Frequently Asked Questions

The calendar is available on the Catalogs and Course Schedules page and in the front of the academic graduate and undergraduate catalogs.  These dates are also published in "The Translation."

You should pick up a "CHANGE OF MAJOR/MINOR/CONCENTRATIONS FORM" in the Registrar's Office.  Fill it out, and get signatures from your academic advisors for your old major/minor/concentration and your new one(s) with the date of change.  Return the form to the Registrar's Office for data input.

Classes can be added for five days in a normal ten-week term.  Classes can be added for two days for five-week term courses and until noon of the first day for one-week courses. 

Details about dropping courses should be checked in the Business Office.  A schedule for penalties and fees is provided for each term.  One week terms must be dropped by noon of the first day for a refund.  A "drop fee" will be charged when hours decrease in number.  

A drop is for one course or more, but still enrolled; a withdrawal is withdrawing from all of your courses and the university.  Review the Impact on Financial Aid information here.

You should void your registration as soon as you know that you will not be attending.  The earlier the better!  You must void from your Indigo Student Portal.  After logging in, click on FORMS.  Select yes, if you are withdrawing from the Trimester Term listed.  Select no, if you need to change the trimester term listed. Complete the form and hit submit. 

The request will be received by the Registrar’s Office and your records will be updated accordingly.   Campus Housing, Financial Aid and the Business Offices will be notified of your request to void.  It will take 2 – 3 business days to see the changes in your Indigo Student Portal.   To avoid charges, void requests must be submitted before the term begins.  Contact the Business office for more information about fees 601-318-6127.

If you are an undergraduate, have been out one trimester or more, you must re-apply in the Admissions Office.  If you are a graduate student, please contact Graduate Admissions.

Course and grade appeals must be initiated on the appropriate form within 10 working days of the beginning of the subsequent term. The Grade Appeal Form must be picked up in the office of the Vice-President for Academic Affairs.

A maximum of 64 hours may be earned in a two-year college to be applied toward a degree at WCU requiring 128 hours. Those degrees requiring 120 hours limit the number of junior college transfer credits for that degree to 60 hours.

You must be accepted, enrolled, complete in Admissions, and attending classes before your transcripts from other schools will be evaluated.

You must get a Letter of Good Standing from the office of the Vice-President for Academic Affairs for permission to take the course.  When you have completed the course, an official transcript should be furnished to the Registrar's Office at William Carey. (Remember:  your last thirty-two hours for a 128-hour degree and/or thirty hours for a 120-hour degree must be earned at WCU.)

Once you are enrolled at WCU, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy (FERPA) protects you with privacy of all your records except general directory information.  To release information to a third party, you must sign the third party waiver (copy on this website titled  AUTHORIZATION TO DISCLOSE INFORMATION TO THIRD PARTY ) in the presence of a Business Office or Registrar's Office employee, who will also sign the waiver.  Then the person(s) you name on the waiver will be allowed to discuss matters with WCU personnel concerning your records.  This will cover both financial and academic records.

Yes. You may register online in the Indigo Portal. If you are a new student, you will need to verify that you are eligible to register online using the myStatus email messages. Some holds on your account my prevent online registration at any time.  myStatus should explain any holds throughout your enrollment at WCU.

Yes, you may make changes without financial penalty during the two weeks of pre-registration and advisement for a term.  After the two-week period, you may change your schedule, but some drop fees may apply.

All degree verifications from WCU are done through the National Student Clearinghouse.  Details are available here.

Enrollment verifications are also done through the National Student Clearinghouse.  Forms may be filled out in the Registrar's Office.  These will be sent to the Clearinghouse for verification.  Some verifications may be done in the Registrar's Office.  You may call for this information.  (601-318-6195) You may also access your own enrollment verification information on the Indigo Portal.  (Student Self-Service)

Application for Degree forms are posted on the Registrar's website for most degrees.  If you do not find the application for your degree, you will have to see your advisor in your department, as some advisors and deans prefer that you see them before making application.  You should list all courses required for your degree, and download the form.  You should have your advisors in your major and minor sign the form, and your signature is required.  You must turn in your application for degree to the Registrar's office before the application deadline.  These dates are October 15 for the May graduations and March 31 for the August graduations.  There is a graduation fee plus fees for your cap and gown.  You will be fitted and pay for your cap and gown in the bookstore.  Make sure your WCU account is paid by the posted deadline, or you will not receive your diploma, due to unpaid fees.

If you miss the first deadline, you have an additional period to pay a late fee (plus the original fee).  If you miss the second and final deadline, you must wait and participate in the next scheduled graduation ceremony.  Please check with the Registrar's Office or the school calendar for the dates of the second and final deadlines.  These dates are posted in several places for your convenience.

You can apply on or before, but no later than, July 15th to receive your diploma in November and on or before, but no later than, October 15th to receive your diploma in February. This decision is final; once you have applied for one of these dates and turned in a waiver form with your degree application, you cannot change your mind and decide to participate in a formal ceremony. There are no late deadlines; these dates are firm. Graduation fees are the same, and late fees are not applicable with these dates.

Diplomas will be given out in Tatum Court outside the Registrar's Office on the Hattiesburg campus immediately following each graduation ceremony.  If graduation ceremonies are held on other campuses, a designated area will be announced for distribution of diplomas.  Should there be any problems with grades or fees, the diploma will be held until the problems are cleared.  If you have been given permission to  "graduate in absentia," (see below), your diploma may be mailed to you with a nominal fee, or may be picked up in the Hattiesburg Registrar's office the week following the graduation ceremony.

A degree statement will be posted on your transcript by the end of the week following graduation ceremonies.

Yes.  Degrees are not conferred  in absentia , except by special permission of the Vice-President for Academic Affairs.

You may go online to your Indigo Portal to the section marked "Forms."  There is a form to request to "graduate in absentia ."  You may fill that out with your reason for the request and submit it online.  If permission is granted, you will be given further instructions.

A detailed letter will be sent to each graduate before the ceremony.  The regalia will be mailed or picked up from the bookstore prior to the ceremony.  Since May, 2008, caps and gowns have been purchased by the graduates and do not have to be returned.