General Registration Assistance Questions

For academic advising and course selection questions, please contact your major department or faculty adviser.

USF Registration Video Tutorials

 

Common Registration Questions

Have questions about registration? We have compiled a list of common registration questions for you below. If you don't see your question below, please contact casa@usfca.edu.

 

Registration Times and Adviser Information

There are two ways to find your major adviser:

  1. Log into your Student Hub and scroll down to your Success Team on your dashboard.
  2. Log on to your myUSF account and access your Registration Status and Advisor Information link by following these steps: Click on Banner Self-Service (Student) >> Student Tab >> Registration >> Registration Status and Advisor Information.

Your adviser should be listed there. If you do not have one, please contact your major department (if under the College of Arts & Sciences) or the SOM Undergraduate Office (if under the School of Management) for an adviser.

You can see your registration time by logging into your myUSF Dashboard >> Banner Self-Service (Student) >> Student Tab >> Registration >> Registration Status & Advisor Information.

The registration access time is based on the number of credits a student has earned. It does not include the credits a student is currently registered.

Registration goes on until the end of the first week of school. Students are allowed to change their schedules up until then. Please refer to this link for more information on the timelines and instructions for registration.

NOTE: Registration will be closed for the month of June.

 

Registration Errors

There are several reasons that may prevent you from registering for classes. Here are a few of those reasons:

  • You have a hold. It can be a Student Accounts hold, a Gleeson Library hold, a Disciplinary hold, an Advising hold, an Academic Probation hold, an AEM hold, etc. You will need to clear this hold before you can register. The contact information of the office will be listed next to your hold along with the reason for the hold.
  • Your Registration Access Time has not passed yet. You will see "SR" next to the courses if you try to register before your scheduled date. You will need to wait until your assigned registration access time to register. You can find this information in ‘Registration Status and Advisor Information’ under ‘Registration’ when you click on your student tab.
  • Your account has been deactivated. If you were on a Leave of Absence, you will need to contact the Office of the University Registrar (registrar@usfca.edu) and inform them to reactivate your account.

If you are receiving this message, it means you do not have the appropriate prerequisite course and/or test score to register for the class.

If you are receiving this message in error or you really want to take the class, you need to speak to or e-mail the professor to get permission. A signature on a Registration Add/Drop form or a hard copy of instructor's approval via e-mail along with a Registration Add/Drop form will suffice. Click here for more information on the process.

Typically, no. Prerequisites are there to ensure you have the knowledge necessary to perform well in the course.

If you truly believe you are ready to take the course despite the prerequisite, then you can contact the professor. If the professor is willing to add you in the class by waiving the prerequisite or take the prerequisite concurrently, you would need to have a Registration Add/Drop form filled out with the professor’s signature. Click here for more information on the process.

You must add your lecture and lab at the same time. For example, Physics (PHYS) 120 has a co-requisite of PHYS 120L. If you do not add the lecture and lab sections simultaneously, you will not be able to register for the course.

To find both the lecture and lab for a science class, make sure you select the correct subject in the 'Subject' section and ALL in the 'Attribute' section.

NOTE: If you choose Core B2 Sciences in the 'Attribute' section, the lab section will not show.

Class Restriction (formerly Student Classification Restriction) means that the course offered has a set number of seats available for freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. If you are unable to register for a class due to this reason, it is because the number of seats reserved for the class standing has been filled.

Class Standing Defined:

  • Freshman: 0-31
  • Sophomore: 32-63
  • Junior: 64-95
  • Senior: 96+

Reserve Closed means that the course offered is restricted to certain majors and/or minors. This is not to say that you can’t register for the class at all; you just can’t register during a certain time frame. Students in that major who need that course are given priority. After a certain period of time, the restriction is lifted and you will be able to register in the class if there are still seats available.

Field of Study means that the course offered is restricted to a specific major, minor, or concentration. You will need to have that field of study in order to register for the course.

Campus Restriction means that the course offered is at one of the additional campuses under USF. These classes are not part of the main campus (or Hilltop campus).

NOTE: You will not be able to take courses offered at a different campus if you are not enrolled in the programs offered at those different campuses.

Please contact the Office of the University Registrar at registrar@usfca.edu for more information.

 

Additional Information

Please go to this link for information on how to add and/or drop a course in-person and online. This will inform you about the timelines, approvals, and process for adding/dropping a course.

Please go to this link for the step-by-step procedure on how to add and/or drop a course and what documents may be required.

We strongly advise all students to add courses at least 1-2 days before the course starts to ensure access to a course's Canvas and Zoom link.

However, if you are unable to do so, USF internal systems are scheduled to sync regularly throughout the day. If you plan to add a course that meets the same day, please email the instructor(s) of the course your intent to register in the course at least 2-3 hours before the course starts. This will give instructors time to review your information and give you access to the course's Canvas and/or Zoom link.

Go to myUSF >> Dashboard >> Banner Self-Service (Student) >> Student Tab >> Registration >> Look up and Register for Classes. From there, choose the 'Term', choose "All" under 'Subject', then go down to the 'Attribute' section and choose the CORE class category you would like to see classes for.

NOTE: For some core courses (like for science and foreign language), there is a lab or practicum component attached that requires you to simultaneously register for both the lecture and lab/practicum. To do this, you will need to choose the appropriate 'Subject' and "All" in the 'Attribute' section to see all the lectures and their corresponding co-requisite.

You can tell what CORE/major/minor requirements a class counts towards by looking carefully at the class's attributes. For example, if you want to know if a class counts towards a CORE B2 Science requirement, the class's attributes will specifically list "Core B2 Science" as an attribute. If it does not explicitly list "Core B2 Science", it does not count towards that particular CORE requirement.

Typically, no. The maximum amount of units you can take is 18 credits because the flat tuition for USF only covers 12 to 18 credits.

If you would like to take more than 18 credits, you will need to speak with your major adviser and College Dean first. If they approve of you taking more than 18 credits, you can do so.

Keep in mind that you will have to pay for every credit over 18. Refer to https://myusf.usfca.edu/billing-tuition/tuition-fees to see what the cost per credit is.

Depending on the course you are trying to register for, please follow these steps:

  1. Check to see if there is a waitlist for that class. If there is, place yourself on the waitlist to save yourself a possible seat in the class.
  2. If the class is under the following College/School and there is no waitlist (or the waitlist is closed), follow the respective steps:
    • For the College of Arts and Sciences classes, you need to email the instructor of the class and see if s/he is willing to sign you into the class. You may just have to wait until the first day of class to talk to the professor.
    • For the School of Management, you need to find another section that is open or another class that works with your schedule. Please consult with your major adviser or somundergrad@usfca.edu if you need assistance.
  3. Register for a back-up course.
  4. Speak with your major adviser (for College of Arts and Sciences students) or somundergrad@usfca.edu (for School of Management students) to see what alternative classes you can take that will help you fulfill your major or degree requirements.

NOTE: It is important that you speak with the department of the major you are interested in switching to. Many departments require students to speak with them prior to filling out the form. Failure to do so will result in your COAP form being denied.

You can change your major by completing the Change of Academic Program form online: https://myusf.usfca.edu/registration/change-academic-program-instructions.

Make sure you read the instructions to the COAP form carefully before you proceed with filling it out.

No, it will not. The form takes about 1-2 weeks to process after you get the necessary signatures. We advise you to change your major at least 2 weeks before your registration time.

Waitlists are not offered for every course. The waitlist is an optionable feature that is enabled on the department's or instructor's request. You can tell if a course has the waitlist feature enabled by checking the enrollment view of the class schedule. Please check this document for more information about waitlists.

The School of Management (SOM) has a specific process for all of its classes that have a waitlist, termed "Business Waitlist". The way it works is as follows:

  1. Student registers into an open waitlist of a business class. NOTE: Make sure you are eligible to take the class. Otherwise, you will receive a registration error and be blocked from placing yourself on the waitlist.
  2. After the week of registration, the Associate Dean of SOM, who manages all the business waitlists, will review and determine who on the waitlist will be offered a seat in the class. NOTE: Graduating seniors have priority.
  3. Two to three (2-3) weeks after registration week, our office will send out seat offers to students on the waitlist. If you receive an email offering you a space in the course, please respond immediately and follow the instructions given in the email.

You would need to fill out the Transfer Credit Request form. Once the form has been submitted, the Office of the Registrar will review your request and respond back to you.

In the meantime, it may be advisable to not register for classes you think you may receive credit for.

No. The Academic Dean first needs to check on the seat availability according to the fire marshal code. If there are enough physical seats available, you will be added to the class.