Senior Citizens & Non-Degree-Seeking Adult Students

Southern welcomes senior citizens to study at the university as full-time, degree-seeking, or part-time non-degree students.

Step 1: Application

To be admitted as a degree-seeking student, please visit the Graduate School website to explore your opportunities. To be admitted as an adult non-degree student who wishes to take courses for credit, you may apply with the Visiting Student Application (no application fee), and you will receive a response in approximately 1 week.

Step 2: Tuition Waiver

During the fall and spring semester, Tuition (and the University Fee for full-time students or the General University Fee for part-time students) is waived for any resident of Connecticut sixty-two years of age or older (see full waiver policy). During the summer and winter session, a waiver of the Extension fee is authorized as well. Please review the Tuition and Fees charged to full-time and part-time students. Contact the Student Accounts Office to request a Senior Citizen waiver form.  It will only need to be submitted and approved onetime; all future semesters and sessions will have the waiver applied automatically.

Step 3: Registration

See the instructions above on ‘How to Create a Schedule and Register’ for classes, which includes the Registration Checklist and important dates and times. If you require assistance with course prerequisites, permissions, or have questions about degree requirements, please contact the Academic Advising Office.

Step 4: Audit Option 

The audit option is available for students who wants to take a course without receiving a final grade. While no final grade is submitted, students do have the right to take exams, write papers, and have them evaluated.  Students must discuss the criteria for a successful audit and receive an approved Audit Contract from their instructor prior to the start of the 4th week of the fall or spring semester or prior to the start of the 2nd week for courses in a shorter term.

Buley Library, Room 102
(203) 392-5367

Application

To enroll at Southern as a visiting non-degree (i.e. non-matriculated) student, please submit a Visiting Student Application.
There is no application fee to apply! You will receive a response within approximately 1 week with instructions on how to log into the student portal and register for classes. Please be advised that non-degree students may register for courses on a part-time basis, and are subject to the policies of the university, but are not eligible for financial aid or on-campus housing.

As a visiting non-degree student, with a prior bachelor’s degree or higher, you will be eligible to register part-time for fewer than 9 credits in undergraduate or graduate courses, and all courses will be applied to your graduate transcript regardless of the course level.  A maximum of 9 credits taken as a non-matriculated student may be applied to a graduate program, or at the department’s discretion, up to 25 percent of the total credits for programs requiring 36 credits or more. You may apply to a degree or certificate program (i.e. matriculate) through the School of Graduate and Professional Studies to continue studying at Southern on either a part-time or full-time basis.

Registration

Review the Registration Checklist to find the date and time that registration opens for non-degree students, then follow the registration instructions below (or watch the How To Register video 2m8s):

Note: All students must meet any course prerequisite needed to register, but departments also have the right to exclude or restrict non-matriculated student registration for courses in their program.

• Go to MySCSU
• Select Banner Student
• Records and Registration
• Registration and Schedule Planner
• Select the Term
• Add Courses
• Add Breaks (times you can’t attend classes due to other obligations)
• ‘Generate Schedules’ to review your schedule options
• Select your favorite schedule to ‘Send to Registration Cart’
• Click ‘Register’ to complete your registration

You may continue to edit your registration during the allowed add/drop period for the term. To remove a course from your registration, click Current Schedule, then select the Edit Schedule button to drop or withdraw from a course.

Tuition and Fees

Visit our Bill & Payment website to check current tuition, fees, and payment options.

The Office of Workforce and Lifelong Learning (OWLL) offers non-credit and workforce training and a variety of low-cost professional development opportunities to build and refresh a learner’s skill set while connecting learners to SCSU’s undergraduate and graduate credit-level certificate programs.

These programs empower lifelong learners to stay relevant in their industry, advance their careers, expand future job prospects, and increase their long-term earning power with minimal time commitment and cost. And in the process, these programs also help learners of all ages build confidence, meet new people through networking, improve critical thinking and creativity, and even expose them to new and exciting professional interests. Learn more about OWLL and all our programs!