Environmental Health Sciences

As per the guidelines provided by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, all EHS PhD students must be continuously registered until all degree requirements are completed. Registration fees vary depending on stage of training and other administrative details. Tuition is calculated on a flat-fee basis, and not by individual course.

Registration for a Residence Unit (RU) entitles the student to take an unlimited number of courses during a semester. First and second year students must register for a full RU each semester. Students must complete six full RUs to be eligible for a PhD degree*. Students registered for a full RU are considered full-time. While the RU is not itself a course, it is assigned a course ID number for registration purposes. RUs may only be earned during fall and spring semesters, not during the summer. If you are interested in taking summer courses, please contact the Academic Program Manager for more information.

After completing all required courses and RUs, GSAS students must still fulfill remaining degree requirements, which may include the qualifying examination and typically the dissertation. At this point, students maintain continuous registration through one of two ways: Extended Residency (ER) or Matriculation and Facilities (M&F), based on the following guidelines; students who:

1. hold a University teaching or research appointment must register for ER, or
2. are still taking the qualifying examination must register for ER, or
3. are writing or defending a dissertation may register for M&F if they (a) are not taking a course, or (b) are NOT appointed as a teaching or research fellow, or (c) have completed all degree requirements other than the dissertation.

Students registered for RU can take an unlimited number of courses. M&F entitles students to use university facilities but not to take courses.

Please visit the GSAS registration pages for additional information.

* Students who have an advanced degree (Master’s level or higher) in a related field must apply for advanced standing after successfully completing one semester of course work. GSAS usually grants two RUs (2 semesters) of advanced standing for an advanced degree. Those students who enter the program without an MA degree must apply for one through GSAS after completing 32 points of course work and 2 RUs. The MA application is available through GSAS.

Registration Procedures

To view the latest course registration information, please visit the Mailman School course listings. This site also typically includes prior semester course history.

Change of Program

The first two weeks of each semester are designated Change of Program period. Please refer to the Mailman School of Public Health Academic Calendar for the exact dates.

During this time, students are permitted to add any new class to their program without penalty. A late registration fee is charged for any class added after the change of program period has passed.

Cross Registration Policies

Students interested in cross-registration at another Columbia University school need two types of permission. First, they must obtain their advisor’s signature in order to verify that they have approval to apply this course to their degree program. Second, they must obtain permission from the school that offers the course in order to secure a space in such course. It is important to note that the process of obtaining permission to enroll in a course as a cross-registrant is overseen by the other school (not the Mailman School). Often, but not always, the other school provides a physical form that tracks this permission. Permission might rest with the instructor or the student affairs office at that school, or both. It is important for the student to contact that school about its process and how to obtain permission to enroll in a particular course.

After obtaining permission, students must bring this information, along with a registration form to the CUMC Registrar during the change of program period. The form is available online, however registration must be done is person in the Registrars Office, since students cannot add or drop non-public health courses online.

Add/Drop

After the add/drop period, which is typically about two weeks, students will need approval from both their advisor and the Office of Student Affairs to drop courses. Approved forms must be brought to 1-141 Black Building to be processed. Program changes must be made in person. For individual courses dropped after the last day of the change of program period, no adjustment of tuition will be made. There is also a date in the Academic Calendar after which courses may not be dropped.

Failure to attend classes or unofficial notification to the instructor does not constitute dropping a course and will result in a grade of UW (unofficial withdrawal). Courses can be dropped only through the change-of-program procedure described above.

School Policy on Incomplete Grades

Students who have a grade of incomplete (IN) have one year from the end of the semester of registration to complete the work. Additionally, students must complete an incomplete form (PDF) that is filed with the Office of Student Affairs to confirm the Incomplete status. Unless there is notification of change of grade from incomplete to letter grade the incomplete will automatically be converted to unofficial withdrawal (UW), defined as "student did not complete attendance and/or assignment, but failed to withdraw." Under very special circumstances, an instructor may grant an extension, usually for a specified period of time that is not more than six months. A grade of "UW" will not be changed to a passing grade. In most cases a student will have to register again for the course to complete the requirement. UW results in no grade or loss of credit and no refund.