Waitlist Policy for Closed Classes

You are eligible to be placed on the waitlist if: there are waitlist openings for a class section, you meet the class pre-requisite, you have no repeat errors, you have no holds on your records, or the class units will not exceed your maximum waitlist units allowed.

This is a daily process that enrolls students into their classes from the waitlist. Once the class is full it is marked as closed then only students from the waitlist may be enrolled in the course. If one seat becomes available in a course, then student number one on the waitlist is automatically enrolled from the waitlist provided there are no holds, time conflicts, prerequisites, repeat issues, or duplicate course errors.

When seats become available in a closed class section, the class remains closed until a process runs that automatically enrolls students from the waitlist. The class remains closed until the waitlist empties or the enrollment capacity has been met, whichever comes first.

If a student does not meet the criteria to enroll in the class (see FAQ #1), the process will select the next student on the waitlist according to their position number.

Students that were on the waitlist and were not enrolled will maintain their position number. Students will have an opportunity to be auto-enrolled the next time a seat is made available, if they resolve the issue that prevented them from being auto-enrolled previously.

If the waitlist process runs and no students are enrolled, then the class will open and other students will be given the opportunity to enroll (even if there are still students on the waitlist that did not meet the criteria to be auto-enrolled).

If there are no students on the waitlist, the class will open as usual when seats are made available.

Students are auto-enrolled from the waitlist into the course by their priority ranking on the waitlist. For example, if a class is full, and three students drop, students ranked 1, 2, and 3 will be auto-enrolled from the waitlist. The student who was previously ranked number 4 will now be ranked number 1. If another student drops the course, he or she will be the next student to auto-enroll. This scenario will continue until the waitlist is empty, or the class is full, or the waitlist is closed at 11:59 PST two days before the session begins.

By adding themselves to the waitlist a student is acknowledging that they understand that they will be auto-enrolled and will be responsible for the enrollment fees and/ or dropping the classes if necessary.

If you are moved into a class from the waitlist, an email will be sent to the student’s LACCD email account notifying them of the registration. It is important that you activate and monitor your LACCD emails during the registration period. If you decide you do not want to be enrolled in the class after you are moved from the waitlist, you must officially drop the class.

Students cannot get on a waitlist until their enrollment appointment or open enrollment has begun. The last day to get on a waitlist for a class will be 11:59 p.m., two days before the session begins.

Waitlists are only available once the class has reached the enrollment capacity. For an extremely popular course the waitlist may be activated very early in the registration period.

The waitlist option is only available once all seats in a class have been filled and the section closes. When a Class Search is performed to include these closed classes, users will notice a yellow triangle beside classes that have available waitlist seats. Once the waitlist capacity has been reached, the waitlist feature is unavailable and the blue closed class icon will display beside the section in Class Search.

Not all classes have waitlists. If a course is listed as Instructor Consent, a waitlist is not available. Some disciplines do not use the waitlist functionality.

Student may be on 12 units of waitlist in the fall and spring semester and 9 units for winter and summer.

No. They are considered as two separate lists: Total units enrolled and total units on the waitlist. For example, if a student may enroll in 19 units districtwide and they are enrolled in 15 units and have 6 units on the waitlist that is fine. Even though 15 + 6 = 21, which is greater than 19, this is a not a problem.

Yes. A student can waitlist multiple sections of the same class. They cannot pick their preference. The waitlist process will enroll the student into the first available seat according to descending class number. If the student is enrolled in a waitlisted class; the remaining waitlist requests for the same class will be automatically dropped.

For example, a student attempts to waitlist English 101 class number 10000 and English 101 class number 20000. If English 101, 10000 has a seat available and the student is eligible for enrollment they will be enrolled into the course and dropped from the Eng1ish 101, 20000 waitlist. If both classes have seats available the student will be enrolled into the Eng1ish 101, 10000 course and dropped from the English101, 20000 waitlist because 10000 is lower than 20000.

If the student is on multiple waitlists and they are enrolled, they will be dropped from all of the other waitlists for that course.

There are several reasons why this can happen.

• The system does not make updates instantly. The processing happens on a prearranged schedule. If a student drops the class in the morning, the waitlist process will automatically enroll the next qualified student when the auto-enrollment cycle is programmed to run.
• The auto-enrollment may have exceeded the maximum number of units for the student’s course load. This is 19 units for fall and spring semester, 9 units for winter and summer, but the maximum course load can be less if the student is a concurrently enrolled high school student or on academic or progress probation.
• The course may have prerequisites or co-requisites that have not been met.
• The student has registration holds. This might be caused by outstanding fees, an incorrect social security number, missing documents or other problems. These issues need to be corrected before any auto-enrollment can be completed.
• The class time conflicts with another class in which they are enrolled.
• The student attempted the class three times.

Yes, but the student cannot be enrolled into both classes.

• For example, suppose that a student was enrolled in Math 125, 10000 which meets on Mondays. They would prefer Math 125, 20000 which meets on Tuesdays. The student places themselves on the waitlist for Math 125, 20000. They will NOT be enrolled into that class even if they are eligible and there is a seat available. They must first drop themselves from Math 125, 10000 class.
• For classes that are very popular it is in the best interest of the student to remain in the class as enrolled. An attempt to drop the classes to get a better schedule time can often be detrimental to the student because several other students will be competing for the available enrollment seat.

Time conflicts will not be checked at the time that the course is added to the waitlist.

At the time of the auto-enrollment, time conflicts will be checked. If there is a time-conflict, the student enrollment will not be processed. They will not lose their place in the waitlist queue, but will remain there until the conflict is resolved. The students of lower ranking, but with no time conflicts, will be auto-enrolled before them.

It is in the student’s best interest to not waitlist a course that would present a time conflict. Time conflicts cannot be overridden even if there is a small time overlap.

Yes, the student can change the courses in their waitlist at any time. There is a limit to the number of students that can be on a specific course waitlist. If you drop yourself from the waitlist, then want to add yourself back to the same waitlist, your position number will be different. By dropping from the waitlist you will forfeit your placement on the list.

To try to enroll in the waitlist class, you must attend the first class session and ask the instructor for a permission number. Only the course instructor can provide a permission number. The student will then enroll into the course with the permission number.

Yes, unless the class is listed as Instructor Consent, or there is a course pre-requisite. Any issues related to course requirements will be checked at the time of auto-enrollment, not at the time that the course is added to the waitlist.

The pre-requisites requirements for a course will be checked when the student attempts to add the course to the waitlist and at the auto-enrollment time. If a student has not satisfied the course pre-requisite they will be blocked. It is presumed that a student concurrently enrolled in a pre-requisite class will pass it and therefore satisfy the pre-requisite requirement for the next class in the following semester.

• For example, if a student is enrolled in Spanish 1 and they wish to waitlist for Spanish 2 for the next semester that request is permissible. If a student has taken Spanish 1 and received a substandard grade such as an F, they will not be allowed to waitlist Spanish 2 because the student has not satisfied the course pre-requisite.
• If the prerequisite is not satisfied after the grades are posted, the student will be dropped from the course.

Yes, at times there may be a need to cancel a course. This means that the waitlist associated with that course will also be cancelled.

Faculty can view their waitlists by using the Faculty Self-Service in PeopleSoft.

No, a student can only view his or her own status on the waitlist for a class.

No, this is not supported while the course is in the waitlist. If and when the student is auto-enrolled from the waitlist, they can change the grading basis if the course supports grading options. No, this is not supported while the course is in the waitlist. If and when the student is auto-enrolled from the waitlist, they can change the grading basis if the course supports grading options.

If a student on the waitlist is auto-enrolled in a class, the next student will move up on the waitlist and be issued a higher waitlist number.

No. The waitlist cannot be modified by an instructor.

has taken the prerequisite course at another college outside of the LACCD, then the student must visit the Admissions and Record’s office to complete and submit the pre-requisite challenge form. When approved, the online information system will recognize that the prerequisite has been satisfied.

The only exception is if the student is presently enrolled in the pre-requisite course. The system assumes that the student will satisfactorily complete the course with a passing grade and therefore be eligible for the next course.

It is entirely possible that a waitlist ranking of #1 may still not result in an auto-enrollment for a course. This course may be a very popular course and actively enrolled students might not drop out. Another course may have a good number of student drops and several students on the waitlist could be auto-enrolled.

Students should use the waitlist as a strategy to improve their course selection, but they should not assume they will get their waitlisted course.

Yes, if there is a seat available and there are no issues related to the auto-enrollment. Problems include:

• Enrollment in another section of the same course
• Time conflicts
• Student registration holds
• Unsatisfied prerequisites or co-requisites
• Exceeding term unit limits
• The student has already taken the class

The student can view their waitlist status at any time that the online student self service is available. Except for scheduled system maintenance, the system is available every day, 24/7.

The student may attempt to take the class another semester or take a different section of the same course or can attend the first day of class and request a permission number from the instructor.

Yes, ONLY the waitlisted students may enroll in the course.

No. Students only pay for classes after they are actively enrolled. Enrollment fees will be assessed after a student is officially registered in a class and must be paid by the fee payment deadline. To view your enrollment fee due dates, click on Finances Menu on your portal dashboard, click Student Activities, and Charges Due for details.

If you are approved for a Board of Governors Fee Waiver or have anticipated financial aid your Account Inquiry page will reflect the award.

Your enrollment will be cancelled for some or all of your course(s) unless payment is made in full by the fee payment deadline.

It is important to remember that placement on a waitlist does not guarantee a seat in the class. Students on a waitlist after classes begin should attend the first class meeting to determine if space is available.

Yes. A student may drop themselves from the waitlist. Also a student can be dropped for non-payment of fees. If a student does not pay their enrollment fees by the fee payment deadline they will be administratively dropped from all or some of their courses and waitlisted courses.

It is the student’s responsibility to pay all of their fees by the fee payment deadline to avoid losing classes.

How many waitlist seats are available for each class? The number of seats on the waitlist is determined by the academic department. The waitlist number can vary by subject and course.

Students can waitlist for multiple sections of the same class, with the following stipulations:

• Students cannot choose their preference for which section they will be auto-enrolled first. The waitlist process will enroll the student in the section that has the first available seat.
• Once enrolled in one of those class sections, students will be automatically dropped for the other waitlisted sections for that course.
• If students are already enrolled in another section of a class they want to waitlist, the SWAP feature should be used to enroll and waitlist for the closed section.

If students are already enrolled in another section of the class for which they want to waitlist, SWAP should be used. If students use the ADD enrollment feature to get on a waitlist for a different section of the same class, they must DROP the section in which they are enrolled before they will be moved from the waitlist.

Students may also want to use SWAP if there is a known time conflict between an already enrolled class section, and the section for which they want to waitlist. If students get on a waitlist using the ADD enrollment feature, they will not be auto-enrolled into the waitlisted class until they DROP the class that presents the time conflict or the class

Finally, students may want to use SWAP if they are already enrolled in the maximum number of units for a term and want to still get on a waitlist. If a student gets on a waitlist using the ADD enrollment feature, they will not be auto-enrolled into the waitlisted class until they DROP a class that would allow the waitlisted class to fall within the maximum number of allowable units to be enrolled in for a semester.

If students are not enrolled from the waitlist due to any of these issues, they will be passed over and the next eligible student on the waitlist will be auto-enrolled.

enrolled? The self-service enrollment process does not check for a time conflict when a student is placed on a waitlist. At the time the auto-enrollment process runs, students will not be enrolled in the class if the time conflict still exists. Students will need to drop the class that prevents the time conflict if they want to be moved from the waitlist.

Ideally, students should use the SWAP feature when getting on a waitlist for a section that presents a time conflict with an already enrolled class. That way, if a seat opens in the close section the student will be automatically dropped from the previously enrolled section.