Enrollment Limit and Waitlist

Fall 2025

Enrollment Limit for Undergrads

• New admits and students on academic notice have 17 units for the entire registration period.

Starting April 22, 2025

• All undergrads have an initial unit limit of 17 units

Starting June 23, 2025

• Graduating seniors (applied for graduation with Registrar’s Office by 03/21/25) can register up to 19 units via MySJSU

Starting June 30, 2025

• Continuing students in good standing can register up to 19 units via MySJSU
• Our office will start processing Excess Units Petitions [pdf] for Continuing students in good standing who need to enroll above 19 and up to 21 units.

Enrollment Limit for Grads

Graduate students have an enrollment limit of 16 units per semester.  If you need more than 16 units, submit the Excess Units Petition, available at the Graduate Admission & Program Evaluation (GAPE) website. 

Please note that some departments, especially those in the College of Engineering, enforce a maximum registration of 12 units. Departmental policies take precedence over the university-imposed limit and will be enforced. 

Waitlist

• How does waitlist work?
• Reasons waitlisted students will not be automatically enrolled
• Automated Waitlist Reprioritization
• Variable Waitlist Unit Limit

How does waitlist work?

The waitlist provides a process to help you enroll in a class that is full when seats become available. The waitlist process runs nightly from April 22, 2025 through Aug. 29, 2025. It is your responsibility to monitor your waitlist and drop yourself if you no longer want a spot.

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

The waitlist is free; tuition and fees apply only after enrollment. Check your class schedule and balance daily.

Reasons you will not be automatically enrolled from waitlist, check the following:

• Have you met all the prerequisites?
• Is there a time conflict with another class that you already enrolled in?
• Did you enroll in another section of the same class?
• Are you repeating a class? Check when and how to enroll for first repeat or multiple repeat.
• Does that class have a component e.g. lab? The component section needs to have a space open as well.
• Will it exceed your enrollment limit if you get enrolled?
• Is there a hold on your account? You need to clear that hold!

If you have any of the issues above, you’ll be skipped, and the next student will be considered. You can only be reconsidered if a spot opens later.

Automated Waitlist Reprioritization

The waitlist will be adjusted to give priority to graduating seniors and graduating graduate students starting May 13, 2025 through Aug. 29, 2025.  In order to move to the top of the waitlist, you must meet one of the following categories:

• Graduating seniors who have applied for Fall 2025, Spring 2026  or Summer 2026 graduation
• 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 the registration period, students are limited to 5 waitlist units.
• Starting May 13, the Variable Waitlist Unit Limit will apply. The Variable Waitlist Unit Limit defines the available units a student can waitlist at a given time. Here is the formula: Variable Waitlist Unit Limit = 17 minus Enrolled Units
  • • • If you have not yet enrolled in any classes, you will initially receive 5 waitlist units.
      • Upon enrolling in at least one course, the variable waitlist limit will be activated overnight and apply to your account on the following day.
      • Waitlist units limit remains at 17 despite the raise of enrollment limits or approved of excess units petition.
      • The system will refresh your enrollment on a nightly basis. See table below for an example of the nightly changes on the variable waitlist:

*The available waitlist units will remain at 5 once your enrollment has reached 12 or more units.

Graduate Students

• Waitlist is limited to 5 units for the entire registration period.