In a Registration Program?

Nondegree students, high school students, auditors, CU faculty and staff using the tuition assistance benefit, and students taking classes through the Western Regional Graduate Program (WRGP) or intercampus enrollment follow different registration schedules.

About Registration Programs

When You Can Drop

The information below applies to dropping one or more Main Campus classes while remaining enrolled in at least one.

Dropping all of your Main Campus classes constitutes withdrawal and has a different impact on your tuition and fees. See Withdraw from the Semester for details.

Dropping Without Penalty

You may drop a class without penalty during:

The last day to drop a class without tuition/fee charges and without a W grade is published in the academic calendar (see below).

Dropping with W Grades & Full Tuition/Fee Assessment

If you drop a class after the no-penalty deadline, but before the published last day to drop a class (see calendar below), a W (withdrew) grade will post to your transcript and you'll be required to pay full tuition and fees for the dropped class.

To learn more about grade policies, see the Credits & Grading section in the CU Boulder catalog.

After the last day to drop a class, you'll need to contact your advisor or department to learn whether you can petition for a late drop. Supporting documentation may be required.

How to Drop

Administrative Drops

Administrative drops can occur for two reasons:

  • Nonattendance
  • Missing required course prerequisites or corequisites

You must attend class regularly to guarantee your place in a class before the drop without penalty deadline of the semester or session. If you fail to attend, you may be administratively dropped at the discretion of the department offering the course; however, this is not guaranteed.

For remote or online classes, attendance policies are developed by instructors in consultation with their department chairs. Instructors have been asked to clearly define their policies in the syllabus, and to remain in communication with their students to verify class attendance and participation.

Check with your instructor about their specific policy regarding administrative drops for nonattendance, and review your schedule to confirm any and all drops.