Registrar's Office

Active students maintain the degree requirements under which they were most recently admitted, are eligible to register and to use University resources, including the library, computer labs, academic advising, thesis/dissertation committee support, etc. Students who fall inactive must be readmitted to be eligible to register again. If readmitted, they must meet the degree requirements in effect upon readmission, not the requirements in effect at the time of their original admission. Active status is determined by registration activity.

Students lose their active status under the following conditions, unless they are on a Leave of Absence:

• BA and ACTCM students fall inactive if they do not register every semester, including Summer.
• PsyD students fall inactive if they do not register every semester, including Summer; once they advance to candidacy, however, registration in Summer is not required to maintain active status.
• All other students fall inactive if they do not register every Fall and Spring.
  Students on a Leave of Absence fall inactive student if they do not register in the semester immediately following the Leave. Summer registration is required only within the conditions listed above.

It is possible to maintain active student status and still be placed on academic probation for exceeding the University's advancement to candidacy and/or graduation time limit. See the Academic Policies section of the Course Catalog.

All registrations must be conducted by the Add Deadline, including for any courses that begin after the deadline. If serious extenuating circumstances occur, appeals may be submitted to the department or program chair. Students must explain, in writing, why an exception is warranted, the circumstances which caused the deadline to be missed, and the steps they take to avoid missing it in the future and include, if appropriate, supporting documentation such as a letter from a physician. Both the chair and the instructor must approve. Submit the appeal to the Registrar's Office, along with a Registration Form signed by the instructor and the chair. The Office of Student Accounts must confirm that payment has been received before the Registrar's Office can process the registration.

A drop is conducted before the semester's Drop Deadline. Students may drop online through Self-Service or by submitting a Registration Form to the Registrar's Office. Notification of a drop, written or otherwise, to the instructor, program staff, or any other CIIS office is insufficient. A drop results in a 100 percent reversal of the course's tuition charge. Students dropping all of their semester's courses also have the Technology Fee and the Wellness Fee charges reversed.  

After the Drop Deadline, students may no longer drop courses, even for courses that begin after the Drop Deadline. They may withdraw if they have the instructor's written consent. A withdrawal results in a W on the transcript. To withdraw, submit a Registration Form to the Registrar's Office, signed by the instructor or advisor. The official date of withdrawal is the date the form is received by the Registrar's Office. The Registrar's Office does not process add or withdrawal requests submitted after the class's final meeting. This is true even if the class finishes prior to the Add or Drop Deadlines. A partial reversal of the tuition charge may be possible depending on the date of the withdrawal. See the academic calendar for these deadlines, which are applicable regardless of when the dates the course begins and ends.

Any student may audit a class with the instructor's written approval. Registration is required; students may not sit in on a course for which they are not registered. Students who audit are not required to participate or to take examinations and do not receive credits or a letter grade. An AU is recorded on the transcript instead of a grade, which has no effect on the grade point average. Audited courses do not allow a student to maintain active student status or retain eligibility for financial aid. Students may register for a course in audit status, or change the registration of a course from academic status to audit status, starting on the first day of the semester up through the Add Deadline. It is not possible to change from audit status to academic status after the Add Deadline, even with the instructor's permission. Students auditing courses are exempt from the Late Registration Fee charge.

Authorized Early Registration allows students to secure course seats before regular registration opens. It must be approved in writing by the academic advisor and is reserved for students who are registering either in their final semester or, for Counseling Psychology students, the semester they must complete all pre-practicum courses. Only required courses may be registered for-not electives. It is not possible to conduct Authorized Early Registration online. Submit the Authorized Early Registration form.

1. Read Policies, Deadline, and Correspondence

CIIS, like all universities, must rely on its students to know its policies and deadlines. CIIS’ policies will not be identical to other colleges you’ve attended.  Ignorance of policies (i.e., “No one told me.”) are not grounds for an exception to them. Check the Catalog when it’s newly published each year, as policies change. Reminders are sent about deadlines, but do not depend on these.

CIIS issues all students an e-mail account and expects them to check it, to not share passwords, and to send correspondence from it. This ensure that you, and only you, are receiving the e-mails we send and that e-mails we receive are coming from you.

Policy Highlights

The registration deadlines apply to all courses, even shorter ones that start mid-semester.
Students may not sit in on courses for which they’re not registered. The only exception is during the first week of the semester, and only if they have the instructor’s consent.
Students who miss more than 20% of a course – including excused or unexcused absences – fail it. Three instances of being tardy are equivalent to one absence.
Students wanting a grade of Incomplete need to submit an Incomplete Grade Request Form to the instructor. A verbal or e-mail conversation with the instructor in which permission is granted is insufficient. The Registrar’s Office must receive this form from the instructor by the grade submission deadline.

2. Conduct Your Own Transactions

Students are expected to complete their registration activity by the registration deadlines, which are found in the academic calendar. Adding courses afterward requires a hard copy registration and a written appeal, approved by the instructor and the program chair. Withdrawing from a course requires a hard copy registration form with the instructor’s signature. The date of a transaction is the date the Registrar’s Office receives it. Obtain all signatures on forms before submitting them, as the Registrar’s Office does not hold forms in a pending status. Students who rely on others – faculty members, program coordinators, other students, etc. – to submit their forms usually have problems.

3. Check Your Record Regularly

The unofficial transcript can be viewed anytime at no charge. Check to confirm your registration transactions are correct and your grades appear. The Registrar’s Office reaches out to instructors with missing grades and, after the submission deadline, students should do the same. A missing grade will prevent the degree from being conferred, even if the course isn’t a required one, and may also have future financial aid eligibility consequences.

Students are held to the degree requirements in their Catalog of the year of their admission (or re-admission). Consult this before registering. Any course that does not fulfill a requirement does not contribute to the half-time enrollments status minimum that qualifies a student for financial aid. To request an exception to the requirements, submit the Program Modification form, signed by your program chair, to the Registrar’s Office.

If you put yourself on a waitlist, check your CIIS student email account regularly. Should a seat become availalbe, the Registrar’s Office emails the student, inviting them to register for it within three days. If they do not register, they're dropped from the waitlist. They may add themselves back to the waitlsit but will be put at the bottom.

Students have until the last day of the following semester to dispute their records, after which, the record is locked.

This policy applies to certificates awarded by the University, as opposed to a program. The former are found in the Course Catalog; the latter are not.

To be eligible to be awarded a certificate, a student must fulfill all academic requirements and submit a Certificate Completion form and fee. Students cannot be awarded a certificate with missing or I (Incomplete) grades for the courses that are applicable to the certificate. Both the form and the fee must be submitted by the semester's graduation application deadline for the student to be eligible to be awarded the certificate in that semester. If the student fulfills the academic requirements but fails to submit the form by the semester's deadline, the certificate is not awarded in that semester. Similarly, if the student submits the form by the semester's application deadline but fails to fulfill the academic requirements by the end of that semester, the certificate is not awarded in that semester.

The Certificate Completion form remains valid for three consecutive semesters (Summer included). Students who fail to fulfill the academic requirements by the end of those three semesters must resubmit the form and fee. The form is invalid without the fee payment. The fee covers the cost of evaluating the fulfillment of the academic requirements, a certificate cover, an official transcript, and delivery and administrative-related expenses. It is nonrefundable, even if it is determined that the student is ineligible to be awarded the certificate. CIIS has three certificate award dates per year: the final day of the reporting semester, which covers both the SUS and SPPH/SCT calendars. The degree date will not be earlier in a semester, even if all academic requirements are met and the Certificate Completion form and fee are submitted.

The certificate and one copy of the official transcript are issued approximately three and a half months after the semester of completion. The certificate appears on the transcript approximately two months after the semester of completion. Students wanting additional copies of the transcript must submit a transcript request and applicable fee. CIIS does not release the official transcript or certificate or verify the student's certificate completion to third parties if the student has any outstanding financial obligations with CIIS and, if the student is not concurrently enrolled in a degree program, any outstanding Library materials.

The earning of a certificate does not qualify a student to be eligible to participate the commencement ceremony.

Students are expected to attend all class meetings regularly and punctually. Students may be assigned an F (Failure) or NP (No Pass) grade if they are absent for more than 20 percent of a course. This maximum includes both excused and unexcused absences. Three instances of tardiness or leaving early are considered equivalent to one absence. Instructors may permit a student to deviate from this rule on the grounds of illness necessitating confinement for 24 hours or more, a death in the family, or other extreme emergencies. The instructor may request verification of these circumstances by a letter from a medical professional, the Dean of Students, or the Provost as appropriate. Due to the nature of some courses, individual programs, departments, and instructors may enforce stricter policies than these. Check the program handbook and/or the syllabus of a course to see these policies.

While CIIS makes every effort to schedule the courses that will meet enrollment projections, at times we misjudge. With some exceptions, courses with fewer than nine students are canceled. The minimum for courses taught by two instructors is 12 students. (Two auditors are equivalent to one student.) Cancellation decisions are made between the semester's Late Registration Deadline and the Add Deadline. Students are notified by phone and/or email when a course for which they are registered is canceled. Every effort will be made by the University to provide another alternative. Students are not charged the Late Registration Fee if they subsequently register for another course. If a course is canceled, its tuition charge is fully reversed

All doctoral students must complete a dissertation, which includes both an oral defense component and publication.

Because the oral defense is a forum for faculty feedback, a dissertation committee can hold a defense only if the student is currently in Dissertation Seminar/Continuance or, if the defense takes place in-between semesters, if the student was in Dissertation Seminar/Continuance in the immediately preceding semester. Students defending during a Summer semester, or between a summer and fall semester, must be registered for Dissertation Seminar/Continuance in summer.

After students complete the oral defense, they must work with the Center for Writing and Scholarship (CWS) to fulfill the technical editing and publication requirements.

After the defense, students are no longer eligible to register for Dissertation Seminar/Continuance because the dissertation committee has concluded their feedback. The CWS can work only with registered students, so students who have not published their dissertations by the end of the semester must register in the next semester for DISS 900 Dissertation Publication. DISS 900 has a significantly lower tuition charge than Dissertation Seminar/Continuance but it is not classified by CIIS has at least half-time enrollment and so does not qualify the student for financial or to defer loan repayments.

Students are to register for DISS 900 if they have defended and either the full committee has signed off on the dissertation or if all committee members except the committee chair has signed off. If the chair has not signed off after one semester of DISS 900 and/or the student has not fulfilled the editing and/or publication requirements, the student must register for Dissertation Seminar/Continuance in the following semester.

After students complete the oral defense of their dissertations, they work with the Center for Writing and Scholarship (CWS) to fulfill the technical editing and publication requirements. After the defense, students are no longer eligible to register for Dissertation Seminar/Continuance because the dissertation committee has concluded their feedback. The CWS can work only with registered students, so students who have not published their dissertations by the end of the semester must register in the next semester for DISS 900 Dissertation Publication. DISS 900 has a significantly lower tuition charge than Dissertation Seminar/Continuance but it is not classified by CIIS has at least half-time enrollment and so does not qualify the student for financial or to defer loan repayments.

Students are to register for DISS 900 if they have defended and either the full committee has signed off on the dissertation or if all committee members except the committee chair has signed off. If the chair has not signed off after one semester of DISS 900 and/or the student has not fulfilled the editing and/or publication requirements, the student must register for Dissertation Seminar/Continuance in the following semester.

Authorized Early Registration allows students to secure course seats before regular registration opens. It must be approved in writing by the academic advisor and is reserved for students who are registering either in their final semester or, for Counseling Psychology students, the semester they must complete all pre-practicum courses. Only required courses may be registered for-not electives. It is not possible to conduct Authorized Early Registration online. Submit the Authorized Early Registration form.

Students who register after the Late Registration Deadline incur a late registration fee. This fee will not be charged if the student has registered for any courses before the deadline; if the course will be audited; or if it is the student’s first semester in the program.

All students must complete their registration activity by the semester’s Add Deadline, including for any courses that begin after this deadline. If serious extenuating circumstances occur, they may register afterward if they obtain the written approval of the instructor and their dept./program chair. These approvals do not guarantee that financial aid will be issued for the course’s tuition. Students must submit to the Registrar’s Office (1) a hard-copy registration form with the instructor’s and student’s department/program chair’s signatures; (2) an attached explanation as to why an exception to the add deadline is warranted, the circumstances that caused the deadline to be missed, and the necessary steps that will be taken to avoid a similar occurrence in the future, and, if appropriate, supporting documentation such as a letter from a physician.

The following are the maximum number of units students may register for per semester: 

• 16 for undergraduates
• 13 in fall or spring for graduate students
• 10 in summer for graduate students

Approval for overload registrations must be submitted in writing to the Registrar's Office. The approver for undergraduates is the dean of the School of Undergraduate Studies; for students in the School of Professional Psychology and Health, the approver is the academic advisor; for students in the School of Consciousness and Transformation, either the academic advisor or the department/program chair may provide approval. International students wishing to register for more than these units must also receive written approval from the International Student Advisor.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) requires international students on F-1 visas to carry a full-time course of study to remain in status. Any exceptions for less than a full-time load must be approved by the International Student Advisor.

Students’ enrollment statuses are dependent upon their academic division and either (1) the number of units registered for within the semester or (2) the type of course registered for. See the Enrollment Status Classification Table for complete information.

Registration Fee

The Registration Fee, listed in the Fees section on the Tuition and Fees page, is charged once per semester to all students who register. It is not refunded when students drop all courses, with the exception of in the first semester of the program.

Wellness Fee
A student wellness fee of $58 is charged each semester to all registrants. The wellness fee covers holistic and whole-person services for students during their time at CIIS. This may include one-on-one counseling, group counseling, wellness coaching, yoga and other movement courses (and access to a regularly updated video library of these courses), wellness through the arts, speakers and workshops, and more. This charge is reversed for registrants who drop all of their courses by the drop deadline.

Technology Fee
A technology fee of $105 is charged each semester to all registrants. This charge is reversed for registrants who drop all of their courses. This fee supports student learning and educational opportunities at CIIS. This contributes to computer labs, the student information system, the online learning platform, wireless access, and electronic library materials as well as equipment, software, licenses, servers, firewalls, back-ups, and upgrades. CIIS seeks to continually stay abreast of current standards and to maintain efficient and effective technological resources. This charge is reversed for registrants who drop all of their courses.

Retreats & Intensives
Many CIIS academic programs host off-campus residential activities that are part of the student's academic requirements. They afford the opportunity for close interaction among students and faculty and experiential learning in an intensive setting. Retreat fees for lodging and meals are charged as separate fees. Because CIIS must arrange advance contracts with retreat sites, exceptions for these fees can be considered only in situations where students have a medical reason or family emergency, supported by licensed professional documentation, to decline lodging and/or meals at the retreat site. Requests to decline lodging or meal fees must be submitted to the Financial Petition Committee (FPC) within ninety days of the last day of the retreat. Approval by the manager/coordinator for an exemption from retreat site lodging and/or meals does not guarantee approval by the FPC of an exemption from fee payment. Programs reserve the right to enforce stricter policies than this, as long as they are made known to students prior to participation in the retreat.    

An independent study is defined as coursework designed to meet a program requirement or to extend a student's field of inquiry beyond current University courses. To register, submit an Independent Study Contract with the syllabus attached to the Registrar's Office. The following are the policies governing independent studies:

1. Graduate students must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher; undergraduates, 2.0 or higher.
2. The faculty member's field of interest must be compatible with the proposed area of study.
3. No faculty member is under obligation to accept independent study students.
4. An independent study that has content similar to a course already offered in the current CIIS Catalog will not be approved except in unusual circumstances. Approval is given by the department/program chair, not the instructor.
5. A maximum of one-sixth of a graduate student's total unit requirements may be satisfied by independent study credit; a maximum of nine units of an undergraduate student's total unit requirements may be satisfied by independent study credit.
6. A maximum of three units of independent study credit may be taken in any one semester.
7. An independent study may be taken for a pass/no pass grade only.
8. The Independent Study Contract must include the plan of study and the specific responsibilities of the student and the instructor. The student is expected to complete a minimum of 45 hours of work for each unit of credit awarded.
9. The contract must be signed by the chair of the student's department/program.
10. It is the student's responsibility to submit the original of the completed contract to the Registrar's Office and a copy to his or her academic program's office by the semester's regular registration deadlines.
11. An independent study is subject to the same registration, grading, and other deadlines and policies as regular courses.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) requires international students on F-1 visas to carry a full-time course of study to remain in status. Any exceptions for less than a full-time load must be approved by the International Student Advisor. See the Enrollment Status Classifications section.

Counseling Psychology students registering for practicum must submit a Supervised Fieldwork Agreement to the CIIS Field Placement Office signed by their site supervisor, clinic director, and program chair. Clinical Psychology students must submit a Practicum Contract to the PsyD Department signed by their site supervisor, clinic director, and academic advisor. The agreement or contract may be submitted before the semester begins, but should be submitted as early in the semester as possible. If not on file by the end of the semester, the student receives a No Pass grade and is required to repeat the practicum. Counseling Psychology students must register for practicum each semester they are in practicum. This is done by submitting the Individual or Pre/Post Practicum Registration Form or, for Group Practicum, by registering online.

Registration into some courses is restricted to students in certain programs until the Program Priority Registration Deadline, after which registration becomes open to all students. For instance, only students in the East-West Psychology program may register into EWP 6051 before the Program Priority Deadline; after the deadline, registration become available to both EWP and non-EWP students. Such courses have a prerequisite of "Priority to..."

This policy applies only to repeated courses in which the initial course was taken in or after Fall 2011. A student's academic history prior to then is not taken into consideration. Prior to Fall 2011, the grades for each instance of a repeated course contribute to the GPA.

A student may earn credit for a course only once, with the following exceptions: 

• Special Topics (___8888) courses which are designed to have changing content and so may be repeated with different subject matter;
• Supervised Clinical Practicum (MCP_ 7601, 7602, 7604, 7605, 7606);
• Arts Practice courses (MFA 7202-7205) and Master of Fine Arts Project courses (MFA 7712); and
• Courses in which enrollment reflects participation in on-going research (e.g., SOM 6717, PSY 7000, PSY 7900).
   

A student who does not earn a passing grade in a required course must either repeat the course or otherwise satisfy the requirement as prescribed by the student's advisor or department/program chair. 

• Undergraduate students may repeat an elective or general education course once in which they received grades of D, F, or NP. Both the original and repeated course appears on the transcript but only the repeated grade is calculated into the grade point average (even if that grade was lower the second time) and counts as units toward graduation. Undergraduate students who receive a grade of NP in one or more of the linked core courses taken during a semester must repeat all of the linked core courses in a subsequent semester. 
• Graduate students may repeat a course once in which a grade of B- or lower was received in order to meet graduation requirements (the Clinical Psychology and Anthropology and Social Change departments require that all courses in which a student receive a grade of B- or lower be repeated). Repeating a course does not expunge the earlier attempt from the student's record but may improve the grade point average if the second grade was an improvement over the first. Both grades remain on the transcript but only the second grade is calculated into the grade point average and counted as credit earned toward graduation.

Students may not sit in on a course for which they are not registered. The only exception is before the Add/Drop Deadline and only with instructor's permission. Students may not sit in on a course in order to make up coursework for a course for which the've received an "I" [Incomplete] grade in a previous semester. Students waitlisted for online or virtualized courses may be given access to the online course space between the start of the semester and the Add Deadline by submitting a request to the Office of Online Learning at onlinelearningsupport@ciis.edu. If they are not registered for the course after the Add Deadline, their access is closed out.

Special Students who had previously been matriculated in a CIIS degree or certificate program are eligible for the Alumni Discount if they completed at least 18 units in that program with satisfactory grades. A satisfactory grade is defined as a P or higher or, for graduate students, a B or higher and, for undergraduate students, a C or higher. It is not necessary to have graduated from the progrm. This definition of "alumni" is appplicable to this particular discount only; consult Alumni Relations for eligibility criteria on other offerings. See Tuition and Fees for the Alumni Discount rate. 

Individuals who wish to take courses without being in a program may apply for a Special Student status. To register, submit the Special Student Application signed by the chair(s) of the program(s) in which the course(s) are housed.
The following policies apply to Special Students:
 

1. Special Student registration does not constitute admission to CIIS.
2. Students registered in Special Student status are not eligible for financial aid.
3. Students registered in Special Student status are not eligible to register for independent studies.
4. Students registered in Special Student status are not eligible to earn an academic certificate. Those seeking an academic certificate must submit an Application for Admission.
5. Special Student status remains active for one semester. Special Students must resubmit the Special Student Application every semester that they intend to register.
   Special Students are allowed to choose between credit and audit for each course they register for.
6. Special Students must have their registration approved by the department/program chair in which the course is housed. Special Students are encouraged to bring copies of transcripts to help establish their eligibility for enrollment in courses.
7. Special Students must have earned a high school diploma or GED to be eligible to take undergraduate courses, and their diploma/GED must be declared on the Special Student Application. Special Students may take elective undergraduate courses only, not courses reserved for undergraduate cohort students.
8. Special Students must have earned a bachelor's degree to be eligible to take graduate courses, and this degree must be declared on the Special Student Application.
9. Special Students may take graduate courses in audit status without having earned a bachelor's degree if permission is given by the department/program chair in which the course is housed.
10. Special Students are required to be in satisfactory academic standing to enroll and to remain enrolled. Evidence of satisfactory academic standing is determined in the following manner: Undergraduate students: A minimum 2.00 grade point average per semester and no more than two grades of C-, D+, D, D-, F, NP, I, IN, NS, or AW.
    Graduate students: A minimum 3.00 grade point average per semester and not more than two grade of B-, C+, C, C-, D, F, NP, I, IN, NS, or AW.
11. The maximum number of credit hours taken as a Special Student that may apply to a program upon admission to CIIS is limited to one-sixth of the credits required for the program.

If a course receives too many enrollments, a wait list will be created. Students will be notified via email in order of the list and will have three days to register. Any student who fails to register within that time will be dropped from the list.

Students still on the waitlist by the semester start date may attend the first class with the instructor’s permission. If the instructor grants permission to register, submit a Registration Form for them to sign and submit it to the Registrar’s Office.

Students may withdraw from the University by submitting the Withdrawal from CIIS form to the Registrar's Office. They should also notify their academic advisor and program manager/coordinator; confirm with the Library that they have no outstanding materials or fines; confirm with the Student Accounts Office that they have no outstanding financial obligations; if they are a financial aid recipient, they should conduct an exit interview with the Financial Aid Office; and, if they are an international students, they should confirm with the International Student Advisor the impact the withdrawal will have on their visa status.

Upon receiving the form, the Registrar's Office notifies the student's academic advisor, department/program chair, and program manager/coordinator; the Library; the Business Office; the Financial Aid Office; the Dean of Student's Office; and, for international students, the International Student Advisor. If the student has any unmet obligations, the relevant office will contact the student. CIIS does not release official transcripts of students who have outstanding financial obligations or library materials or fines, or financial aid recipients who have not conducted a financial aid exit interview.

The Dean of Students contact students to give them an opportunity to explain their reasons for withdrawing so that CIIS may assess any needed areas of improvement, and to be sure the student is aware of all CIIS resources which might allow them to continue.

Per Department of Education regulations, higher education institutions must return a student's loan within 45 days of the student notifying an institute official of the decision to withdraw. Any CIIS staff or faculty member who receives such a notification contacts the Registrar's Office, who contacts the student to request written verification of the decision. If the student confirms or does not respond within one week, the Registrar's Office withdraws the student from the University, including from any courses.

Students may change their name in CIIS's student information system and on their official transcript by submitting a Personal Information Update Form to the Registrar's Office in person, by mail, or by fax. The request must include a photocopy of one of the following:

• Marriage license or divorce decree
• Court order
• Driver’s license
• Certificate of naturalization
• Permanent resident card
• Valid (current) passport
• Uniformed service military ID

To make any changes online, log into Self Service, click on User Profile, and update any relevant fields. Students may also submit an address change in person to the Registrar’s Office, but must show either their CIIS student ID or a government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license or passport.

From the university's founding through Summer 1994 all courses were graduate level and numbered within the 100-999 range.

In Fall 1994, CIIS introduced its bachelor's degree completion program. From Fall 1994 to Summer 2000, course numbers ranging from 300-499 indicate upper-division undergraduate level; those ranging from 500-999 indicate graduate level.

From Fall 2000 to the present, a fourth digit was added to the course numbers. The 1000-4999 range indicates upper-division undergraduate level; the 5000-9999 range indicates graduate level.

CIIS offers workshops to the public on themes related to the university’s mission. In Fall 1993, CIIS began offering a subset of these for academic credit to its matriculated students. From Fall 1993 to Summer 2000, these workshops were assigned course numbers within the 001-999 range, and from Fall 2000 to the present, in the 0001-9999 range. All these workshops bestow graduate-level credit.

The following policies apply to an LOA:

• Students are not eligible to take an LOA until they have completed at least one semester.
• A student must be in good academic standing to be granted an LOA.
• An LOA must be approved by the academic advisor and is granted only for extenuating circumstances, such as a medical, family, or job issue.
• An LOA is not granted for more than one year at a a time. An extension may be granted at the end of an LOA, but the total cumulative amount of time on an LOA from one program may not exceed two years.
• The period on an LOA is included in the calculation of elapsed time under the time limits for degree requirements. An LOA does not extend these limits.
• An LOA does not extend the deadline for the completion of an "I" [Incomplete] grade.
• The LOA form must be submitted to the Registrar's Office, with all necessary signatures, by the semester's Drop Deadline. Forms submitted afterward will not be processed.
• While on an LOA, students are restricted in their use of the Library; though they may visit the Library, they may not check out materials, reserve student study rooms, have full access to all Library services, or have remote access to electronic resources provided by the Library. Restrictions also apply to faculty response; while on LOA, students may not request that faculty review their written work.
• Students who do not register for courses after the LOA has ended fall inactive and must be readmitted to be eligible to resume. See the Maintaining Active Student Status policy.
  Before registering for courses after the LOA, students need to contact the Registrar's Office and request the LOA hold be lifted. 
• It is permissible to return from an LOA prematurely.

Official transcripts, either hard copy or electronic, can be ordered for a fee using this form. Bulk and rush services are available.

Unofficial transcripts are available only to current students, allowing them to view their records while still eligible to dispute any discrepancies. To access unofficial transcripts, go to Self-Service, navigate to the sidebar, and click on the Unofficial Transcript link under the Academic heading.

The Registrar's Office will issue, upon request, notarized copies of diplomas and/or transcripts which may then submitted to the California Secretary of State to obtain an apostille. Please note, we do not issue such copies to the Secretary directly. Via mail or email, submit a hand-signed request for your diploma and/or transcript to be notarized, stating the address to which the documents are to be mailed. You may either include a copy of your diploma or ask the Registrar's Office to produce the copy.

• Notarization: $10
• Duplicate diploma: $50

Contact the Office of Student Accounts at studentaccounts@ciis.edu or 415.575.6162 to arrange payment.

Certificates awarded by CIIS, which are listed in the catalog, are subject to the below guidelines. Certain CIIS programs also issue certificates that do not require the below procedures; please consult individual programs for additional details.

To be eligible to be awarded a certificate, a student must fulfill all academic requirements and submit a Certificate Completion form and fee. Students cannot be awarded a certificate with missing or I (Incomplete) grades for the courses that are applicable to the certificate. Both the form and the fee must be submitted by the semester's graduation application deadline for the student to be eligible to be awarded the certificate in that semester. If the student fulfills the academic requirements but fails to submit the form and nonrefundable fee by the semester's deadline, the certificate is not awarded in that semester.

The Certificate Completion form remains valid for three consecutive semesters (summer included). Students who fail to fulfill the academic requirements by the end of those three semesters must resubmit the form and fee. The certificate and one copy of the official transcript are issued approximately three and a half months after the semester of completion. 

Certificates do not qualify a student to participate in the commencement ceremony.