Enrollment Limits and Waitlist

Enrollment Limits:

Undergraduate Students

Initial Limit:

- 17 units starting on the first day of registration.
  (See the current term calendar for specific dates.)

New Admits and Students on Academic Notice:

- Limited to 17 units for the entire registration period.

Increased Limit (19 Units):

- Applies to:
  - - Graduating seniors who applied for graduation with the Registrar’s Office by the published deadline.
    - Continuing students in good standing.
      (See the current term calendar for when the increase begins.)

Excess Units Petition (up to 21 Units):

- Available to continuing students in good standing who need to enroll above 19 units.
- Check the term calendar for the Begin Processing Excess Units Petitions date.
- Excess Units Petition [pdf]

Graduate Students

Enrollment Limit:

- 16 units per semester.

Excess Units Petition:

- To enroll in more than 16 units, submit the Excess Units Petition available on the Graduate Admissions & Program Evaluation (GAPE) website.
- Check the term calendar for the Begin Processing Excess Units Petitions date.

Note: Some departments—especially those in the College of Engineering—enforce a maximum of 12 units. Department policies take precedence over university limits and will be enforced.

Important dates

See the term calendar for:

Waitlist start and end dates
Automated Reprioritization & Variable Waitlist Unit Limit start date

How does waitlist work?

When a class is full, you may join its waitlist in MySJSU.

Each night, the system automatically tries to enroll you if seats are open and you meet all the enrollment conditions below. If you don't meet some of the conditions, you will be skipped, and the next student in line will be considered. You can only get another chance if a spot opens later.

Tip: use the swap function to automatically replace an enrolled class with a waitlisted class if a spot opens.

Automatic enrollment conditions:

You meet all the prerequisites.
You don't have any time conflicts with other classes.
You are not enrolled in a different section of the same class.
You are not repeating a class. Check when and how to enroll for first repeat or multiple repeat.
If the class has a component, such as workshop or laboratory, it also needs to have an open seat.
The waitlisted class won't put you over your enrollment limit (you can use the swap function to help get into the waitlisted class and avoid going over your limit)
You don't have any holds on your account. If you need to clear a hold, check out the Registration Holds page.

It is your responsibility to monitor your waitlist and drop yourself if you no longer want a spot. You are charged only after you’re successfully enrolled. Check your class schedule and balance daily.

Automated Waitlist Reprioritization

The waitlist is automatically updated to give priority to students that are graduating soon. You’ll move to the top of the waitlist if you meet one of the following:

Graduating seniors who applied for graduation in the current term or within the next two terms (Spring, Summer, or Fall).
Graduate students with an approved candidacy form on file and a minimum of 21 units earned

Variable Waitlist Unit Limit

Undergraduate Students

During the first three weeks of registration, you can waitlist up to 5 units.
After that, your waitlist limit changes to a Variable Waitlist Unit Limit, which equals: 17 minus your enrolled units. Example: If you’re enrolled in 9 units, you can waitlist up to 8 more units (17 - 9 = 8).

Important Notes:

The system updates your limit overnight after you enroll in at least one course.
The maximum waitlist total is 17 units, even with an approved excess unit petition.
Once you’re enrolled in 12 or more units, your waitlist limit stays at 5 units.

Graduate Students

You can waitlist up to 5 units during the entire registration period.