Current/Recent Special and Guest Students

Are you a current or recent Special or Guest student? The topics below offer helpful information throughout the semester and beyond. If you can’t find what you’re looking for contact us at advising@dcs.wisc.edu or call 608-263-6960.
NOTE: Returning students who need to apply go directly to the UW System online application.

Continuing as a Special or Guest student
Enrollment information
Credit-Load Maximums for Fall and Spring Semesters and Summer Session
Tuition and Fees
Course Changes
Dropping and Withdrawing
Grading
Transcripts and Grade Reports

Continuing as a Special or Guest student

If you took a course as a Special or Guest student, you will be able to enroll for the next term if you were admitted in one of these classifications: UNDS, UNRS, UGST, UGSR, UNCS, UNIS. If you enrolled for spring and don't take a class in summer, you will still be able to enroll for the fall term.

If you were admitted in one of these classifications—UNHS, UNVS, UNOS, UNPS, UNES—contact advising@dcs.wisc.edu or call 608-263-6960 to see whether you can continue for the next term.

Enrollment information for Special and Guest students

Continuing Special students, Senior Guest auditors, and Guest auditors enroll via My UW. Check “Student Center” in your My UW account enrollment dates and times. (Exchange and Capstone Certificate students have earlier enrollment times.)
Note: Senior and regular Guest auditors can only enroll after “permission” from the instructor is entered on the computer system. Pick up a permission assistance form from our office or download and print out the form at Step 4 in the enrollment process.

Class Search Tips for Using the Schedule of Classes

The online Schedule of Classes is accessed using “Class Search” located inside your “Student Center” in your My UW account. You can search for courses using key words, time of day, favorite instructor and different “modes of instruction” such as “Internet only.” Here are a few additional tips to help you with your search for classes via the Schedule of Classes:

  • By selecting a “Course Subject” only, you can get a list of all the courses offered by that department for the semester.
  • “Enrollment Packages for Course” lets you find out how many seats are open, and how discussion sections (“DIS”) and laboratory sections (“LAB”) connect with the main lectures (“LEC”).
  • The Registrar’s website also offers course information online in PDF format. This downloadable department-by-department information may be easier to access if you have a slower computer connection. Our office has print copies of the Schedule of Classes available.
  • If you need help finding course information, call the Registrar’s help line at 608-262-1355 or contact ACSSS at 608-263-6960. Department web sites may also provide important course information and syllabi.

Use “Wish List” to Plan Your Courses

“Wish List,” located and accessed through the My UW “Student Center" can help you with course planning and enrollment. Add courses to your Wish List now and enroll when your enrollment time arrives. Courses will appear on a printable grid which may help you with scheduling.

By adding courses to your “Wish List” now and then clicking on “Validate,” you can find out whether you will have trouble adding the course(s) at your first enrollment time.

If you receive a message such as “Requisites not met for class,” contact the department offering the class and get permission from the instructor to be able to add that class at your appointed enrollment time. Many classes such as math, foreign language and business cannot be added until you have been cleared in the computer system.

See a demonstration of the “Wish List” feature and other enrollment functions.

Credit-Load Maximums

Fall and Spring Semesters

For most University Special students credit-load maximum is 18. Check with an advisor in Adult Career and Special Student Services to verify credit-load maximum for your classification.

Summer Session

As a rule, you may carry one credit per week of instruction. Maximum total credit load for summer for University Special students is 12.

Session-specific limits follow the rule of one credit per week of instruction, except: nine credits are allowed in the Eight-Week General Session. Obtain permission from your dean to carry an overload. If you exceed session limits you may be dropped from all courses that exceed limits.

Tuition and fees

Shortly after you enroll in a class via MyUW the Bursar’s Office will send an eBill notification to your wisc.edu email address. (NOTE: eBills are UW-Madison's ONLY tuition bill method; you will not receive a printed bill in the mail.) Check your fee via MyUW in the Student Center. Your bill will indicate your tuition due date, typically four weeks after you enroll. Your tuition amount depends on three variables:

  1. whether you are a Special or Guest student,
  2. whether or not you are a resident of Wisconsin, and
  3. the number of credits for which you are enrolling.

Our admission letter will indicate the Special or Guest student program under which you’ve been admitted. The letter will also indicate whether you are a Wisconsin resident for tuition purposes. If you have questions about your residency status contact the Residency Office at res4tuition@em.wisc.edu or call 608-262-1355. To check current per-credit rates visit the Registrar’s fee page, select your term of enrollment and “student career” (either “Undergraduates and Specials” or “Guests”).

Tuition Bill Due Date Information

The due date for your tuition depends on when you successfully enroll for your first class. Some Special students who enroll earlier (such as Capstone Certificate students) will have a tuition due date similar to that for degree students. If you are a Special or Guest student enrolling just prior to the start of the term or later, your tuition due date will be later. After you enroll in your first class, an eBill will be generated by the Bursar's Office and can be viewed in your MyUW Student Center. Students typically have three weeks to pay their tuition in full. Please make sure that you check your MyUW Student Center soon after enrolling to view your eBill and check the due date. You can pay your tuition by either a mailed check or via eCheck from within your MyUW/Student Center account. You may not pay your tuition with a credit card.

You will be assessed a $100 late fee by the Bursar’s Office if you don’t pay your bill by the due date. A hold will also be placed on your record until your bill is paid. This hold will block future enrollment and your ability to obtain a transcript. If you feel there are mitigating circumstances involving your late payment, you must appeal your fee using the Bursar’s appeal form.

Course Changes

Making Course Changes Before Deadlines

  • Credit changes: Use your Student Center’s Edit a Class to change the number of credits for a variable credit course for which you are already enrolled. Verify your enrollment by viewing your Class Schedule.
  • Section changes: To change sections within a course, use Swap a Class or contact your instructor to make changes on the Class Roster. Do not drop the course and re-add if the add deadline has passed—consult your academic dean.

Making Course Changes that Require Dean’s Approval

You must use the Online Course Change Request Form in the following situations:

  • Before the deadline: Change a course grade status from Credit to Audit or Add/Cancel Pass/Fail.
  • After a deadline for actions in the Student Center-Enrollment: Add/drop a class, change section or credit, add/remove honors, change optional section.

The online form is accessed through the Student Center. Click on Course Change Request in the Enrollment module. Select the requested action for the course, print out the Course Change Request form, and submit the form to Adult Career and Special Student Services, 21 N. Park Street, room 7101. Note: Guest auditors (academic program of UGST or UGSR within the University Special Career) do not use the Course Change Request Form. Guest auditors need a class permission entered in the enrollment system by departments prior to enrolling in the course, and upon successful enrollment the audit credit is automatically assigned.

Dropping and withdrawing

Dropping courses

Dropping a course is defined as dropping one of several courses in a given semester. Withdrawing is defined as dropping all courses (could be one course) in a given semester. Drop deadlines occur before withdrawal deadlines in all semesters. If you are dropping your course(s) within the established deadlines, you simply need to go to your MyUW page, click on "Student Center" and then drop the class(es) you wish. If you are within a refund period, a check will be mailed to you from the Bursar’s office within a few weeks. Check "Key Deadlines" for the current term on the Registrar's home page. If you want to drop ALL your courses please see “Withdrawal from the University.”

Withdrawal from the University

Withdrawing means you are dropping all your classes. The withdrawal deadline is towards the end of the semester and later than the last day to drop. Check "Key Deadlines" for the current term on the Registrar's home page. If you are withdrawing from the university within the established deadlines, you may simply elect to drop all your classes via the MyUW system. Alternatively you can complete the withdrawal form online. After you complete the form, fax (608-265-2901) or send it to our office (Adult Career and Special Student Services, 21 N. Park St, Rm 7101, Madison, WI 53715) and we will process your withdrawal. If you are within a refund period, a check will be mailed to you from the Bursar’s office within a few weeks.

Compassionate Refund at UW-Madison

The campus Compassionate Refund policy applies to students who are unable to continue in classes due to compelling circumstances beyond their control and who withdraw from the University after the fourth week.

According to the policy, refunds contingent upon withdrawal may be warranted in two sets of circumstances: (1) a life-threatening or disabling illness/accident for an enrolled student or (2) death of an immediate member of the family or household of an enrolled student. The definition of family or household includes spouses, children, partners/significant others, parents, step-parents, and in-laws. Students seeking a compassionate refund must consult with an academic dean and will be required to provide written verification. PLEASE NOTE: The office of the Academic Dean for all University Special students is Adult Career and Special Student Services, 21 N. Park St., Suite 7101, advising@dcs.wisc.edu, 608-263-6960.

Please understand that if a compassionate refund is warranted after the fourth week of the semester the tuition refund is as follows:

Weeks 5-8: 30%
Weeks 9-12: 20%
Weeks 13 and beyond: 10%

Additional note: For summer session, dates are adjusted according to the length of the session.  

Grading

How semester grades are reported

Pass/fail option

University Special students may opt to take courses under the pass/fail privilege until the end of the fourth week of class in the fall and spring. In the summer, deadlines are prorated to the length of the session—with a general rule as Friday of the 1st week for sessions 1 to 7 weeks long, and the Friday of the 2nd week for sessions 8 weeks and longer.

Instructors do not know you are taking the course pass/fail unless you tell them. They submit a letter grade for you at the end of the term. If your letter grade is A, AB, B, BC, or C, an S for satisfactory will be recorded on your record by the Registrar. Letter grades of D or F will result in a U for unsatisfactory on your record.

You declare the pass/fail option for a course through an online process in your Student Center.  You must access and complete the Course Change Request Form by the pass/fail deadline.

  1. Go to your Student Center in My UW.
  2. Click on Course Enrollment and Term Information sub-tab.
  3. Select "Course Change Request."
  4. Select term.
  5. Click the box next to the selected class and choose Add pass/fail (or "Remove" to remove pass/fail before the deadline) from the dropdown list.
  6. Click Save. The Request is sent electronically to your Academic Dean's Office, Adult Career and Special Student Services, for final approval. The request will be approved and forwarded electronically to the Registrar IF BEFORE THE DEADLINE. 
  7. To retain a copy, select Print after you save the action. 

Credit/no credit courses

Some courses in the Schedule of Classes are designated as being offered on a Credit/No Credit basis. The transcript for the course will indicate either "CR," meaning the student earned the credits for which the course was offered, or "N," meaning that the student did not earn any credit even though enrolled for the course. Students may not take such courses on any other basis.

Incompletes

A grade of incomplete may be reported only when a student has been achieving passing grades until the end of a semester and then, because of illness or other substantial cause beyond his/her control, has been unable to take or complete the final examination or to complete some portion of the course requirements. Only the instructor can grant permission for an incomplete.  The instructor may change the Incomplete to a grade (including F) at any time. For University Special students,  the Incomplete will automatically lapse to an "F" at the end of the next semester in which they are enrolled (not counting summer sessions) if a grade has not been submitted by the instructor.  

Transcripts and grade reports

Prior to requesting official transcripts, unofficial student records, or grade reports, verify that grades have been posted at MyUW.

Official transcripts

Order official transcripts from the Registrar's Office.

Request an unofficial student record (cumulative grade report)

Unofficial student records, sent via email, show all coursework completed at UW-Madison but carry neither the official UW-Madison seal nor the Registrar’s signature and are not official University documents.

Currently enrolled UW-Madison students:

Log in to My UW and follow these links: “Student Center,” then “My Academics,” and then click on “Request Student Record.” Another screen will open; click on the yellow “Request Student Record” button. Your unofficial grade report will be sent to your preferred email account within a few seconds. 

Previously enrolled UW-Madison students:

Log in to MyInfo using your 10-digit campus ID and PIN. If you do not remember your campus ID or PIN, the MyInfo login page has a "forgot campus ID or PIN" link. Click on the drop down “go to…” menu and select “My Academics,” and then click on “Request Student Record.” Another screen will open; click on the yellow “Request Student Record” button. Your unofficial grade report will arrive to your preferred email account within a few seconds. 

Request a semester grade report

Semester grade reports show coursework only from one selected semester.

Currently enrolled UW-Madison students:

Log in to My UW and follow these links: “Student Center,” then “Grades.” Choose either “printable grade report” or “mail grade report” from the tabs. Select the semester you would like and follow instructions to either print your grade report or have it mailed to you. 

Previously enrolled UW-Madison students:

Log in to MyInfo using your 10-digit campus ID and PIN. If you do not remember your campus ID or PIN, the MyInfo login page has a "forgot campus ID or PIN" link. Click on the drop down “go to…” menu. Select “My Academics” and click on the grades tab. Choose either “printable grade report” or “mail grade report” from the tabs. Select the semester you would like and follow instructions to either print your grade report or have it mailed to you.

NOTE: Summer grades are only sent in late August; spring and fall grades are sent weekly.

Menu