Registration FAQs.

Registration will take place on the My BU Student Portal; There are user guides and videos available: If you have additional questions about registration, read our 

• Preparing for Registration (video) & (guide)
• Navigation for Registration Processes (video)
• Managing Registration Error Messages (guide)

We also recommend that you plan ahead and review your program requirements before selecting courses for registration.

Spring 2025 registration opens on Saturday, November 2nd at 9:00am. We advise that you register as soon as registration opens.  Our office will be open to assist with any questions you may have.

You should review our Program Requirements page so that you’re aware of what you need to take to graduate.  Please note overall credit requirements in addition to specific requirements.  You should also be in contact with your faculty advisor about your academic plans.  We recommend that you use the planner and that you make a backup plan that you will be able to use if you’re not able to register for your most desired schedule.

There are several reasons why you may not have access to web registration.  The most common reasons are:

• You need to navigate to the Holds page to review the holds on your account. You must resolve the Hold with the respective department. Refer to the Compliance FAQs. It is your responsibility to make sure that you stay in compliance to ensure that you have access to registration functions and other University services.
• You may be a non-degree student. Students who are non-degree or who are in the Public Health Graduate Certificate are not eligible for web registration.  Graduate Certificate students should contact our office at sphregr@bu.edu for assistance with registration.

There are several reasons why you may not be able to register for a class.  The most common reasons are:

• The class is full.  If there are 0 available seats, then the course is full.  You can fill out a waitlist form to add yourself to the waitlist.  The waitlist form is available on our forms page.  Please note that there are no waitlists for core MPH courses.
• The class has a waitlist.  If it looks like there are available seats but the class has “Class Closed” listed in the notes section, the course has a waitlist.  If you have not filled out a waitlist form for the particular course, you should do so as soon as possible.  The waitlist form is available on our forms page.
• The class has reserved seats. There are reserved seats. If you are unable to register for a course that has available seats and it does not say “Class Closed” or “Department Consent Required”, it is likely that the remaining seats are reserved.  Some programs or certificates reserve seats at the time of registration due to program requirements.  Many reserved seats expire 3 weeks after registration opens —you should fill out a waitlist form if you encounter this issue. The waitlist form is available on our forms page.
• The class is WebReg Restricted. Double-check to see if the course is appropriate for you program.  Contact our office at sphregr@bu.edu if you have questions about a WebReg Restricted course.

Please consult the Waitlist FAQs for waitlist-specific information.

General deadlines and information are available on the SPH Academic Calendar and our Adjusting Your Schedule page.  You should view specific course deadlines on your schedule in the MyBU Student portal: Academics tab > My Classes > click on dates of course to view drop deadlines.  Step-by-step instructions on how to view course registration dates are available in the course drop instructions.  Note that many of our registration dates differ from standard University dates.

You must be in compliance with the University’s Requirements for Registration to adjust your schedule (drop or add courses).  If you are planning to adjust your schedule, please make sure that you are compliant in advance of any registration deadlines.  If you encounter difficulties when attempting to drop or withdraw from a course, it is important that you notify our office immediately from your BU email at sphregr@bu.edu.

Enrollment status is based on the number of credits* that you are taking in a semester.  If you change your credits, we will change your enrollment status.  We make these changes on a weekly basis.  If you need us to make the update earlier or if you haven’t seen an update in two weeks, please email us at sphregr@bu.edu.

*Doctoral students should contact our office with questions on doctoral student status.

SPH PH700 Foundations of Public Health is a foundational course that is required of all SPH students.  You will be registered for the course in your first semester and will complete the course prior to starting your first semester.  Foundations of Public Health registration is tied to completion of other SPH requirements and students cannot be registered for only SPH PH700 in a semester.

Registration is via the My BU Student Portal– you will receive an email from our office with instructions and information regarding core registration.

It is best if you select a certificate prior to registering for any certificate coursework.  This will trigger advisor assignment and allow you to make a registration plan with your advisor.  There are also classes that are reserved by certificate.  If you have not chosen a certificate, it is unlikely that you would be able to register for courses that have reserved seats.  If you need to declare or change your certificate, you should use the Certificate Declaration or Change Form on our forms page.

Career PREP is required for all MPH students.  Registration is via the My BU Student Portal, as you would register for any other course.  The course number is SPH PH746.  At least one Career PREP section runs in every semester (Spring, Summer, Fall).  You need to finish your core courses before you can take Career Prep.

Please consult the Career & Practicum Office’s Practicum page.  They also have a Practicum FAQ.

MPH students take the ILE or Integrative Learning Experience in their last semester.  To register for this course, you will need to fill out a graduation application by the appropriate deadline.  Once the SPH Registrar’s Office is able to determine that you are on track to complete all remaining degree requirements in the given semester, we will register you for your ILE. You need to resolve any graduation application issues by the ILE registration deadline, which is listed on the BUSPH Academic Calendar.  The ILE registration deadline is also listed in the BUSPH registration email and your grad app confirmation email.  It is your responsibility to make sure that you check your schedule and ensure that you have been registered for your ILE by the ILE registration deadline. If you have graduation application questions, please consult our Graduation Application FAQs.

You can contact us at sphregr@bu.edu — please include your BUID in your email.  You can also call us at 617-358-3434 or via Virtual Office hours located on our contact information page.