Course Enrolment and Registration

The BI program is only offered on a full-time basis.

A regular course load for BI students in the fall & winter terms is 2.5 credits per term. This usually corresponds to 5 courses per term.

A regular course load for BI students in the summer term is 1.0 credits. This usually corresponds to 2 courses over the entire summer.

If you have an accessibility accommodation, contact an academic advisor to discuss reduced course loads. If you are experiencing difficulties in managing your course load, please consult with an academic advisor to discuss available options. You may also be interested in reviewing our Resources and Supports page for information about the help that is available to you.

Course overloads

Students who may be interested in taking additional courses should note the following:

Students must submit a Faculty of Information Course Overload Request Form. Submitting a request does not guarantee enrolment. Each request is reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Fall and Winter maximum course load limit:

The Fall and Winter maximum term load limit indicates how many credits you can take in each of the Fall and Winter terms. 

• The maximum courseload for those paying full-time program fees is 3.0 credits per term 

For example, a student in good standing who is paying the program fee can take 3.0 credits per term (with a maximum course load of 6.0 credits across the Fall/Winter session). A student who is in good standing paying per-course fees can take 3.0 credits in one term, but only 0.5 credit in the other term. 

If your academic standing is On Academic Probation, you can take a maximum of 2.5 credits per term.  

Summer session maximum course load limit:

• For the entire summer session: 2.0 credits 

• Per term: 1.0 credit 

Note: Academic standing does not have an impact on the Summer maximum course load limit. All students pay Summer tuition on a per-course basis. 

Add/Drop Courses

Each term, there is a date by which students are eligible to add and drop a course on their own through ACORN. This is commonly known as the term’s course add and drop deadline without academic penalty. Refer to the Academic Dates & Deadlines page for the  deadlines for each term.

Student Services automatically enrols you in your required BI courses. However, in your second year you will need to enrol in electives.

To add / enrol into an elective course, you will do so through ACORN, under “Enrol & Manage”.

Students are only able to add / enrol into courses once enrolment has started. Every Faculty has their own enrolment start times.

Likewise, if you need to drop course(s) during an academic term, you will also do so through ACORN.

BI students are eligible to take up to 1.0 FCE as CR/NCR. This option is not available for the required INF courses, only elective courses.

BI students are required to complete 2 credits of electives as part of their degree requirements. 1.0 credits must be at the senior level 300/400.

This page gives all the information you need about enrolling in courses outside of the Bachelor of Information program.

BI Students may take a Reading Course as an elective for their degree program. Students interested in taking a Reading Course will not be able to enroll into the course themselves on ACORN. It will be done by Student Services once the student’s request is approved.

Reading Course Request Deadline

Reading / Research Course requests and supporting documents must be submitted on the 15th of the month prior to the start of the term you wish to do your Reading Course in:

• Fall Term: August 15
• Winter Term: December 15
• Summer Term: April 15

Request Procedure

• 1. Complete the BI Request for Reading Course Form (PDF) with your Reading Course supervisor.
     • Please be sure to complete Section 3: breakdown of work required (i.e., assignments), weight of each assignment, and their respective due dates.
  2. Provide the following as separate documentation:
     • Short paragraph outlining a description of the topic to be explored, the needs for the course and how it fits in the student’s overall program of study and goals.
     • List of course learning outcomes, and brief paragraph connecting them to program learning outcomes (see the Faculty’s policy on Defining Student Learning Outcomes in Course Syllabi (PDF)).
     • Reading list (to be agreed by both student and faculty member).
     • Whether ethics approval is needed. Please note that reading courses which include coursework using human subjects will require ethics approval. This process can take time, so applicants to reading courses should discuss this with the proposed course instructor and the Associate Dean, Research, well in advance of the proposed course start date.
  3. Submit everything to Student Services via email for Faculty approval.
     • Please put in the subject line: Reading Course Approval Request

• Reading Courses in all programs must follow the University Assessment and Grading Practices Policy (PDF), which includes a maximum of 20% for participation grades in graduate courses (see Part B. sec. 1.4.2).
• The Faculty of Information Reading Courses can only be supervised by regular faculty members of the Faculty. Reading Courses require that student and instructor meet regularly and frequently; therefore, both must be available for meetings on campus. The written work of a Reading Course is comparable to that of other elective courses.

Permission to take extra courses beyond the program requirements is subject to Faculty approval. Students are eligible to request up to 1.0 course as extra. Required courses cannot be designated as ‘EXT’.

Extra courses are:

• Included on the student’s transcript, with an EXT notation.
• Subject to the same regulations for grading, withdrawal and failure as courses required for the degree.
• Not counted towards the student’s GPA.
• Not convertible to credit courses towards the student’s degree, after the drop deadline period has passed.

Deadline to Request Permission

2 weeks prior to the course drop deadline of each term.

• Fall Term: August 15
• Winter Term: December 15
• Summer Term: April 15

Request Procedure

• Complete the BI Add / Drop Form (PDF).
• Provide your reason for requesting to take an extra course: a statement about why you wish to take the course, and how it is a good fit with your academic and/or career objectives.
• Submit both items to your academic advisor for review.

Some courses allow waitlists. You may add yourself to a course waitlist, and if space becomes available, you will automatically be enrolled and will receive a notification. Students on a waitlist are not guaranteed enrolment. It’s a good idea to enrol in alternative courses in case space doesn’t become available in the one you want. Try to be flexible and have as many alternative course choices as possible. Note that when you waitlist for a course, it will be counted in your course load.

You can find detailed instructions about how to enrol in courses on ACORN.

The Faculty of Information follows the University of Toronto’s Policy on Auditing of Courses (PDF).

To request to audit an iSchool course:

1. Complete the Application to Audit an iSchool Course Form (PDF)
2. Request the instructor’s approval to audit their course; get the instructor’s signature on the form if possible.
3. Email the completed form to Student Services for final approval. If a course is full you may not be able to audit the course even with instructor’s permission.