Student Guide: Enrolling in Online Courses

The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences reserves some seats in most online courses for “online students”—those who applied to and are currently enrolled in an online degree program. These “reserved seats” ensure that online students can enroll in the online courses they need to complete their online degree program. The list of online courses with reserved seats for online students is available here: Spring 2026 Online Courses

The remaining seats are “unreserved,” which means that they are open to any KU student, including “on-campus” or “residential students” who primarily take in-person classes at the KU Lawrence campus, but may occasionally enroll in an online course. 

If you are an on-campus student interested in enrolling in an online course, it may be possible for you to do so if seats are available. Please follow the enrollment tips below: 

1. Attempt to enroll in the course. Most online courses have both reserved seats and seats available to on-campus students. If you attempt to enroll in an online course that appears to have open seats but are unable, it is likely that the remaining seats are reserved for fully-online students.
2. If you are unable to enroll, do the following:

• Check your Enroll & Pay account for holds. If you have holds (parking tickets, etc.) you will not be able to enroll in online courses until they are resolved.
• Add yourself to the course's Waitlist in Enroll & Pay.  Find instructions here. Adding yourself to the Waitlist does not guarantee you a seat in the course, so it's important to have a back-up plan.
• Meet with an academic advisor to discuss alternative courses. In the event that you are able to enroll in your desired online course, your alternative course can be dropped.
   

If you are on the Waitlist and you get added to the course, you will receive a notification from the Registrar's Office alerting you to this enrollment. Be sure you check your KU email! Unfilled reserved seats in online classes will go to those on the Waitlist in position order starting on the below dates:

• Summer 2026: Holds will release on May 11, 2026
• Fall 2026: Holds will release on August 3, 2026
   

Important Note About Winter Session Courses: Most winter session courses have ~5 seats reserved for students with graduation hardships. If the inability to enroll in an online winter session course would prevent you from graduating the following Spring, please contact your advisor for assistance with submitting a permission code request.

A permission code is a special code that, once entered, enables a student to enroll in a course they would be otherwise unable to enroll in. Permission codes are most often given to on-campus students who need to enroll in an online class in order to graduate on time. Requests for permission codes are reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Requesting a Permission Code
If you are unable to acquire a seat in an online course that appears to have remaining seats AND you are experiencing a graduation hardship or other extenuating circumstance, please speak with your academic advisor as soon as possible. If appropriate, your advisor can assist you with submitting a request for a permission code to enroll in a course before the open enrollment period begins. 

If your request for a permission code is granted, you will receive an email notification. Please note that permission codes expire one week after being issued, and all outstanding permission codes expire on the hold release dates listed above. Please check your KU email regularly, as replacement codes may not be available.

Enrollment Exceptions for Full Online Courses
Permission codes cannot be issued for online courses that are full. If the course want to enroll in is full, you will need to contact the course's instructor directly to request an enrollment cap exception. If the instructor agrees, you can forward their written consent to the corresponding departmental email address. The department's scheduler will then increase the course's enrollment cap and issue you a permission code.

Below you will find answers to frequently asked questions regarding the enrollment process for online courses.    

Q. The schedule shows there are seats still available in a course. Why can’t I enroll?  

A. The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences reserves seats in online courses for online degree-seeking students, as described above in the section on “Reserved Seats.” These seats are reserved to accommodate the enrollment timeline of online degree-seeking students. Please consider enrolling in a different course, talk with your academic advisor, or add yourself to the course Waitlist.  

Q. I’m on the Waitlist. When will I find out if I get a seat in the course?  

A. If you are on a Waitlist, it is important to know that you still may not get a seat in a course. Please have a backup plan and enroll in a different course that fulfills the same requirement. If you are on the Waitlist and you get added to the course, you will receive a notification from the Registrar's Office alerting you to this enrollment. Be sure to check your KU Email! If there are reserved seats available in online courses, they will go to those on the Waitlist as early as the dates indicated above.  

Q. Does the Waitlist guarantee me a seat in the course?  

A. No. If you are on the Waitlist, you will not move into the course from the Waitlist unless there are reserved seats still available when they are released (see open enrollment dates above). Please do not rely on the possibility of being moved from a Waitlist into a course – this is risky. Instead, you need to have a backup plan and enroll in a course that meets the same requirement.   

Q. I tried to add myself to the Waitlist but it's full. Now what do I do?  

A. If a course is reserved and the Waitlist is full, you will need to find an alternative course to take. If you are uncertain of how to proceed, please talk with your Jayhawk academic advisor.   

Q. I checked the list of reserved courses and the one I want is not on the list, but I still can’t enroll. What’s up with that?  

A. There could be a few reasons for this. First, if there are multiple sections of the same course be sure you are trying to add yourself to the course number that is NOT on the reserved course list. Second, you may have enrollment holds. Check Enroll and Pay to see if you have enrollment holds. These holds will need to be resolved before you can proceed. Third, if the course you are trying to add puts you over 20 credit hours for the semester, you need to petition the Registrar’s Office to take excess hours. (See instructions under “Error Message: Term Maximum Exceeded” on the Registrar’s Office instructions for schedule changes page.) However, please know that the condensed schedule of an eight-week online course is highly demanding, and it is not advisable to do this.   

Q. I need this course now. Who can I talk to?  

A. If you are unable to immediately get into an online course that you want to take, your best option is to discuss this with your Jayhawk academic advisor. They can help you decide if there are changes you can make to your schedule to accommodate a different course or to prioritize taking a course during another semester.   

Q. I’m graduating and I must have this course to graduate. What can I do?  

A. First, consider taking the course in-person. If you are unable to do this, be sure to check that there are no other online courses that still have available seats and fit your remaining requirement. Be open to exploring and learning something new. If you are a student pursuing a major in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, you have a departmental advisor and a degree analyst. Reaching out to them can be a great way to address a graduation issue.    

Q. Can I just contact the instructor for this course to get around this process?  

A. If you contact an instructor for access to their online course, they will route you back to this process. If an instructor has specifically recommended an online course to you, they can contact the College at thecollegeonline@ku.edu and we will help them with the request.    

Q. I need to finish my degree completely online. Can I join the online program?  

A. This is a great question that is best answered by consulting one of our online academic success coaches. Contact us by email at thecollegeonline@ku.edu and let us know you're looking to finish your degree fully online. Not all majors are available online but depending on your unique situation we're happy to work with you to see what is possible!