The first week of all semesters is the "free add-drop period." Students may freely add into classes where there are spaces available and they have met any stated pre-requisites or permissions without securing instructor approval, and may withdraw from courses assured of having no "W" on their record and a 100% refund of tuition and fees related to the course. At the end of the first week of classes is the census date, which marks the end of the free add-drop period. 

From the day after census to the end of all fee refund periods (end of 4th week of the Fall and Spring semesters), students must have permission of the instructor and/or program coordinator to add a class, even when there are open spaces. After the census date, students at IU use the "E-add/E-drop" application available from the One.iu.edu portal to log requests to add or drop courses. The system collects and sends the requests electronically to the instructors for their approval. Accepting a late addition into a class is wholly at the discretion of the instructor. 

After the end of all fee refund periods for all sessions in a semester, a student should not expect to be allowed to enroll in any course for the current semester. Any exceptions to this policy would be for extraordinary, well-documented circumstances only, and require approval by the instructor, the dean of the school offering the course, and the executive vice chancellor for academic affairs. These additional approvals cannot be acquired via the "E-dd/E-Drop" system.

Students should not attend courses in which they are not officially enrolled, as doing so can be construed as an act of academic dishonesty or as a theft of services and could be subject to appropriate disciplinary or legal sanctions. Students who are stopped from officially registering for a class they are actively pursuing with consent of the instructor by unresolved balances from prior semesters are encouraged to pursue the payment plan options available through the Ofice of the Bursar.