Registration

Web Registration-Secure Online System (SOS)

The College's online (web) registration system is called the Secure Online System (SOS). Once students have been admitted, they may access SOS at Information for Current Students.

Students may access SOS if they have completed orientation, submitted the Texas meningitis requirement documentation or are exempt from the requirement and have been admitted/re-admitted, or are continuing students. Dual Credit students will need to see the Dual Credit Office or their high school counselor for registration.

The following steps will give students access to SOS. Students will:

1. Access the College website at then click the blue SOS login box in the middle of the page.
2. Enter their generated ID number, which is a capital G with the assigned eight-digit number.
3. Enter the six-digit PIN provided when students claimed their account.
4. Select Students-Registration and follow the system prompts, then register or add or drop classes.
5. Select the term in which they want to enroll. The College offers multiple terms.
6. Select Step 4, Register, Add or Drop Classes. Students may search by subject, campus, and class times, or may simply enter the CRN for desired classes, if known.
7. Select Submit Changes to save the requested classes or to determine if registration restrictions exist. Submitting changes will add charges if classes have started.
8. Select Return to SJC Homepage.
9. Select Student Account Summary to view account and payment information.
10. Print the schedule and/or payment confirmation before exiting SOS, and carefully check that it is correct. Late changes result in additional charges. Students who change their minds about one or more courses should drop the unwanted classes prior to the first day of class to ensure a 100 percent refund of charges. Once a student has registered and paid, they are officially enrolled and subject to College regulations concerning withdrawal and refunds. This will not relieve the student of legal financial obligations for their enrollment nor does it constitute withdrawal from classes.

In addition to registration, other services are available in SOS. Students may: 

• Check registration status,
• Display class schedule,
• Add or drop classes,
• View changes and make payments by credit/debit card, check, or Installment Payment Plan,
• View holds,
• Request official transcript,
• Display grades and print unofficial transcripts,
• Complete degree evaluations,
• Change confidentiality status,
• View financial aid information, and
• View personal information

Course Finder

Course Finder is an online tool to help students build a possible schedule. If students use it to look up information, they must remember to login to SOS to register for classes.

Schedule Disclaimer

The College will determine the times and locations of classes as well as the minimum and maximum enrollment per class. The College reserves the right to cancel classes, change instructors, and otherwise alter the schedule. Students incur no charge for schedule changes due to canceled classes. To replace a canceled class, the student should make changes during the time designated in the Schedule of Classes.

Course Load

The second digit of the course number indicates the credit hours associated with that course. The maximum course load during 16 weeks is 18 hours. Only with the approval of the instructional Dean, students may enroll in additional term hours of credit. The maximum course load permitted during the summer term is 14 term hours or seven term hours per summer five-week part of term. The maximum load in a three-week mini session is three term hours.

Students achieve full-time status when they enroll for 12 or more term hours in a full term or summer session. A useful guideline is that students should spend at least two hours studying for every hour they spend in the classroom. For example, a student taking 15 term hours assumes the responsibility for a minimum of 45 hours per week, 15 hours in class and 30 hours studying. Working students should consider the number of term hours they take in relation to the number of hours they work per week.

Enrolling at Multiple Campuses

Students are encouraged to take classes at any of the College's campuses. Students wanting to take courses at multiple campuses must calculate the time needed to drive, consider traffic conditions, time needed to park, and the time to walk to class between one campus and another prior to scheduling classes. The allotted time between classes is 10 minutes. The estimated minimum travel time between campuses is as follows:

• Central to South - 20 minutes
• Central to North - 25 minutes
• North to South - 30 minutes
• South to Generation Park - 35 minutes
• Central to Generation Park - 25 minutes
• North to Generation Park -  10 minutes

This means that students usually must leave one class period unscheduled to allow enough time to travel safely from one campus to the next. The number of times a student can be late to class calculates into the excessive absences maximum and could cause students to receive a failing grade in a class. Additionally, late students are disruptive to the teaching and learning environment for all.

Parts of Term

The terms include a traditional full term of 16 weeks (fall and spring) or 10 weeks (summer) as well as multiple shorter parts of term that the College provides to enable students to enroll in courses throughout the year. For example, the spring term includes a 16-week session, a 15-week weekend session, two overlapping 12-week sessions, two eight-week sessions, a six-week/ten-week combination, and four four-week sessions. The various parts of term provide significant flexibility for scheduling and increase the opportunities for enrolling at times other than the start of the full term. Following the start of the term, the online system is open for adding classes in those parts of term that have not yet started.

University Transfer

Students planning to transfer to a four-year college or university should select courses according to the curriculum requirements of the institution they plan to attend. Transfer MAPs for particular universities are located in the catalog under the Transfer Path tab and in My San Jac GPS. Students should contact a College educational planner/counselor for help in selecting courses if the university to which they are interested in transferring is not listed.

Students not planning to transfer may select courses according to associate degree or certificate requirements.

Concurrent Enrollment

The total number of term hours taken by a student concurrently enrolled at San Jacinto College and another college or university may not exceed that allowed by College regulations as specified in the Course Load section of the catalog above.

Prerequisites or Co-requisites

Some course descriptions stipulate that students must earn credit for certain course prerequisites before they can register for that course. Prerequisites help assure that students have sufficient background in the subject to succeed in the course.

A co-requisite is a notation in a course description indicating that a student who enrolls in the course must also enroll at the same time in the listed co-requisite course unless the student has already completed that course with a passing grade.

Minimum placement test scores in reading, writing, and/or mathematics skills are prerequisites for most academic and college preparatory courses. These prerequisites constitute a condition of enrollment in these courses for all students and cannot be waived. Course descriptions in the catalog will indicate which courses have such prerequisites.

Under special circumstances, the department may allow a student to register for a course without the required prerequisite or co-requisite. A waiver of the required prerequisite or co-requisite does not change degree requirements. Students who have been granted a waiver may earn needed credit through course substitution or credit by examination. Although students may receive credit toward graduation at San Jacinto College, if prerequisites are waived for certain courses, another college may not allow credit for such courses. If students do not follow prerequisite/co-requisite requirements, the College may withdraw them from the course.

Repetition of Courses

If a student repeats a course for which credit has previously been received, the higher grade is the grade of record. Neither the hours nor the grade points associated with the lower grade will be used in transcript grade point average (GPA) calculations; however, the lower grade will remain on the student’s transcript permanently and will be included in calculations of financial aid eligibility.

A few courses may be repeated for credit. These exceptions are noted in the course descriptions found in this catalog. Students planning to transfer should check with the receiving institution concerning their policy for enrollment services and GPA calculations for repeated courses. Students may be charged a higher tuition rate when registering for the same course three or more times as noted in the Tuition section of this catalog.

Schedule Changes and Dropping Courses

Students may change their schedules by dropping and/or adding course sections only during designated periods. A student may drop a course or withdraw from all courses within the published time period during the term. The student incurs no additional charge for course changes prior to the first day of the term or part of term. The student should initiate the drop online. The refund schedule lists drop deadline dates and refund percentages. Students enrolled in college preparatory courses must drop courses in person. If the student is unable to drop online or in person, they must contact the College at 281-998-6150 for assistance.

Simply informing the instructor of the intent to drop is not sufficient. The student is responsible for dropping officially from a course. A student may not drop/withdraw after the last published drop date. After the deadline, the College does not permit withdrawals, and students will receive a grade of A, B, C, D, F, or FX. Students may not attend any class from which they have dropped.

Students who make class changes online should print and retain verification of their schedule changes in case questions arise later about refunds or transcript records.

Class Change Charges

Students can make changes to their class schedule without cost prior to the published start date of the term/part of term. Students changing classes or sections resulting in dropping classes or sections on or after the start date will be assessed charges in accordance with the state refund schedule.

Late Registration

San Jacinto College maintains a No Late Registration Policy. Registration is available until the day before the first day of class. The Advising, Career, and Transfer Center can assist students with enrollment before the class starts. Registration dates and refund schedules can be found on the College website. 

Complete Withdrawal from College or Dropping All Courses

Dropping all courses for the term at the same time constitutes the intent to withdraw officially from the College. Additionally, when students officially withdraw or do not withdraw from the College but drop individual courses, when the last course is dropped, the College requires that students return all College-owned property and pay all outstanding debts of tuition and fines. San Jacinto College does not issue official transcripts for students who have outstanding debts or unreturned College property.

Six-drop Limit Provisions (TEC 51.907)

Students who enrolled as entering freshmen or first-time-in-college (FTIC) students during fall 2007 and thereafter are subject to the provisions of the six-drop limit. This limits the total number of drops of an affected student to six. These six include all drops from all Texas public colleges or universities. The drops a student has at San Jacinto College that are within the six-drop limit will be identified with a grade of WL. An affected student may only have six grades of WL or the equivalent of WL from all Texas public colleges and universities attended. The number of drops included in the limit from transfer institutions will be indicated on the transcript sent to San Jacinto College. After the student has received six grades of WL or the equivalent of WL in total, the student will not be allowed to drop any additional courses and must receive grades of A, B, C, D, F, or FX in the courses.

Students who remain enrolled in the course after the official census date of the course will be awarded a grade on the transcript. Courses dropped prior to the census date for that course will not count in the six-drop limit since courses dropped prior to the census date are not awarded a grade of W or WL. The official census date varies according to the length of the course and is listed on the College's website on the Refunds, Drops, and Grading Deadlines page.

San Jacinto College will consider the following situations as constituting an approved blanket exemption from the six-drop limit for affected students:

1. Grades of W in all college preparatory courses or any courses with a 0 in the first digit of the course number.
2. All grades of W received for all courses taken by dual credit/early admission students received prior to high school graduation even if taken after fall 2007.
3. All grades of W are received when the student’s intent was to withdraw from the institution. To meet the requirement for “withdrawing from the institution,” the student must drop all courses for all parts of term on the same date. This applies to drops after the official census date. The term is viewed in totality and not by part of term. Students must inform the Advising, Career, and Transfer Center of their intent to withdraw.

San Jacinto College will notify by email all new FTIC students each term that they are affected by the state's six-drop limit and that they will be limited to six course drops during their enrollment at all public colleges and universities in Texas. Students affected by the six-drop limit may view the total number of drops accumulated at San Jacinto College and transfer institutions through their SOS accounts.

The College has provisions for appeal of grades of WL awarded at San Jacinto College that are included in the six-drop limit. For more information, students may go to Courses-Registration. Grades included in the six-drop limit from transfer institutions must be appealed to the transfer institution.

Auditing a Course

Approval to audit a credit course may be granted to individuals who complete the audit application with the Admissions Office.

• Auditors (including senior citizens) must enroll for the course after the first class meeting during the official registration period, but before the second class meeting.
• Not all courses are available for audit. Courses that have met the maximum occupancy cannot be audited. CPD classes are not available for audit.
• Students must meet all prerequisite and skill-level requirements for the course being audited.
• Financial aid does not cover the cost to audit a course.
• Students must purchase the required materials, including books, for the course.
• Audit students will have access to all buildings, services, and technology, including Blackboard and SOS.
• Audit students must obtain a student ID from the Admissions Office and a parking permit from the Business Office.
• The College will post audited course work on the transcript with a grade of AUDIT.
• Audit students are required to conform to the same conduct in the classroom and on campus as credit students and must comply with the policies, rules, regulations, and generally accepted practices of the College as outlined in the Student Handbook and Code of Student Conduct.
• Audit students must pay the same time they register, either in full or by enrolling in a payment plan, if available, at a campus Business Office. Tuition is based on residency status. 
• Refunds for dropping an audited course will follow the same schedule as the regular refund schedule. Students may refer to the Admissions Office for assistance in dropping an audit class.
• Senior citizens 65 and older may audit a credit course without paying up to six (6) credit hours of tuition.

Senior Citizens Enrolling in Classes

Under Texas Law (Section 54.365), a college may allow senior citizens 65 years of age or older (by the first day of classes of the specific enrollment term) to enroll in up to six credit hours per term without paying tuition, providing there is space available and the applicant has not exceeded 90 previous college credit hours and must meet the institution’s 2.0 GPA.