Registration & Enrollment

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Key Dates & Deadlines

View the various calendars with important dates and deadlines regarding registration, tuition/fee payments, and degrees.

Academic Calendar & Enrollment Deadlines | Summer Sessions | Graduate Student Degree Deadlines

Class Enrollment

Enrollment Verification

Request verification of your enrollment online via CalCentral, “My Academics”, under Academic Records.

Enrollment Verification for Alumni and Summer Visitors

Transcripts
Enrollment Verification

Class Enrollment via CalCentral

Enrollment restrictions in most classes are set up by the department under the direction of the professor.

You can look up these restrictions on CalCentral’s Schedule of Classes or on the Academic Guide’s Class Schedule to see whether you qualify to enroll in a class and if there is still space available for you. You should add yourself to the waitlist if the class is full and there are no restrictions preventing you from enrolling in the class, if a space opens up.

Enrollment and Financial Aid Eligibility

For financial aid purposes, twelve units per semester is considered full-time enrollment. Enrollment for less than twelve units per term may reduce your eligibility for certain types of aid. Specific types of aid, such as scholarships or grants, may have additional requirements. Read more about how to maintain your financial aid eligibility.

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Cal Grant
Pell Grant

Add/Drop

How to Add a Class

To add a class, please use CalCentral. A $5 fee will be assessed for all adds made after Friday of the 3rd week of instruction, including swaps which act as both an add and a drop transaction. Refer to the Key Dates & Deadlines section for more information.

How to Drop a Class

To drop an enrolled or wait-listed class from your schedule, go to your current class schedule and select the class you wish to drop. You must confirm the transaction before the class can be dropped from your schedule. Please be aware some courses have early drop deadlines (EDD).

A $10 fee will be assessed for all non-EDD drops made after Friday of the 2nd week of instruction, including swaps which act as both an add and a drop transaction. Refer to the Key Dates & Deadlines section for more information.

Learn More

Enrollment
Enrollment FAQ & Tutorials

Official Registration

Registering at Berkeley consists of two steps:

  1. Enrolling in classes.
  2. Paying your bill. (Note: You need to pay at least 20% of your bill by the tuition due date or you will be dropped from your courses. For more information, read the Cancel for Non-Payment Policy.) You may view what tuition and fees you owe within the My Finances section of CalCentral.

To be officially registered at Berkeley, you must meet three criteria:

  • You must be enrolled in at least one course.
  • Your registration fees must have been paid (even if “not yet due”), either in full or, if on the Tuition and Fee Payment Plan, at least the first installment.
  • You must have no holds against your registration.

You must be officially registered for the current term on CalCentral to be eligible to enroll in the next term.

You must be officially registered to access campus services such as library privileges, the Recreational Sports Facility, University Health Services, etc.

A $150 late registration fee will be assessed if you do not meet the conditions above by Friday of the third week of instruction.

Cancellation for Non-Payment (CNP) policy

The Cancel for Non-Payment Policy (CNP) is intended to encourage students to enroll and pay their tuition and fees on a timely basis. CNP also ensures students have access to essential campus resources and other support services from the very first day of instruction.

CNP’s pre-instruction deadline will also allow the University to effectively manage enrollment, resulting in maximum access for students to available classes. Historically, some students enrolled in classes and neglected to drop those classes even if they were not planning or able to attend for the term. As a result, other students would need to wait until the third, fourth or fifth week of the term for a seat that might have been available much earlier. The late dropping and adding was distracting to students and created administrative challenges for students, faculty, and staff. CNP helps avoid this.

Concerned about being at risk for CNP? Use this helpful self-assessment tool provided by the Office of the Registrar. For additional information, please refer to the Registrar’s website or contact Cal Student Central directly.

Please note that the CNP policy has been suspended until further notice. 

Registration Holds

There are three types of holds (sometimes also called “blocks”): financial, academic, and administrative. This includes, but is not limited to:

  • failure to pay registration fees or other outstanding debts, such as library fines
  • failure to declare a major
  • failure to submit requested documentation to certain offices, such as admissions

Any of these can be placed against your registration if you fail to meet an obligation to the University. Holds may prevent you from being able to enroll in classes, go to the gym, activate your Class Pass, etc.

Avoid holds by taking action early.

About Holds

Log in to CalCentral to find out if you have any holds, and if so, follow the instructions on clearing them. You can view the hold details and instructions on your CalCentral My Academics by clicking on the hold listed under the Status and Holds section.

The type of registration hold (financial, academic, or administrative) will determine what action needs to be taken to resolve it.

Administrative:

  • To clear financial and administrative holds, you must contact the office that placed the hold. Click on the hold to find the contact office.

Academic:

  • To clear academic holds, you must contact the dean’s office of your college/school or major adviser. Click on the hold to find the contact office.

Note: If your college has a semester limit, you may have a hold when you have reached that limit and are no longer eligible to enroll at UC Berkeley.

Financial:

  • Make a payment online through CalCentral or an alternate payment option via Billing. If you have questions about your balance or payment options, please contact Cal Student Central.

Note: Library fine holds must be resolved with the Library Privileges Desk.

The impact of holds on registration status:

  • If you are not yet registered and have a hold placed for the current term, then it will prevent you from becoming registered for the current term, even if you have enrolled in courses and have paid fees.
  • If you have already registered for the current term and then a hold is placed, it will prevent you from registering for the following term.

The impact of holds on enrollment:

  • The ability to enroll can be impacted by a hold depending on the term (current or future) for which the hold has been placed and whether or not you are registered for the current term. It also depends on the type of hold.
  • If you have a financial or administrative hold for the current term, you may still be able to enroll for the current term depending on the type of hold, but not for the future term.
  • If you have financial or administrative hold for the future term, you can still enroll in both current and future terms. However, the hold will prevent you from becoming officially registered in the future term until it is cleared thus impacting your enrollment for the terms that follow. For example, if you have a financial hold placed in the fall term after you’ve become officially registered for fall, you will receive a spring enrollment appointment. If you do not resolve your hold in the spring term, you will not be registered for spring and therefore will be ineligible to receive a fall enrollment appointment for the next school year until this hold is resolved and you’ve met the other official registration requirements.
  • If you have an academic hold for the current term, you cannot enroll for the current term or future term.
  • If you have an academic hold for the future term, you can enroll for the current term only.

Disputing Holds

You have the right to request a hearing with the office who placed the hold for the purpose of disputing the claimed obligation or other basis for the hold. You have the right to be represented and to present information and witnesses, as well as question information relied upon by the University. You also have the right to appeal the outcome of the hearing to the Office of the Registrar.

Cancellation & Withdrawal

Cancellation

All withdrawal forms submitted before the first day of instruction are “cancellations,” and a student would not be liable for any tuition and registration fees to the University, apart from the nonrefundable Admissions Deposit for new students.

New undergraduates: If this is your first semester at UC Berkeley, before canceling your registration, contact the Office of Undergraduate Admissions about the possibility of deferring your admission. If you cancel your registration, you will be required to submit a new admission application to attend a future semester.

Withdrawal

All withdrawal forms submitted on or after the first day of instruction are “withdrawals,” and a student would be liable for some or all of the fees assessed by the University. The effective date of your withdrawal (i.e., the date you submit the withdrawal form) will determine how much you would owe the University and whether you would receive a refund of any fees paid.

Summer withdrawal: Cancellation or withdrawal in summer term is different from fall and spring. For more information, see the Summer Term website.

Note: The health insurance fee, class pass fee, and the document fee are nonrefundable and will remain charged at 100% for all withdrawals. Please allow four to five weeks from the effective date of your withdrawal for us to determine if you are due a refund or owe a balance of fees and/or financial aid. Continue to monitor CalCentral for your final billing statement.

Withdrawal Options

Occasionally students decide to discontinue their studies at Berkeley for a period of time after beginning a semester. This is called a withdrawal. (Cancellation is terminating your registration before instruction has begun for the semester.)

Students withdraw for many reasons: to work, recover from an illness, attend to personal business, or find their true academic direction. Because a withdrawal affects your student status, as well as various student services, here is what you need to know to ensure that you are following official withdrawal procedures and gathering information about your eventual return to campus via readmission.

Note: Cancellation or withdrawal in summer term is different from fall and spring. For more information, see the Summer Term website.

Withdrawal will affect:

  • Financial aid and scholarships, including Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)
  • Tuition and fees
  • Housing (either on or off campus)
  • International student F-1 or J-1 visa status
  • Veterans’ benefits
  • Readmission
  • Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP)

Before You Withdraw

Review and complete the following; if you have questions or issues, open a case with Cal Student Central.

How to Withdraw

To initiate a withdrawal request, you must submit a Withdrawal Request Form in CalCentral > My Dashboard > Student Resources > Submit a Form> Withdrawal Form.

Note: Under the Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the student, not a parent or guardian, must complete the process through their CalCentral account. If you experience special circumstances that impede your ability to withdraw online, please contact Cal Student Central.

Students will receive an email confirmation to their Berkeley email when the form has been successfully submitted. Your withdrawal status will not be reflected in CalCentral until it is approved by your College. However, your official effective date of withdrawal is the date you submitted the Withdrawal Request form.

After You Withdraw

It is the student’s responsibility to monitor their account after submitting a withdrawal. Please make sure to do the following:

  • Monitor your balances in CalCentral for new invoices that result from your withdrawal. You are responsible for all outstanding invoices.
  • Notify the Housing office and complete its move-out checklist to avoid additional fees.
  • Keep in mind that your CalNet ID is only active for one semester after you withdraw. If you choose to return to the University, your CalNet ID will be reactivated upon official readmission.
  • Your transcript will note that you withdrew from a particular semester. A withdrawal will trigger an automatic drop of all classes for that term and does not affect your GPA.

Withdrawing and Refunds

When you withdraw your registration, the fees assessed to your account are prorated according to the effective date of the withdrawal; it will depend on the effective date whether you would still owe any fees or if you would get any money back for that semester.

After instruction begins, it will depend on the withdrawal date how much you would owe the University and whether you would receive a refund of any fees paid. You can determine prorated fee amounts on the Office of the Registrar’s website.

Note: The health insurance fee, class pass fee, and the document fee (new students only) are nonrefundable and will remain charged at 100% for all withdrawals. Please allow four to five weeks from the effective date of your withdrawal for us to determine if you are due a refund or owe a balance of fees and/or financial aid. Continue to monitor CalCentral for your final billing statement.

Residency

UC Berkeley classifies each student as either a resident or a nonresident for purposes of tuition and fees. As one of the premier universities in the world, Berkeley attracts students from many different states and countries. UC Berkeley is a state-supported institution and, therefore, must charge all nonresident students an additional nonresident supplemental tuition fee.

Here are some facts to know about residency, as it is applied at UC Berkeley:

  • The definition of residency varies between offices, such as for admissions or financial aid purposes. This means that information from the admissions office (or on your financial aid award letter) does not necessarily mean you are a resident for purposes of tuition.
  • The term “California resident for purposes of tuition” is different from other definitions of California residence. Here are some examples:
    • A person who is a California resident for tax or voting purposes is not necessarily a resident for purposes of tuition at the University of California.
    • A person who is considered a resident at another California postsecondary institution is not necessarily a resident at the University of California.
  • The process of obtaining California residency for tuition purposes is extremely difficult for undergraduates under the age of 24 with nonresident parents (this includes transfer students from community colleges and other postsecondary institutions within California). Virtually all nonresident undergraduates with nonresident parents remain nonresidents for the duration of their undergraduate career at UC Berkeley.
  • If you are classified as a resident for tuition purposes, you will most likely maintain that classification as long as you are continuously enrolled at UC Berkeley. There are a few cases in which this is not true, such as for immigration status changes or a residency classification based on an exemption. If you leave the University and are readmitted, your residency classification will be re-evaluated. Please contact the Residence Affairs Unit if you have any questions.

Residency requirements for undergraduates depend on the student’s age and potentially their parent’s residency. For a complete list of requirements per age group, please refer to the Registrar’s website.

Residency requirements for graduates require the student to be in an eligible immigration status and satisfy the “Physical Presence” and “Intent to Remain in California” requirements by the residence determination date, which is the first day of instruction.

In order to determine residency status, you will file a Statement of Legal Residence (SLR) in CalCentral. You may file an SLR if you are a:

  • Newly admitted student
  • Continuing nonresident student who would like to be classified as a resident
  • Readmitted students

Have additional questions? Please contact the Residence Affairs Unit.

Learn More

General information about residency
Official University of California Residence Policy