in Online Classes Only

University policies and procedures apply to distance students enrolling in online classes as they do for on-campus students enrolling in traditional classes. Online classes are usually designated by an instructional method of Computer based/Online.

Distance students should be able to perform most enrollment activities online via Self-Service (see ‘Registering for Classes’ above).

All OSU students are responsible for knowing and adhering to the drop/add and refund deadlines for all of the courses in which they are enrolled. Courses with start/end dates that differ from the regular semester dates have their own individual drop/add deadlines which can be found on the Short Courses (with unique drop/add deadlines) page of the Registrar’s website.

Dropping a Class During the Winter Holiday

The student system empowers students to handle their own registration via Self-Service throughout the semester, including when the university is closed for the holidays. While students can add and drop classes online (within applicable add/drop deadlines) during the holidays, students with registration holds may not be able to drop classes online. Students with holds who need to drop a class during the winter holiday can follow the instructions below:

Download and complete a drop/add card. If you have an active Advising Hold, you must obtain advisor permission.
Submit the completed drop/add card to the Office of the Registrar via email (registrar@okstate.edu) from your OSU email address no later than the published drop deadline for the class. If you have an active Advising Hold, forward the drop card to your academic advisor at the same time you email it to the Registrar’s Office.
The Registrar’s Office will process completed drop cards which have been received via email by the published deadline when the university reopens after the holidays.

To look up the drop/refund deadlines for classes offered during the winter intersession, click on the title of the course, while in the Registration tab in Self-Service, and then use the Drop/Add and Refund Deadlines tab. You can also visit our Short courses page and click on the link for the Spring semester. After you locate your course on the list, you can look up the following deadlines by (located in the far right columns of the page):

100% Refund, Nonrestrictive drop/add deadline: if we receive your drop card by this date, you will receive a 100% refund of tuition and fees for the course and the course will not appear on your transcript.
Partial Refund, Restrictive drop/add deadline: if we receive your drop card by this date, you will receive a partial refund of tuition and fees and the course will not appear on your transcript.
W Drop/Withdrawal Deadline: if we receive your drop card by this date, you will receive an automatic grade of W on your transcript for the course, and will be responsible for the full course tuition and fees.

If you have an active Advisor Registration Hold, it may be possible for the advisor to provide approval after the university reopens in January. The Registrar’s office will consider the date the drop card is first received in our office (with or without advisor approval) as the effective date of the drop request. Drop cards received after the nonrestrictive drop deadline with no advisor approval will be forwarded to the academic advisor for approval consideration after the holiday.

Dropping Classes

Dropping refers to dropping one or more classes while remaining in at least one OSU course in a given term. Classes should not be dropped without the approval of the student’s academic advisor. All enrollment changes are the responsibility of the student. Failure to attend classes or nonpayment of tuition and fees does not constitute dropping a class.

General drop periods are provided in the table below. The Academic Calendar provides specific dates for each term. Summer classes and short courses that do not follow the standard 16-week semester follow proportionate drop/refund periods that can be found on our Short Courses website, or in the Drop/Add and Refund Deadlines tab when you click on the title of a course in Self-Service Registration. Exceptions to these deadlines may be considered by petition only due to documented extraordinary circumstances and subject to committee approval.

Semester Time Period	Course Grade	Course-Related Tuition/Fee Refund	Process for Dropping
Before semester begins	No transcript record	100% refund	Online via Self-Service
First 6 class days (nonrestrictive drop period)	No transcript record	100% refund	Online via Self-Service
Class days 7-10 (restrictive drop period)	No transcript record	Partial refund	Online via Self-Service
Weeks 3-12	“W”	No refund	Online via Self-Service
Weeks 13-14	“W” or “F” as assigned by instructor	No refund	Request to Drop a Course During the Assigned W or F Period form
Weeks 15-16	No drop option – final grade as assigned by instructor	No refund	No drop option

Registering for Classes

New freshmen and transfer students will begin the enrollment process with the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, 219 Student Union, 405-744-5358.

Students usually enroll for classes the previous semester (ex: you will enroll for spring semester classes during the fall semester). Enrollment dates are determined by the cumulative earned credit hours reflected on your academic transcript. The greater the number of credit hours you have earned the higher priority you are given in enrolling for classes. Enrollment priority is also granted to students with physical disabilities, those committed by a scholarship or full-time employment at the University to perform a service for the University on a schedule specified by the University, for graduate students, and for students in the Honors College. Check the Enrollment Guides to see when you will be able to enroll for an upcoming semester.

To register for classes, login to Self-Service and select the appropriate term. Then select "Register for Classes" from the “Registration” menu. For details on how to register, visit the Registration System website.

Carefully check your Schedule Details (under Register for Classes or View Registration information) to ensure that you are enrolled in only the classes in which you intended to enroll. Students are responsible for ensuring that their enrollment is correct, and for paying the full amount of tuition and fees for all courses on their class schedule.

If the system was unable to enroll you in a class due to a prerequisite requirement, special permission required, closed class, or other restriction, the system will notify you that it was unable to process your registration. Check the Common Registration Issues webpage for details on the different messages, or consult with your academic advisor.

Withdrawing from The University

A withdrawal occurs if a student drops all classes after classes begin. If the student withdraws before the 100% refund (nonrestrictive drop/add) deadline, there are no tuition charges and no recorded grades for the courses. If the student withdraws after the 100% refund deadline but before the partial refund (restrictive drop/add) deadline, the student will receive a partial refund of the tuition and fees for the courses, and no recorded grades for the courses. For more information on withdrawing from the University during the partial refund period for students paying the block rate, see the Bursar's Block Rate-Drop/Add website.

Students that withdraw from courses after the refund deadlines are responsible for the full amount of tuition and fees and will receive a grade for the course on their academic transcript. See the Academic Calendar for refund, drop/add, and withdrawal deadlines.

How do I withdraw from the University? The student must submit the Withdrawal Form. International students must also obtain approval from a representative from the office of International Student Services (ISS) on the Withdrawal Form.

The student must follow this procedure to be eligible to receive any refund of tuition and fees during specified refund periods. See the Academic Calendar for refund and withdrawal deadlines.

Students who withdraw after the restrictive period and prior to the end of the twelfth week of a regular fall or spring semester (or the sixth week of an eight-week summer session, or proportionate periods for block or short courses) will receive an automatic grade of "W" for all courses on their official transcript. Grades of “W” indicate the student has withdrawn from the course and are not calculated into the grade point average.

A student who withdraws after the twelfth week of a regular fall or spring semester (or the sixth week of an eight-week summer session, or proportionate periods for block or short courses) but prior to pre-finals week, must also submit the Withdrawal Form. During this period, students will receive a grade of "W" or "F" as assigned by the instructor of each course. The assigned grades of "W" or "F" will be recorded on the student's academic record, and grades of "F" will be calculated in the grade-point average.

Failing to attend classes, neglecting courses, or nonpayment on your Bursar account does not constitute notice of withdrawal.

Withdrawal Policy for Students Entering Military Service

If a student is called to active military service during the term in which he or she is enrolled and has not completed sufficient work for receiving grades, the student should withdraw from the University following the instructions above.

In addition to submitting the Withdrawal Form, the student should also provide the Office of the Registrar with a copy of his or her military orders. Upon receiving the military orders showing that the student was called to active duty military service, the student will receive a 100% waiver of the tuition and fees or a 100% refund of tuition and fees paid. The military orders, if not available at the time of withdrawal, may be submitted at a later date at which time the tuition and fee waiver will be applied.

Per Oklahoma State law (SB 1830), OSU offers a military leave of absence (MLOA) to students who are members of the active uniformed military services of the United States who are called to active duty. An MLOA allows a student to be absent from the University for active duty without penalty to admission status or grade point average and without loss of institutional financial aid. It also allows the student to be eligible for withdrawal from all or some classes with a full refund of tuition and fees or to be eligible for incomplete grades in classes for which he/she has successfully completed at least 50% of the coursework at the time of leave, if the student intends to complete the classes upon return from active duty. MLOAs shall not exceed a cumulative five years. Graduate student LOAs are for a period of one year with annual extensions possible up to the five-year cumulative limit. Students apply for MLOA by submitting the appropriate form and supporting documentation. See OSU Military Leave of Absence FAQs for more information Military Leave of Absence FAQS.