Enrollment is the official recognition of a student’s relationship with the university and is the basic authorization for a student’s access to campus resources each semester. You must be enrolled full-time each semester until you finish your degree, take a leave of absence, or withdraw from the program. To enroll, a student must:
- Settle all financial accounts, including current semester tuition;
- Clear any holds, whether these are from the Bursar’s Office, Cornell Health, the Judicial Administrator, or the Graduate School;
- Enroll in courses or in graduate research credits; and
- Satisfy New York state health requirements.
On This Page
Enrollment in Your Program
Checking Your Enrollment Status
Students can check their status at the beginning of the semester using Student Essentials. Verify that all holds are cleared and that you have enrolled for course or research credits.
There are several different types of holds – some are informational and must be completed for graduation, and some are immediate and prevent current semester enrollment. Your holds are listed at the top right of the page. Click on “more information” for complete details including steps to resolve a hold.
Students who are not enrolled by the deadline risk being withdrawn from the university. When withdrawn, they will be dropped from classes, and services such as (but not limited to) library access, housing, dining, door access, Canvas, and bus service will be terminated.
Summer Enrollment
Research degree students usually enroll each summer and are expected to make academic progress. Students must self-enroll for the summer term if, during the summer, they will receive financial aid, fellowships, loans, assistantships, travel grants, or tuition awards. Students also must enroll to use campus facilities during the summer. If you are not on campus, but meet any of the previous conditions, you must enroll for the summer.
Summer enrollment is automatically granted to all students who enroll in a non-credit summer graduate research course through their Student Center. Enrollment opens in mid-April. There is no tuition charge for summer enrollment in the graduate research course.
Note: Summer courses offered through the Cornell School of Continuing Education are not covered by graduate tuition. Additional tuition expenses will apply.
Changing Your Status
You must notify the Graduate School at gradstudserv@cornell.edu if you wish to withdraw, take a leave of absence, or otherwise cease to be enrolled.
Enrolling in Courses
Course Enrollment Overview
Course enrollment refers to the process of adding, changing grading options or credit hours, or dropping classes.
Course Requirements
The Graduate School does not set specific course requirements for earning a degree but students are required to enroll in a minimum of 12 credits per semester. After consulting the special committee, or the advisor for a professional student, students enroll in academic courses or research courses appropriate to their academic program.
Graduate research students will be enrolled in 12 credits of research credit each semester through graduation. Research students may enroll in up to 18 additional credits beyond the 12 credits of research credit. The 12 credits of research cannot be dropped, reduced, or increased.
Enrolling in Courses
In alignment with university policy, enrollment must be completed by the posted course enrollment add deadline listed on the academic calendar and is accomplished using Student Center. Review Classes + Enrollment at the University Registrar’s website for enrollment dates and information.
Some fields require your advisor to authorize your online enrollment. Check with your graduate field administrator (GFA) or the Office of Student Services at the Graduate School if you have trouble signing up for courses.
Some courses require permission of the instructor to enroll. To get permission, complete a course enrollment form, available from the Graduate School, and get the signature of the course instructor.
Grading Options
When you enroll in a course for credit, you may be offered the option of taking it for a grade or pass/fail or audit. Not all classes offer this option. If the class does not offer student option grading, the student must enroll in the course for the grade mode that it is offered for.
Incompletes
If you do not finish all the course work by the end of the course, the professor may assign you an incomplete (INC) and give you time to finish. However, instructors are not required to do this and may instead deduct unfinished work from your final grade. Students must have substantial equity in the course for an instructor to consider issuing an incomplete.
Dropping Classes or Changing Grading Options
Courses can be dropped or grading options and credit hours can be changed within the posted deadlines on the academic calendar. All drops and enrollment changes must be made through your Student Center.
Please be aware that changes to course enrollment are not permitted after official course enrollment dates. In accordance with university policy, the Graduate School will only accept course enrollment petitions for truly exceptional circumstances. If you drop a course after the drop date your transcript will show a “W” signifying that you withdrew from it. The deadline to drop with a “W” is the last day of classes.
Changing an 'Incomplete' or 'No Grade Reported'
You have up to one year from the end of a course to satisfy its requirements., although instructors may establish a shorter timeline. Once you have satisfied this requirement, your professor will change your grade from “Incomplete” (INC) or “No Grade Reported” (NGR) to a grade. If you do not satisfy course requirements, the INC or NGR becomes a non-passing grade unless otherwise noted by the course instructor.
Auditing Classes
Auditing a class means you regularly attend the class, but do not participate in all aspects of the course. You won’t receive any credit hours, the course will not count toward full-time status, and the course will be marked with a “V” on your transcript. Some courses do not lend themselves to auditing, and are noted on the class roster grading scheme. Instructors can expect or require regular participation and may not award a successful audit notation if you fail to meet the expectations of a successful audit.
Part-Time Study
Generally, part-time study is not permitted for Graduate School students except under the following circumstances:
- A Cornell University staff member may be eligible to apply for graduate admission to research and professional degree programs as part of the Employee Degree Program (EDP). While participating in the EDP, the staff member continues to work full-time and completes courses and degree requirements part-time.
- Established Ithaca-area residents may be admitted on a part-time basis to both research master’s and professional master’s degree programs. Study for a doctorate, however, may not be conducted in this manner. Graduate fields must accept or reject applicants seeking admission for part-time study following the same admissions standards as are applied to applicants for full-time study. This program is not to be used for applicants who were refused admission to full-time study.
- Students who have been approved for a disability accommodation that requires them to be less than full-time.
Changing Your Field or Program
Making Changes Overview
You may request a change of degree program or graduate field after you’ve enrolled. Requests for program changes are generally considered using a program’s normal admissions criteria and timeline.
If you’re an international student seeking to change to a different degree program or field of study, the Graduate School must again verify that financial support is available for the new program. If full Cornell support is not available, you will be required to provide evidence of non-Cornell financial support for yourself and any dependents who accompany you.
Other Program Changes
The special committee may encourage that a doctoral student change to a master’s track if they don’t see a pathway for successful doctoral study. The student may change to a master’s degree program at any time before the A exam. Contact the Graduate School to explore changes after the A exam.
Changes become effective prior to the start of the next term, in most cases. See the Graduate School Registrar for details.
Changing Your Status
Taking a Leave of Absence
Students may request a leave of absence for health, parental, or personal reasons. A leave pauses student status with the opportunity to return to the program at a set time. Leaves include:
- Health Leave: Taking a health leave of absence provides students with a break from their studies to attend to treatment or management of a health condition.
- Personal Leave: Under certain circumstances, students may wish to take a personal leave of absence for a non-medical and non-children-related reason.
View the leaves of absence policy for more information and refer to SHP While on Leave of Absence (LOA) for insurance coverage options.
While not a true leave of absence, funded graduate students may request parental accommodations following the birth or adoption of a child.
Withdrawing
Students may withdraw voluntarily at any time. Withdrawal is appropriate for students who do not intend to resume studies or to complete an advanced degree at Cornell University. Any interruption of registration is considered a withdrawal unless the student has been granted a leave of absence. A student holding a non-immigrant visa who withdraws is subject to the same U.S. government regulations as when applying for a leave of absence.
You must notify the Graduate School at gradstudserv@cornell.edu if you wish to withdraw, take a leave of absence, or otherwise cease to be registered.
Petitioning for Exceptions
Petitioning Overview
The Code of Legislation describes the rules and regulations governing graduate education at Cornell but a hallmark of our graduate education system is flexibility in these rules when there is a compelling need.
At times, you might find that your circumstances merit an exception to a policy described in the Code. To request an exemption, you may use the general petition form and submit supporting documentation (for example, a letter from your committee chair or a detailed academic plan). Prior to submitting the petition, you should review the Code thoroughly to make sure you understand the regulation. You will need to submit convincing evidence that your exception is required and warranted.
Examples of Typical Petitions
Many petitions have specialized forms to guide you through the process. Others may require you to submit a general petition form.
Related Information
Contact
Graduate Student Services Office
gradstudserv@cornell.edu
607-255-5820
