Minicourses

The School of Arts and Sciences (SAS) is a full-time institution. All SAS students are required to enroll in at least 12 credits per semester to maintain their full-time status. If withdrawing from a course will leave you taking fewer than 12 active credits, adding a minicourse (s) will allow you to meet the credit minimum and maintain your full-time status.

Minicourses provide general elective credits toward your overall degree (they count toward the 120-credit minimum required to graduate). Students are expected to earn 30 credits per academic year (roughly 15 credits per semester) in order to graduate in four years. Minicourses can help students stay on track, credit-wise, for graduation.

Minicourses can be a great way to try out a new subject area and expand your horizons! Many different academic departments and programs offer minicourses. These courses can introduce you to new material, instructors, and peers that may influence your academic or career choices moving forward. You never know!

Completing a course with a passing grade is preferable to withdrawing from a course, especially for courses central to academic plans, such as the major and minor. Resources such as tutoring, academic coaching, and study groups offered via the Rutgers Learning Centers as well as course office hours are additional supports to aid in course success.

*Students designated as nontraditional by SAS are exempt from the 12-credit minimum, but should still review cautions for taking less than 12 active credits.

NOTE-Adding minicourses for students below 12 credits WILL INCREASE the term bill.

Minicourses are academic courses that require time and effort. They appear on your Rutgers transcript with a letter grade and count toward your GPA. If you are already feeling overwhelmed with your current courseload, or if you feel that adding the responsibilities of an extra class will detract from your success in other courses, it may not be advisable to add a minicourse.

Minicourses provide general elective credits toward your overall degree (they count toward the 120-credit minimum required to graduate). However, they do not satisfy any SAS Core requirements, and only rarely do they satisfy major/minor requirements. If you do not need general elective credits to graduate, and you are not pursuing a major/minor that accepts minicourses toward their requirements, then it may not make sense to add minicourses to your schedule.

If you have any hesitation or questions about whether to add a minicourse, we encourage you to discuss the decision with an SAS Advisor.

• Visit Webreg
• Through the Keyword search, type “SECOND 7 WEEK”
• In the filter options, deselect “closed”, “400”, “credits by arrangement”, “3 credits”, and “05-Gradute School of Education”
• You should now be viewing the full list of all open, second 7-week minicourses

• You will not be able to add minicourses by yourself after the add/drop period each semester. You will need OAAS assistance
• Check the list of open minicourses by following the previous steps (see “How to find minicourses”)
• Check to make sure that you are eligible to add the minicourse(s) you want and that there are no registration restrictions on the course
• Check to make sure there are no time conflicts; you must have at least 40 minutes between classes on different campuses
• Come to Live Chat with the 5-digit index number for the course(s) that you want to register for

If a minicourse on your schedule has not yet begun, it may be dropped without a “W” with the assistance of an Academic Advisor. To drop without a “W” before a minicourse begins, please utilize our Live Chat in lieu of using Webreg.
Once a minicourse has begun, you may withdraw with a “W” within 3 weeks of the start date via assistance from an Advisor as long as you remain in 12 active credits. After 3 weeks, you have committed to the course and may no longer withdraw from the course.