Search for courses

Accessing Course Search & Enroll

Public access (available to anyone regardless of admission status)

This link is for browsing purposes only. If you haven’t been admitted, this is a great place to start. You will not be able to enroll in courses through this link.

Admitted student access

If you have been admitted this link will give you access to the Course Search and Enroll app. You will be able to save courses of interest using this link. You can also login to MyUW, then select the Course Search & Enroll widget.

The search tips here can be used in both the public and student class search versions.

Searching for courses

Before you begin your search, choose a term using the term selection drop-down menu.

History and History of Science courses

The Department of History maintains a list of courses available for auditing. Use this list to find courses and then follow the other instructions on this webpage for finding additional information on each course.

Detail of the search for courses application with the term selection box outlined.

Using filters to search

There are many filters you can use to find courses. We have found that searching by subject and/or keywords works best for Senior Guest auditors. We will demonstrate how to use the filters: Subject and Keywords, as well as filtering your search by subject and keywords combined.

Seats filter
It is recommended that you select all three of the seat options for the Seats filter. Please note, just because a class indicates it is open does not mean you will be granted permission to enroll.

Search by subject filter

As an example, Ace Auditor is interested in astronomy courses. He starts with a search using the subject astronomy to find all courses offered for the term in that department. He has selected all the seat options (Open, Wait listed, Closed) as we recommend.

Course search and enroll app detail with the subject section highlighted and check marks selected for all three seats options, open, wait listed, and closed.

Search by subject and keywords filters together

Next, Ace enters the keywords “black” and  “holes,” since he is interested in this particular topic within astronomy. This narrows down the search to courses that have the words “black” and “holes” in the title or description.

Detail of the course search and enroll app with both subject and keywords highlighted. Two results are shown, Aston 170 The Dark Side of the Universe: The Great Cosmic Mysteries from Black Holes to Dark Energy, and Astron 103 The Evolving Universe: Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmology

Search by keywords filter

Annie Auditor heard about a food systems class but she doesn’t know the exact name or the department title. She can search for food system courses using the keyword search and leaving the subject filter blank. This brings up classes that include her keywords across many different departments.

Examples of other terms you can use for a keyword search:

  • Instructor name
  • Class title
  • Course descriptions

For hints on how best to use the keyword search, the registrar provides information on Searching with keywords.

Course search and enroll app detail with the keyword section highlighted. There is no subject selected and the keywords, food systems are typed in to the keyword section. The first 5 classes of 683 results are shown.

Search for online courses

Andy Auditor wants to search for online classes. To do this he uses the Mode of Instruction filter and select Online All for both synchronous and asynchronous courses. In the results, Andy will see both synchronous and asynchronous courses.

  • Synchronous courses will have date and time listed
  • Asynchronous courses will not have date and time listed
Screenshot showing the Mode of Instruction filter highlighted with Online only (All) selected.

Accessing more course information

Annie has found a course she would like to audit. She selects that course by clicking on it. There she can read the course description.

In order to see class sections, location, and instructor, Annie clicks the blue See sections button.

This course has only one section. By clicking the arrow to the left of LEC 001, Annie can see the days and times the class meets and which classroom it is in.

Detail of course search and enroll app with the course Sociology 341 selected and showing the course description as an example.
Course search enroll app with See sections button on the left side of the image highlighted.
Detail highlighting the Sociology 341 section information, SectionL Lec 001, Day/Time: MW 4:00 pm - 5:15 pm, Location: 10 Agricultural Hall, Instructor: Nan Enstad, Credit 3.00 Cr, Seats: green circle with a check mark indicating there are seats open. The instructor's email is also shown along with the 5-digit course number.

Ace looks at the sections for Astron 103. This course has two lecture (LEC) sections. From here, he can see the days and times the lectures meet, what room the lectures are in, and the instructor’s name.

Highlight of the course search and enroll app detail with lectures shown. Lectures 001 and 002 including the day/time, location, and instructor for both lectures.

In order to find additional information about the course, Ace selects DIS 303 (discussion section 303) for LEC 001, and then clicks the arrow to the left of DIS 303. The instructor’s email address is found here. He will need this for the permission-to-enroll request.

Highlight showing multiple discussion sections under Lecture 001. Dis 301, 302, and 303 and including the day/time, location, instructor, credits, and seats open status for each discussion.

Next steps

After finding a course you would like to audit, please write down all the course information. You will need this information for the permission-to-enroll request form. Make note of:

  • Subject and number, e.g. Astron 103
  • Section number for lecture, e.g. LEC 1
  • Course name, e.g. The Evolving Universe
  • Instructor’s name and email address
  • Day and time of course

The permission-to-enroll request can be found on our website and is usually available two weeks before the start of the term.

In addition to writing down the information, if you are admitted for the term, you can save courses of interest by logging into Course Search & Enroll using your NetID and password.

Senior Guest auditors enroll the first day of the term.

person's hand writing in a notebook at a computer