Registration

Office of the Registrar

Mickey Diez
Registrar

Rusk Building, Suite 204
Phone: (936) 468-2501
Fax: (936) 468-2261
P.O. Box 13050, SFA Station
Nacogdoches, TX 75962-3050
Email: registrar@sfasu.edu
Web: sfasu.edu/registrar

Registration dates for both full-time and part-time students, as well as registration deadlines for terms and parts-of-term are available on the Office of the Registrar website.

Unit of Credit and Course Load

The unit of credit is the semester hour, defined as one class meeting per week (or its equivalent) for one semester of 15 weeks. Most courses meet three hours per week and have a credit value of three semester hours. For each hour in class, at least two hours of preparation are expected on the part of the student. Many students should spend more than this amount of time in study.

For Title IV purposes, any undergraduate student registered for 12 semester hours or more during the fall, spring or summer is considered a full-time student. View the enrollment status and maximum hours webpage for more information.

Student Classification

Students are classified as freshmen, sophomores, juniors or seniors according to the number of earned cumulative hours as follows:

Registration Procedures

Information on preparing for and completing registration, including tutorials, is available on the How to Register and Waitlist webpage.

Adding and Dropping Courses

(Also see Dropped Course Refunds elsewhere in this catalog.)

Students may add courses through the dates published online here. Academic department chairs may reconcile class schedules through the official reporting date. Students may drop classes through the published drop deadline. Student will not be allowed to drop a course after these dates unless they withdraw from the university. The first class day is listed in the university calendar.

Students may add courses through the second class day of parts of term less than 16 weeks and through the fourth class day of 16-week parts of term. For cases in which special permission is granted by the academic unit, students may add classes up to the official census date for the part of term in question. Students adding classes on or after the first day of classes may be required to pay certain late add/registration fees as noted on the SFA Student Business Services website. Students may drop a course or withdraw from all courses until the fifth business day prior to the first day of final exams for the appropriate part of term. A student may not drop a course or withdraw from all classes after this date. For drops or withdrawals related to medical concerns, see Policy 6.24.

The following rules apply:

1. A drop or withdrawal on or before the official reporting date of the appropriate part of term will not be recorded on a student’s transcript.

2. After the official reporting date and before the last day to drop or withdraw in a part of term, a drop will be noted as a “W6” or “W” grade and a withdrawal will be noted as a “W” grade on the student’s official transcript.

3. Students who enrolled in a Texas public institution of higher education for the first time in the fall 2007 or thereafter may not drop more than six courses with a “W6” grade during their undergraduate career. This number includes any course dropped at another Texas public institution but excludes full semester withdrawals and exceptions as defined in Texas law. After six drops, the student will receive the grade awarded for each attempted course.

4. Students cannot drop or withdraw from a course in which they have already earned a final grade.

Legislation was passed by the Texas Senate (SB 1231) in late spring 2007 that could seriously impact the education careers of college students. This legislation applies to all students entering any Texas public institution of higher education as a first-time freshman for fall 2007 and subsequent terms. Please read the following information carefully.

Under section 51.907 of the Texas Education Code, “an institution of higher education may not permit a student to drop more than six courses, including any course a transfer student has dropped at another institution of higher education.” This statute was enacted by the state of Texas in spring 2007 and applies to students who enroll in a public institution of higher education as first-time freshmen in fall of 2007 or later. Any course that a student drops is counted toward the six-course limit if “(1) the student was able to drop the course without receiving a grade (A, B, C, D, WF, or F) or incurring an academic penalty; (2) the student’s transcript indicates or will indicate the student was enrolled in the course (signified by a W6 grade at SFA); and the student is not dropping the course in order to withdraw from the institution.” Some exceptions for good cause could allow a student to drop a course without having it count toward the limit, but it is the responsibility of the student to establish that good cause.

This statute applies to all Texas public colleges and universities. Therefore, a Stephen F. Austin State University student who has attended another institution of higher education and who might be affected by this statute should become familiar with that institution’s policies on dropping courses.

Auditing Courses

Students may audit regular academic courses offered on campus on a space-available basis and with the permission of the instructor. View the course auditing webpage for full details.

Transcripts

Student may obtain a copy of their academic records from the Office of the Registrar. Students may view their unofficial transcript in mySFA by clicking on the “Academics” tab then “View Transcript (Unofficial),” if they have no holds. Additional information is available at sfasu.edu/registrar/transcripts.

Residence Status

The university is guided by state law in determining the resident status of students. For information, view the Residency webpage.

International Students

Insurance requirement: The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency requires all international students to have health and accident insurance. The university has such a policy that meets all required coverage - applications are available at the Office of International Programs.

Tuition and fees: If an international student is awarded a competitive scholarship of at least $1,000 by a scholarship committee of SFA, she/he becomes eligible for tuition and fees of an in-state student during the period covered by the scholarship.

(See also Scholarships and Financial Assistance for International Students in this section of the catalog.)

Tuition Rebate For Designated Undergraduates

According to the Texas Education Code §54.0065, qualified undergraduate students may receive up to a $1,000 tuition rebate upon graduation.

All students who graduate with a baccalaureate degree from SFA are automatically evaluated for the Texas Tuition Rebate. No additional action is required for students to be considered for this rebate. View HOP policy 04-126 for details.