Common Registration Issues and Solutions

Registration Holds

Holds appear on your record when a University office prevents registration. Holds require some action by you before you can register. Examples are: owing funds to the university, needing transcripts from other schools, academic suspension, immunization, or international student issues. You can review your holds and the departments that placed the holds, by logging into MyFAU. Then contact each department that issued a hold.

Non-Degree Students (including Transient Students)

The Self-Service registration system automatically classifies new non-degree students as equal to freshman with zero credits. This means non-degree students must obtain authorization into many courses. To obtain authorization, contact the Student Services Office at the college that offers the courses you wish to take. You may need to provide proof that you have met the prerequisites for the courses by showing an unofficial transcript from another school.

For Intersession registration submit the Non-Degree Intersession only registration form on the  Non-Degree Intersession open registration date. 


Note: Non-degree students are only eligible to register for courses a week before classes start. There is no guarantee that your courses will be available.

Registration Errors

Registration errors are often caused by restrictions and requirements placed on courses. When a student has not met the requirements placed on a course, the Self-Service system gives one or several of the following errors upon registration. To view the restrictions placed on a course, see below.

Viewing Course Restrictions and Requirements

After searching for a class on the Course Schedule, you will see that the course title is underlined. Click on the title in order to view prerequisites, corequisites, and other restrictions.


The following are issues you may encounter when registering:

 

Preq and Test Score-error

This error indicates that you have not met the required course prerequisite(s). Example: A student wants to register for CHM 2211 (Organic Chemistry 2). CHM 2211 has a prerequisite of a "C" grade or better in CHM 2210 (Organic Chemistry 1), but the student has not met the requirement. Always review a course's listed prerequisites prior to registration. You can view this information by clicking on the course title within the Course Schedule and selecting the "Prerequisites" tab.

Note: If you transferred to FAU, the registration system may not recognize your transfer courses as prerequisites. Meet with your advisor as soon as possible to have your prior courses evaluated as meeting prerequisites.

Note: If you are trying to enroll in one of the online College of Business courses, please review their webpage and meet with your academic advisor for further information.

Linked courses are two separate courses that must be taken concurrently. These include labs and discussions that must be taken with a lecture course. When registering for linked courses, the CRNs must be submitted at the same time. The linked classes can be found by clicking on the linked sections tab in the class details when viewing the course in the Course Schedule.  To unlink a course, you will need permission from your advisor or the professor teaching the course.

Examples:
ACG 2021 (Lec) and ACG 2021 (Lab)
MAC 1105 (Lec) and MAC 1105 (Lab)

 

College Restriction

This indicates that the course is restricted to a particular college, and the Self-Service system does not recognize you as being declared within that college. Students who wish to take a course that is not part of their declared major should meet with their advisor for authorization. Afterward, contact the college offering the course for permission to register for it.

Major Restriction

Some courses are restricted to members of certain majors or minors. Students who wish to take a course that is not part of their declared major should meet with their advisor for authorization. Afterward, contact the college offering the course for permission to register for it.

Class Restriction

This refers to your classification as sophomore (30-59 credits), junior (60-89 credits), or senior (90 credits or more). Some courses are restricted by classification. If course credits needed for the required classification are currently "in progress" or awaiting official transcripts, then your advisor may be able to give you authorization, once proof of the in-progress registration is received. Currently enrolled courses are counted in this process even though grades have not been posted.

Example: A student with 59 credits is a sophomore and does not qualify for a course that requires junior standing (60 credits or more). This student needs to choose a different course. If the student has exhausted all course options, the student should meet with an advisor to determine if any other options are available.

Campus Restriction

Some course sections are designated with a Campus of “Distance Learning” and are restricted to only allow students who are enrolled in a fully online program of study. You can view this restriction in the Class Details section of the Searchable Schedule under the Restrictions tab of a course section. The message will indicate that the a student must be enrolled in the Distance Learning (76) campus (aka, program of study) and will generally list restrictions to specific Majors.

A campus restriction will also display for students who are enrolled in a fully online program of study (Distance Learning Campus 76), restricting their enrollment to fully online courses only. This message will indicate that the course the student is trying to register for is not an online course.  

Department Permission Req or Instructor Permission Req

Certain courses require departmental or instructor approval before they may be taken. You must contact the appropriate department or professor to obtain approval to register for these courses. To see which department or professor to contact, first locate the class on the Course Schedule. The instructor is listed next to the course, and contact information will appear when you click on their name. If there is no instructor or contact information listed, please reach out to the department. To identify the department, click on the underlined course title to reveal additional information on the class. The department is listed within the "Catalog" tab. If registration approval is granted, you will be able to log in to your MyFAU account and register for the course.


Closed Section

This error is given when all allotted seats in a class are taken. Only the instructor can give permission to override the capacity. In some cases, the instructor cannot enter a student in a class if the room is at fire capacity or in a lab that has limited resources. If the instructor agrees, the student may be given permission online and then may register via MyFAU. However, please note that many instructors will not consider overrides into closed courses yet others will for unique circumstances. If a course is closed, your first option should be to select another section or another class.


Corq Req

Corequisite courses are two (sometimes three) separate courses that must be taken concurrently. When registering for corequisite courses, the CRNs must be submitted at the same time. The requisite classes can be found by clicking on the corequisites tab in the class details when viewing the Course Schedule.
Examples:
NUR 3106L must be taken concurrently with NUR 3145 and NUR 3715.
EEL 3111 must be taken concurrently with MAP 2302 and MAC 2313.
MUC 4600 must be taken concurrently with MUS 4343.


Registration Hours Cannot Be Less than the Required Minimum Hours

This indicates that you are attempting to drop below the minimum numbers of credits that is required to be enrolled in for the semester. Students who are in their final semester or those with extenuating circumstances preventing them from being enrolled in the minimum number of credits need to talk to an academic advisor to obtain permission to drop below the required minimum.


Maximum Hours Exceeded

The maximum hours exceeded error indicates that a student is attempting to register for more than your allowed number of credits within a term.  This policy varies for Undergraduate and Graduate Students.  

For Undergraduate Students:  Students need to obtain course overload authorization from their academic advisor to exceed their allowable maximum credits. It is suggested that students talk to their advisor about exceeding the maximum hours for the term.  If a course overload authorization is given, the student will then be able to register for the additional course(s) via their MyFAU account.

For Graduate Students:  Graduate Students need approval to exceed 15 credits in a semester.  Some programs have stricter limits. Students must receive approval by submitting a Form 10 Request to Waive a University Requirement to the Graduate College.  It is suggested that students talk to their advisor about exceeding the maximum hours for the term.  If the Form 10 is approved, the student will then be able to register for the additional course(s) via their MyFAU account.


Time Conflict

The time conflict error occurs when two courses that the student is trying to register for overlap by at least five minutes. The student would need to talk to an advisor and/or the professors of the classes to obtain permission to take both of these classes.


Student Attribute Restrictions

This restriction is based on being in a certain population at FAU like the Honors Program, The Accounting Scholars Program etc. Please choose a different section or contact the instructor of the course to see if an override can be granted into this course.


Repeat Count Exceeds 0

This indicates that you have registered for the class twice before and would need to see your academic advisor to obtain permission to register for this class for a third or more time.