Audit a class

Take a class without affecting your GPA

Interested in a course, but don’t want to worry about how it’ll affect your GPA? You can take the course for no credit, which is known as auditing.

Audited courses aren’t counted as completed academic credit and don’t count toward your degree progress. They also don’t count toward your enrollment status for financial aid or loan deferment purposes.

An audited course will be listed on your grade report and on your transcript as NC (no credit). You won’t receive a grade for courses you audit.

Tuition for an audited course is the same as when you take the course for credit.

Why audit a course?

There are several reasons you might choose to audit a course:

  • You’re interested in a subject, but you want to study it without worrying about being graded on your performance.
  • You’d like to study a subject that will help your grade in a different, related class.
  • You’re thinking about changing your major, but want to make sure the new major will be right for you.

If auditing isn’t quite the right choice, you might consider taking a class pass/fail. Talk with your academic advisor to determine your best option.

How to audit

Each school and department can choose whether or not to allow students to audit a class. Talk to your advisor, and check with the department you’re interested in to see what its policies and requirements are for auditing. You must also discuss coursework expectations with the instructor. Note that in some cases, you will not be able to get permission to audit a class.

After you’ve started the audit process, you can’t change back to a letter grade for the course. Also, some schools do not allow students to register for a course for credit after they’ve audited it.

Contact your advisor

Find more information about taking classes