Open Studies

An Open Studies (OS) student is any individual who has been pre-approved by the Registrar's Office (via OS application) to take courses with the University of Lethbridge (any campus) for their intended semester of study without being formally admitted into an established credential program. That is, OS is a temporary enrollment status to which such students are in-turn considered to be "unclassified" with the university.

Applying as an OS student (any ULETH campus) is

1. Apply virtually via this E-form as the very first step.
   • Download this form onto your personal device in order to activate its fillable features (personal laptop or PC works best), complete, and send as an email attachment to the uLethbridge Student Enrollment & Registrar Services (SEARS) Office (regoffice@uleth.ca) for processing.
   • The OS application itself will entail its own non-refundable $140.00 CAD processing fee, per form
     • The most efficient and convenient way to pay the non-refundable $140 OS application fee would be to:
       • Call the SEARS office after emailing your completed form to them at 1-403-320-5700 (City of Lethbridge number) during their normal hours of operation (8:30am - 4:30pm, Mon-Fri); and
       • Subsequently provide a valid credit card number (Canadian VISA or Mastercard) to the answering staff member over the phone

• Course registration privileges via the university's web-based information system, the Bridge, will only be granted to OS students AFTER their application form and payment for the desired semester have been successfully processed by a SEARS staff member
  • Always consult the university's online Academic Schedule to determine when the precise OS registration period for an approaching semester will take place
    • The OS registration period will normally first open to all pre-approved students within a 2-4 week window leading up to start of classes for the designated semester, and will subsequently close after the first week of classes has ended.
    • OS students will always be LAST on the university's priority registration ladder for a given semester (when compared to active credential program students)
  • How-To Register Guide
    • The Bridge has an automated control that will prohibit students from registering into courses where they lack the appropriate Calendar-mandated requisite conditions
    • How to Decipher a Timetable Entry handout
    • The ULETH Registrar's Office's Registration Videos
    • List of common Registration Error Messages and their reasons
  • Course pre-requisite information (via the university's online Course Catalogues)
    • Updated every year
    • Select appropriate academic-level
• uLethbridge online, public-access Timetable/Dynamic Schedule
  • Displays the confirmed roster of available course and registrable section offerings for both approaching and historic semesters
    • The Timetable/Dynamic Schedule will also display other pertinent information such as: campus location (Lethbridge, Calgary, or Online), scheduled days of the week and blocked time slots for class lecture sessions (where applicable), primary instructor's ULETH email address, and course delivery modalities (e.g. online, in-person in Lethbridge, in-person in Calgary, blended, off-site), among others
  • Updated in real-time by the SEARS Office as new information becomes available, where appropriate, up until the first day of classes
  • Class Search Tip: After selecting the appropriate term, highlight ALL available line items within the "Subject" box (from Aboriginal Health to Writing) and additionally filter your query by the appropriate Instructional Method (i.e. OL-Online Offering) and/or Campus (i.e. Calgary Campus or Online Campus) field selections. Leave all other areas at their default values.

Any courses that are taken and successfully completed while under OS status MAY be used for eventual credit towards the current curriculum of an existing uLethbridge degree or certificate program, provided that said student eventually submits a formal application for admission via the appropriate online system (ApplyAlberta for undergraduate admission OR CollegeNET/ApplyWeb for graduate admission) during an active application period and is subsequently deemed by the university to be admissible into the desired program of interest.