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Undergraduate Special Studies Enrollment (non-structured) Credit

Important Enrollment Information

January 2024: the online application for independent study/undergraduate research/teaching assistant will be available through Experience Cornell keyword search 'Special Studies.'

CALS Student Services will NOT be manually enrolling students in these courses. Once the application is submitted and fully approved, you will receive a Permission Number by email. You must self-enroll in the course through Student Center (search by the Class Number) – you are not enrolled in the class until it is on your Student Center schedule.  

Friday, February 23, 2024: the deadline to enroll in independent study/undergraduate research/teaching assistant/internship. Applications started by Friday, February 23, 2024, will be processed without a petition once approved. You will receive emails regarding the application from noreply-cep [at] cep.cornell.edu (noreply-cep[at]cep[dot]cornell[dot]edu).  Make sure to check your clutter and junk email folders.

Students can access the application form through the 5th week of the current semester.  Petitions to ADD will not be accepted after the add deadline, with no exceptions. Contact your home college with additional questions about adding or dropping after the deadline

Max Credits and Special Studies:

If you have already submitted a special studies application and/or TA application for the semester and are waiting for approval, do not submit a new duplicate application. Additionally, if you have submitted a form and have not yet been able to enroll due to needing to request to go over max credits do not submit a new application. The max credit petition for seniors in CALS will be available starting in January 2024 in DUST. Contact your home college for information about exceeding max term credits.

Non-Structured Credits:

15 credits of non-structured coursework can be applied toward graduation requirements, while a minimum of 105 credits must be structured to complete the degree requirements in CALS (Proration Chart for Non-Cornell credit).

Out of College Students at Cornell:

Students should contact their college registrar or advising office regarding how these credits apply to their graduation requirements. ILR students are not allowed to enroll in Supervised Teaching 4980. Please see your college registrar or https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/student-experience/office-student-services for more information. Graduate students may not enroll in undergraduate special studies.

Several departments in the college offer undergraduate independent study (4970) and undergraduate research (4990) for academic credit. Credit hours should be determined following Cornell’s credit hour policy.

After pre-planning with the faculty instructor, use this form to request academic credit as a teaching assistant in a CALS course. Credit hours should be determined following Cornell’s credit hour policy

Available to CALS students only: Refer to the CALS Internship Guidelines before proceeding with this form. Note, credit is not awarded before matriculation to Cornell University or while a student is on leave of absence. Instructor consultation must take place before the internship experience has begun.