Enrollment Limit and Waitlist

Spring 2024

See the following topics for details and updates:

• Enrollment Limit

• How does waitlist work?

• Reasons waitlisted students will not be automatically enrolled

• Automated Waitlist Reprioritization

• Variable Waitlist Unit Limit

Enrollment Limit 

• All Undergraduate students have an initial unit limit of 17 units.
• Graduating seniors who have a graduation application on file for Spring 2024, Fall 2024 or Summer 2024 with the Registrar’s Office by October 13, 2023, can register up to 19 units without a petition beginning Wed, Dec 27, 2023.
• Continuing students in good standing can register for up to 19 units without a petition beginning Tue, Jan 10, 2024.
• All Continuing Students in good standing may submit an Excess Unit petition to register up to 21 units on Tue, Jan 2, 2024.  This will be available on the Registrar’s Forms' page.  
• Graduate students have an enrollment limit of 16 units throughout the advance registration period.  If you need more than 16 units, submit the Excess Units Petition, available at the Graduate Admission & Program Evaluation (GAPE) website   

Enrollment Limit Chart for Undergraduate Students

*Requires the Excess Units Petition to raise the enrollment limit above 19 and up to 21 units. This petition will be available on the Registrar's Forms page beginning Tue, Jan 2, 2024. 

How does waitlist work?

The waitlist provides students with a process to help them enroll in a class that is full when seats become available. The waitlist process runs nightly from Oct. 31, 2023 through Feb. 2, 2024 

See SJSU catalog for assistance with:

• Signing up for waitlist
• Issues that prevent you from enrolling in classes
• Billing information

Reasons waitlisted students will not be automatically enrolled, 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!

Automated Waitlist Reprioritization

The waitlist will be adjusted to give priority to graduating seniors and graduating graduate students starting Nov. 21, 2023 through Feb. 2, 2024.  In order to move to the top of the waitlist, you must meet one of the following categories:

• Graduating seniors who have applied for Spring 2024, Summer 2024 or Fall 2024 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 advance registration, students are limited to 5 waitlist units.
• Starting Nov 21, 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
  • • • Variable Waitlist Unit will be activated once a student enrolls in at least one class (regardless of the amount of units)
      • Waitlist units limit remains at 17 despite the raise of enrollment limits or approved of excess units petition.
      • The system will refresh the student’s 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 advance registration period.