Enrollment Policies
Enrollment Policies
Students are responsible for all of their enrollment decisions and for understanding all policies related to enrollment, deadlines, and fees.
Tuition and student fees are assessed immediately upon enrollment. Your fees can be impacted by any enrollment changes you make so be sure you’re reviewing relevant deadlines for your situation. Review information about tuition and student fees as well as payment policies before you enroll.
Important Note for International Students: For F-1 visa purposes, international students with a summer I-20 from UC Berkeley are required to maintain full-time enrollment for the entire duration of their time at Summer Sessions. Review the international students section of our Help Center for visa policies and enrollment requirements.
Adding Classes
You may enroll in classes up until the add deadline for each session. Please see instructions on adding courses here. If you are enrolling in a class after it has begun, we strongly advise you to speak with the instructor first. Each class is different and even if you enroll before the deadline, you want to be sure you can successfully complete the coursework.
Note: Students are not dropped by the instructor for non-attendance.
Review session deadlines for adding classes.
Waitlisted Classes
Classes are filled on a first-come-first-served basis and when enrollment reaches its limit, a waitlist is opened. Once you’re on the waitlist and a spot opens up, you are automatically enrolled. A notification is sent to students’ UC Berkeley email accounts. Automatic enrollment off the waitlist can happen up until the add deadline for each session so be sure to monitor the waitlist status in CalCentral.
If you no longer wish to enroll in the class, you must remove yourself from the waitlist before the drop deadline. You are fully responsible for any tuition and fees that occur as a result of automated waitlist enrollment.
Students are not dropped by the instructor for non-attendance.
Note for international students: Waitlisted course units do not count toward the full-time enrollment requirements for international students.
Review complete information about waitlist classes in our Help Center.
Review session deadlines for adding and dropping classes.
Grading Options
When enrolling in a course, students must select their preferred grading option. The default is usually Letter Grade, but courses may vary. Undergraduate courses can be taken for a Letter Grade or Pass/No Pass. Graduate courses can be taken for a Letter Grade or Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory.
Review complete information about choosing grading options in our Help Center.
Auditing Policy
Current UC Berkeley students, visiting research scholars, faculty, staff members, and post-doctoral scholars on the Berkeley campus can audit in-person (not online/web-based) Summer Sessions courses, subject to the approval of the instructor.
All others auditing a Summer Sessions class are subject to the same tuition and fees, as well as policies governing enrollment and fees, as those who enroll to receive credit.
Review complete information about the auditing policy in our Help Center.
Scheduling Conflicts
It is your responsibility to avoid time conflicts among your classes. If you’ve made a scheduling conflict by mistake, you should change classes before instruction begins.
Review complete information about scheduling conflicts in our Help Center.
Enrollment Changes
Below you’ll find a brief overview of status change details. Visit the enrollment change section of our Help Center for complete information and how-to guides for completing enrollment changes.
Swapping Classes
Swapping a course means dropping one class and simultaneously adding another. This way you ensure you keep your original enrollment until your enrollment in the new class is confirmed.
Dropping Courses
You are responsible for dropping any or all enrolled and/or waitlisted classes you do not wish to attend before the deadline to receive a refund. You are not automatically dropped from a class for failure to attend. If you drop a course after the drop deadline, you may receive Summer Tuition Credit instead.
Review the process for dropping a course in our Help Center. Review session deadlines for dropping classes.
Canceling and Withdrawing
Canceling means dropping all enrolled and/or waitlisted classes before the cancellation deadline of your first session. All tuition and other fees will be refunded.
Withdrawing means dropping all enrolled and/or waitlisted classes after the cancellation deadline of your first session. Tuition may be refunded if classes are dropped before the refund deadline, but all other fees become non-refundable.
The $25 Application Fee for non-UC visiting students is strictly non-refundable.
Note for International Students: The International Service Fee will not be refundable once the I-20 has been issued. If you cancel or withdraw after arriving in the U.S., you will lose your legal status and must contact visiting-intl@berkeley.edu before canceling or withdrawing.
Review the process for canceling or withdrawing in our Help Center and cancellation and refund deadlines.
Changing Grading Options and Course Values
You may change your grading option any time before the deadline to "Change Grading Option". After the session ends, it is no longer possible to change the grading option.
Review complete information about changing grading options in our Help Center. Review Session Deadlines for changing your grading option.
Some courses allow you to change the number of units in which you are enrolled. Increasing and decreasing a unit value equates to adding and dropping courses, meaning it is important to review relevant deadlines.
Review complete information about changing course unit values in our Help Center.
Special Program Participants
Students participating in a special program offered by Berkeley Summer Sessions, such as Summer Abroad or Global Internships programs, must follow the policies and procedures published in their respective sections. Students participating in the College of Environmental Design's Summer Institute, embARC Summer Design Academy, or Disc* programs must follow the policies and procedures published by the respective department.