Academic Regulations

The academic regulations below govern Yale Summer Session. To the extent possible, they are based on and consistent with Yale College’s academic regulations during the fall and spring terms, but because summer learning and courses are unique, there are some key differences. Students are expected to familiarize themselves with these regulations, and an assertion of ignorance of their provisions cannot be accepted as a basis for an exception to them. No student or group of students should expect to be warned individually to conform to any of the regulations. If you have any questions, please consult promptly with Yale Summer Session at summer.session@yale.edu.

Important dates and deadlines can be found on the Yale Summer Session website here.

Table of Contents

Course Loads
Course Enrollment and Changes
     Closed Courses
     Course Withdrawals
     Academic Restrictions and Penalties
     Course Cancelations and Changes
Course Attendance
Auditors
Grades
     Credit/D/Fail Option
     Academic Transcripts
Completion of Coursework
     Work Missed During the Course
     Work Incomplete at the End of the Course
Independent Research in the Summer
Student Information and Privacy Rights
Additional Notes for Yale College Students
Committee on Academic Affairs
Amendments

Course Loads

In New Haven and online, Yale Summer Session offers courses in two five-week sessions, Session A and Session B; see here for exact dates. The maximum load in Yale Summer Session is two credits per five-week session, or 2.5 credits if enrolled in a 1.5-credit course and a one-credit course. A student who seeks to exceed this limit in a five-week session must petition the Dean of International and Summer Programs for Yale College for exceptional permission; such a petition should elaborate the reasons for seeking an overload; explain how the student intends to manage the workload, overall and as balanced against any other summer commitments; and include a letter of support from a dean or other official academic adviser, such as a Director of Undergraduate Studies. Yale Summer Session courses operate on a condensed schedule, with the expectation that students devote at least 15-20 hours per week to each course, so it is preferable for students to enroll in summer courses across the two five-week sessions rather than seek an overload in one. If permission for an overload is given, the maximum number of credits is three. Note that an approved overload does not alter the policies and limits on Yale Summer Session Financial Assistance, as here, for eligible Yale College students. High school students enrolled in Yale Summer Session may not enroll for an overload under any circumstances.

Under no circumstances may a student elect courses with meeting times that overlap.

Students may not be simultaneously enrolled in a Yale Summer Session course, even if online, and a Yale or non-Yale study abroad program. Students may do both only in cases where the start and end dates do not overlap.

Students who need to maintain full-time status for visa purposes should review information for international students here.

Course Enrollment and Changes

Because of the brevity of Yale Summer Session's five-week sessions, students are urged to select their courses with care. There is no "shopping" period in Yale Summer Session.

Students select their courses in their application to Yale Summer Session. During the application period, applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, so students are encouraged to apply as soon as their plans are concrete. Some courses have limited enrollment and may thus close to further enrollment before the application deadline; see below. When applications are under review, Yale Summer Session may contact students to ensure that they have met any course prerequisites or are otherwise qualified for their desired courses or to request that they select alternative courses. Students admitted to Yale Summer Session are admitted into specific courses.

Closed Courses

Because Yale Summer Session reviews applications and admits students on a rolling basis, some courses may fill and close to further enrollment before the application deadline. Yale Summer Session offers a wide variety of courses—in New Haven and online and across the academic disciplines and the Yale College distributional requirements—so students are encouraged to identify other courses that fit their needs and interests. Many Yale Summer Session students use the summer to explore new ideas and topics or to expand existing academic interests through coursework in related fields. See Course Search and Course Syllabi on the Yale Summer Session website for the full curriculum.

Yale Summer Session does not maintain waitlists for closed courses, so students who seek enrollment in closed courses should move forward to make alternative course selections. Students who have exceptional and compelling reasons why they must take a particular course in Yale Summer Session this summer should see here.

Post-admission changes in course selection require the approval of Yale Summer Session and, in the case of course additions or substitutions, are contingent on remaining spaces and the qualifications of the applicant. All requests for post-admission course changes (course additions, substitutions, or withdrawals) must be made via the Change Form on the Yale Summer Session website in accordance with the relevant deadlines. The deadline to request course additions or substitutions is typically ten days prior to the start of the relevant five-week session at 5:00pm EDT; see here for the exact deadlines. No course additions or substitutions may be requested after the deadline. Yale Summer Session typically notifies students via e-mail of the status or results of their request within five business days. If approved, students should confirm the enrollment changes in the Yale Hub.

Course Withdrawals

Students may withdraw from a course via the Change Form on the Yale Summer Session website up until the final day of the relevant five-week session at 5:00pm EDT. Based on the exact timing of the request, see here, the course withdrawal may be with or without the neutral mark of W on the academic record. The mark of W indicates simply that a student was enrolled in, but withdrew from, a course; while the course carries no credit, the mark of W implies no evaluation of a student's work and carries no implication of failure.

• If a student withdraws from a course on or before the third Wednesday of the relevant five-week session at 5:00pm EDT, the registrar will remove from the student's transcript any record of that course.
• If a student withdraws from a course after the third Wednesday of the relevant five-week session at 5:00pm EDT, but on or before the final day of the relevant five-week session at 5:00pm EDT, the student's transcript will show the neutral mark of W.
• After the final day of the relevant five-week session at 5:00pm EDT, withdrawal from a course is not permitted.

Course withdrawals must be requested via the Change Form in order to be official. Failure to attend or submit work in a course, or requests via phone or e-mail, do not constitute a withdrawal. Once submitted, a student may not rescind a Change Form to withdraw from a course, even if before the deadline or before Yale Summer Session has processed the request.

Information about tuition refunds, if applicable, can be found here.

Academic Restrictions and Penalties

A student may be involuntarily withdrawn from a course by the Dean of International and Summer Programs for Yale College based on excessive absences, unsatisfactory work, serious and persistent disruptive behavior, or other serious violations of Yale Summer Session, Yale College, or University regulations.

1. Cut Restriction. Class attendance is required of all students in Yale Summer Session; see Course Attendance below. A student who, in the opinion of the instructor and the Dean of International and Summer Programs for Yale College, has been absent from a course to an excessive degree may at any time be placed on Cut Restriction in that course or in all courses. Once a student is placed on Cut Restriction in a course, an additional absence may result in the student's exclusion from that course without credit; see Exclusion below.

2. Exclusion. Any student may, because of excessive absences or unsatisfactory work, be excluded from a course without credit upon the recommendation of the instructor or department concerned to the Dean of International and Summer Programs for Yale College. The instructor or department must request an Exclusion on or before the final day of the relevant five-week session at 5:00pm EDT. If an Exclusion is requested after the third Wednesday of the relevant five-week session at 5:00pm EDT, the student’s transcript will show the neutral mark of W for the course. The date and time of the Exclusion will also determine whether the student will receive any tuition refund; see here.

Course Cancelations and Changes

Yale Summer Session reserves the right to cancel, close, or reschedule any course or to add other courses or sections to the current offerings. Exceptionally, Yale Summer Session may be obliged to cancel a course due to low enrollment or the unexpected unavailability of an instructor, among other reasons; change an announced instructor; or modify the dates, meeting days and times, modality, or emphasis of a course. Impacted students will be notified if a course is canceled or closed and, as appropriate, asked to make alternative course selections. If no suitable alternative is available, the student's enrollment in Yale Summer Session will be canceled, and any pre-paid tuition will be refunded. Typically, a Yale Summer Session course in New Haven or online must attain and maintain a minimum enrollment of eight students in order to run; instructors and students will be notified about two weeks in advance of a course's start date if that course will be canceled due to low enrollment.

Course Attendance

Attendance is required in all Yale Summer Session courses. Due to the compressed nature of summer courses, students must make every effort to attend each and every class session in full; for online courses, this includes all synchronous sessions on Zoom. Students who miss class sessions may be penalized by, for instance, the lowering of their course grade in accordance with instructor and departmental policy, Cut Restriction, or Exclusion; see Academic Restrictions and Penalties above. If a student cannot attend a particular class session due to an emergency or serious illness, they should let the instructor know in advance, if at all possible, or as soon as possible thereafter. Absences may be excused only by instructors. It is the student's responsibility to communicate promptly with their instructors about any and all absences.

Under no circumstances may a student elect courses with meeting times that overlap.

Students in online course are required to attend class sessions on a computer with their video on and in a setting conducive to academic work and class participation. Using a smartphone to attend online classes or logging in without video will count as an absence. Watching asynchronous recordings, if available, does not fulfill the attendance requirement.

Holidays

Yale Summer Session operates on a compressed schedule, so courses meet as scheduled even on designated summer holidays, including Memorial Day, Juneteenth, and the Fourth of July.

Students may not begin a course late or leave a course early by, for example, making arrangements to finish an in-person course remotely or take a final examination in advance.

Auditors

Auditors are not permitted in any Yale Summer Session courses, with no exceptions. Yale College's affiliate and alumni auditing programs, and other auditing programs at the University, do not extend to Yale Summer Session.

Grades

Students enrolled in Yale Summer Session courses for credit, other than independent study courses evaluated on a Pass/Fail basis, will receive course grades at the end of the relevant five-week session. As in Yale College, the grades used are:

• A       Excellent
• A–
• B+
• B       Good
• B–
• C+
• C       Satisfactory
• C–
• D+
• D       Passing
• D–
• F       Fail

Grades for Yale Summer Session courses are due from the instructor to Yale Summer Session one week after the end of the relevant five-week session. All grades, once reported, are final and may not be changed under Yale College policy, except in the rare case of a calculation or transcription error and only then by petition of the instructor to the Dean of International and Summer Programs for Yale College.

Credit/D/Fail Option

The opportunity to elect courses on a Credit/D/Fail basis is provided to encourage academic exploration and promote diversity in students’ programs of study.

1. Reporting of Grades. In all Yale Summer Session courses for credit, other than independent study courses evaluated on a Pass/Fail basis, instructors report letter grades for all students. If a Yale Summer Session student has properly chosen the Credit/D/Fail option in a course, the registrar converts grades of A, A–, B+, B, B–, C+, C, and C– into the notation CR, which is entered on the student’s transcript. Grades of D+, D, D–, and F are entered on the student's transcript as reported. Students are not required to disclose to the course instructor whether they have enrolled in the course for a letter grade or under the Credit/D/Fail option.

2. Eligibility. All Yale Summer Session courses for credit, other than independent study courses evaluated on a Pass/Fail basis, are available for election under the Credit/D/Fail option, subject to the regulations and restrictions below.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the Credit/D/Fail option in Yale Summer Session courses in New Haven and online, a student must be enrolled in at least two courses in a single five-week session, Session A or Session B, at least one credit of which must remain at all times for a letter grade or the mark of Pass. For example, a student enrolled in two one-credit courses in Session A is eligible to convert one such course to Credit/D/Fail, so long as the other remains for a letter grade or the mark of Pass. A student enrolled in a single course in Session A and a single course in Session B is not eligible to convert either to Credit/D/Fail. If a student converts a course to Credit/D/Fail and later becomes ineligible for the Credit/D/Fail option due to a subsequent withdrawal from a letter-graded course, or a course for the mark of Pass, the Credit/D/Fail conversion will be administratively rescinded. Yale College students are not permitted to convert a course to Credit/D/Fail where they will exceed the overall limits on Credit/D/Fail in Section B of the Academic Regulations in the Yale College Programs of Study.

3. Selecting Credit/D/Fail Option. Students enroll in all Yale Summer Session courses without selecting any for the Credit/D/Fail option. They may subsequently select that option in any Yale Summer Session course for credit, other than independent study courses evaluated on a Pass/Fail basis, up until the deadline published on the Yale Summer Session website, see here, and in accordance with these regulations. The deadline is stringently enforced; after the final day of the relevant five-week session at 5:00pm EDT, election of the Credit/D/Fail option is not permitted. Students who wish to convert a course to the Credit/D/Fail option must submit a Credit/D/Fail Conversion Request Form to Yale Summer Session in the MyYSS online application portal. Requests via phone and e-mail are not permitted.

4. Finality of Conversion. Once a student submits a Credit/D/Fail Conversion Request Form, that decision cannot be reversed by the student, even if that action is sought before the deadline and even when additional information becomes available about a student’s performance or grade in a course. For this reason, Yale College students are advised to review in advance Section B of the Academic Regulations in the Yale College Programs of Study and to consider carefully how a Credit/D/Fail conversion could affect their fulfillment of distributional and major requirements. Visiting students should also consider carefully, in close consultation with their home institutions, whether converting a Yale Summer Session course to Credit/D/Fail could negatively affect their eligibility to transfer the credit or to apply the course toward a degree or other requirement, now or in the future. Ineligibility to transfer the credit or to apply the course toward a requirement is not grounds to rescind a Credit/D/Fail conversion.

5. Yale Summer Session Programs Abroad. Few Yale Summer Session Programs Abroad have courses available on the Credit/D/Fail basis because of the eligibility regulations above. As an illustration, a student enrolled in an eight-week, four-credit Yale Summer Session Program Abroad—consisting of (a) two consecutive four-week, 1.5-credit courses and (b) one eight-week, one-credit course, which runs concurrently with the two four-week courses—may convert the one-credit course to Credit/D/Fail, but neither of the 1.5-credit courses. Please contact Yale Study Abroad for more information about eligibility, deadlines, and procedures.

The regulations below are specific to Yale College students.

6. Total Number of Course Credits. A Yale College student has up to six opportunities during their time in Yale College to convert a course credit to the Credit/D/Fail option, with two of these opportunities expiring if unused during their first two terms of enrollment; see here. Note that enrollment in Yale Summer Session does not constitute a term of enrollment in Yale College but that any Yale Summer Session courses taken as Credit/D/Fail will count against this overall Yale College limit.

Any Yale Summer Session courses taken as Credit/D/Fail by admitted Yale College students after their admission to, and prior to their first term of enrollment in, Yale College are automatically entered onto their Yale College record and count against the overall Yale College limit, but not as one of the two course-credit opportunities which expire if unused during the first two terms of enrollment. Yale College students who completed Yale Summer Session courses in high school before they were admitted to Yale College may remove those courses from their Yale College record on request, provided that those courses were not used for promotion. If those courses remain on the record, any courses taken as Credit/D/Fail will count against the overall Yale College limit, but not as one of the two course-credit opportunities which expire if unused during the first two terms of enrollment.

7. For Yale College students, additional information can be found in Section B and Section K of the Academic Regulations in the Yale College Programs of Study.

Academic Transcripts

Grades for Yale Summer Session will be available online on the Yale Hub within one month of the end of each program. Yale Summer Session cannot provide grades over the phone or by e-mail under any circumstances. Official transcripts are issued by the University Registrar's Office; see here for instructions and fees. Before ordering an official transcript, please confirm that your grades are visible in the Yale Hub.

Visiting Students and Yale Credits. Yale University has a standard conversion that one course credit equals four credit hours. Students who wish to transfer credit from Yale Summer Session courses to other colleges and universities are advised to consult in advance with the appropriate academic authorities at their home institutions. For questions regarding a specific credit-hour conversion, please contact the University Registrar's Office.

Completion of Coursework

Because of the compressed summer calendar, Yale Summer Session courses are rigorous and intense, and students must be most diligent about managing their course attendance and coursework. Students in Yale Summer Session are expected to take personal responsibility for the timely delivery to their instructors of all coursework, including examinations, in the manner and format prescribed by the instructors. Particularly when submitting work electronically, students should confirm as soon as possible after submission that their work has been properly received. When submitting work via e-mail, students are advised to attach the actual document, when possible, rather than sending links.

Problems that may arise from the use of computers, tablets, phones, software, and printers are not normally considered legitimate reasons for late or missing work. It is expected that students will exercise reasonable prudence to safeguard materials, including backing up data in multiple locations and at frequent intervals and making duplicate copies of work files. Any computer work should be completed well in advance of the relevant deadline to avoid last-minute technical problems or delays.

Work Missed During the Course

Students are expected to consult promptly with their instructors if their circumstances do not allow them to submit work on time. During the five-week session, permission to submit late work or to otherwise make up work must be secured directly from the instructor, since they are the only person who can decide, in the context of the nature and requirements of the course, whether such permission is appropriate. There are no Dean's Extensions in Yale Summer Session.

Work Incomplete at the End of the Course

Students are expected to complete the work for their courses before the end of the relevant five-week session. There is no Reading Period or Final Examination Period, and there are no TI or ABX accommodations, in Yale Summer Session. Rarely, an instructor will set a deadline for final coursework shortly after the end of their course; while discouraged, such a deadline is permissible, so long as it does not affect the instructor's ability to submit their grades for all students before the grade submission deadline, one week after the end of the five-week session.

A missed examination or other coursework that remains incomplete after the final day of the five-week session can be made up or submitted only under exceptional and extenuating circumstances and only with the written permission of the instructor and the Dean of International and Summer Programs for Yale College. This permission must be requested of the Dean promptly and in advance, prior to 5:00pm EDT on the final day of the five-week session. When such permission is granted, the Dean and the instructor together will assign a new deadline, which the Dean will specify to the student via e-mail, for some or all of the outstanding work. So that the extended work can be completed by the student and graded by the instructor within no more than 30 days, an extension will only rarely exceed 23 days after the five-week session. In most cases, however, extensions will be significantly shorter for reasons of equity and consistency across all Yale Summer Session courses and to reflect the fact that summer courses are only five weeks in duration. If a student fails to meet the newly assigned deadline, they will receive a grade calculated without the benefit of the missing work. If an extension has not been authorized, the instructor shall record a grade for the student, which reflects the absence of any missing work.

A student will not be permitted to withdraw from a course after the final day of the relevant five-week session at 5:00pm EDT, even if that student has been assigned a new deadline for outstanding work.

Independent Research in the Summer

Please see here for information about IDRS S300.

Students may enroll in only one independent research course per five-week session. For Yale College students, such courses count toward Yale College's limit on tutorial and independent research credits; see here.

Student Information and Privacy Rights

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) requires that Yale obtain your written consent before disclosing any personally identifiable information from your education records, except under certain specified circumstances. One of the exceptions to the consent requirement is appropriately designated "directory information," which Yale is free to disclose unless you have advised otherwise in accordance with Yale procedures. For additional information, students should review the University Registrar's Office's website on Rights and Privacy, see here, which includes the Yale University Statement on the Disclosure of Directory Information. Yale limits the disclosure of personal data to its employees on a need-to-know basis to ensure FERPA compliance.

Additional Notes for Yale College Students

Yale College students should review carefully the relevant paragraphs in Section K of the Academic Regulations in the Yale College Programs of Study.

There is no limit on the number of Yale Summer Session courses that a Yale College student may offer toward the requirements of the Yale College degree. Beginning in summer 2022, there is no limit on the number of Yale Summer Session online courses that a Yale College student may count toward the requirements of the Yale College degree; students may take up to four Yale Summer Session online courses per summer, two per five-week session.

Attendance at Yale Summer Session does not constitute a term of enrollment in Yale College.

For Yale College students, courses in Yale Summer Session will be automatically entered on a student's Yale College record and included in, among other things, the calculation of the student's eligibility for General Honors and Distinction in the Major. This includes courses taken by admitted Yale College students after their admission to, and prior to their first term of enrollment in, Yale College. Grades for Yale Summer Session courses in 2017 and later can no longer be suppressed. Yale College students who competed Yale Summer Session courses as high school students, before their admission to Yale College, may remove those courses from their Yale College record on request, provided that those courses were not used for promotion.

Committee on Academic Affairs

Yale Summer Session deadlines and regulations are established and enforced to maintain consistency and fairness across all Yale Summer Session courses and students, and it is expected that students and instructors take them seriously. The Yale Summer Session Committee on Academic Affairs interprets, applies, and enforces Yale Summer Session's academic regulations. If students have questions or concerns about their individual circumstances, they should consult promptly with the Dean of International and Summer Programs for Yale College as Chair of the Committee.

Amendments

Yale Summer Session, Yale College, and the University reserve the right to amend or supplement these regulations at any time upon such notice to students as they deem appropriate.