Nondegree Students FAQ

Yes, you can. You may apply for nondegree enrollment to take classes without pursuing a degree at Oregon State. Once you have submitted your application it will take about two to three business days to process, on average. Once admitted, you will receive an email with your student ID number and information about your next steps.

If you have already earned a bachelor’s degree, you will be considered a nondegree graduate student. This will not affect the price of your course or the ability to take undergraduate-level courses. If you are taking an undergraduate-level course, you will pay the undergraduate price per credit.

Please contact the Office of Admissions at 800-291-4192 or at osuadmit@oregonstate.edu.

Yes. Students of all ages from all over the globe earn college credit by taking Oregon State University’s online classes. Whether or not your high school will grant credit for our coursework will be up to an official at that school.

With nondegree-seeking students, we encourage you to apply just as soon as you determine our coursework will help you reach your goals. This will allow time to get admitted and additional time to order and receive any required course materials before classes and waitlists have the potential to fill up.

Please check course availability on the Ecampus schedule of classes before you apply. At a minimum, you will want to apply at least two weeks before the start of the term if there is still room in your class to allow time for admission, textbooks to be sent to you and to get a prerequisite override, if needed, before your class begins.

If you plan to take these credits to transfer to another school in the future, it's always best to run course information past an advisor there to make sure that our quarter-term course choices meet the requirements of your home institution. Learn more about our accreditation and how credits may transfer from our quarter term system to a semester system for your review. For specific start and end dates, please take a look at our OSU's academic calendar.

Official transcripts are not required for nondegree admission. If the class you want to take has required prerequisites, you will need to get a prerequisite override after you are admitted to show that you have completed the required prerequisites at another institution. Please review the Ecampus overrides webpage for more information about how this process will work after you are admitted.

Some courses are restricted by college, major or campus, such as biology. See the registration restrictions for more details in the Ecampus schedule of classes.

Computer science courses that are part of the degree program are reserved for students enrolled in the major. The department has approved a couple of computer science classes that you may petition to take as a nondegree-seeking student. You will need to fill out a registration override petition and submit the petition and all supporting documents by specific deadlines outlined on the petition website.

Ecampus courses are generally delivered in an asynchronous format that allows students to access them at their convenience during the day or evening. Online classes do have certain start and end dates that follow Oregon State's academic calendar. Although there may be time-sensitive assignments like homework, quizzes, midterms, finals or participation, students should not be required to sign on at certain times in a day to watch live lectures.

During the summer term, some classes are offered in time-intensive sessions. Specific dates are noted on our schedule. Regardless of the dates listed, you will still complete 11 weeks’ worth of work, including final exams.

Tuition is currently the same for students in the state of Oregon, outside of Oregon and in other countries around the globe. Our tuition and fees calculator might be able to give you a better idea of how much you could expect to pay for tuition and books, as well as other fees.

Federal financial aid is not available to nondegree-seeking students.

As a newly admitted nondegree-seeking student, you will need to access the Nondegree Getting Started Guide for valuable information about setting up your online account, taking your Ecampus Online Orientation and registering for classes.

Yes, you are an Oregon State University student, and the Ecampus student services team is here to support you. You can also now access services like free online tutoring, OSU's Disability Access Services, OSU Libraries and Canvas support.

Grades are available online the Wednesday after finals week. You may print an unofficial grade report online by going to OSU Online Services. If you require official transcripts, please see the Office of the Registrar's transcripts site for complete details.

You may apply to a degree program, but there will be a separate application fee. Nondegree enrollment does not guarantee future admission to Oregon State University.

Apply to Oregon State

Please visit our Check Your Computer webpage for specific requirements to ensure you're ready to take an OSU class online.