Special Student Status Application

What Is a Special Student?

A special student is a non-degree-seeking student who wishes to take an undergraduate course or courses at Lewis & Clark’s College of Arts and Sciences for academic credit. Special student admission does not constitute admission to the college as a degree-seeking student. A student who is admitted to Lewis & Clark College as a special student may register only for the semester indicated in their acceptance letter. Students who wish to maintain special student status in subsequent semesters must reapply for each term. Semester application deadlines are as follows:

• Fall semester application deadline: July 31
• Spring semester application deadline: November 25

Who May Apply to be a Special Student?

College graduates, current college students, and those who have completed high school or earned their high school equivalency are eligible to apply as a special student. Exceptional students who have not yet graduated from high school may be considered for special student admission if they have a 3.75 overall GPA at minimum and have exceeded their high school’s curricular offerings in the subject they wish to take at Lewis & Clark.

• If you are planning to pursue an undergraduate degree at Lewis & Clark, you should apply as a regular candidate. Special student admission does not constitute admission to the college as a degree-seeking student.
• If you wish to take undergraduate summer classes at Lewis & Clark, do not apply as a special student. Visit the Summer Sessions page for information about summer classes at Lewis & Clark.
• If you wish to audit an undergraduate course at Lewis & Clark without earning academic credit, please be aware auditing of undergraduate courses is not allowed during the academic year. Auditing of summer courses may be possible. Visit the Summer Sessions page for more information.
• If you are interested in graduate-level courses, please contact the Graduate School of Education and Counseling or the Law School directly.
• Current employees or dependents of employees who want to take undergraduate courses on a non-degree-seeking basis must apply as special students. Before applying, employees and their dependents should contact Human Resources about their eligibility for the tuition waiver benefit.

Costs

Special student tuition is based on semester hours. Tuition for the 2024–25 academic year is $3,220 per semester hour; a special student enrolled in one four-semester-hour class for 2024–25 would pay $12,880. Most Lewis & Clark classes are four semester hours. All tuition costs and course fees are due at the time of registration. No discount is offered, and no financial assistance through the college is available to special students.

Registration

Special students register for courses on the first day of the semester, after Lewis & Clark degree-seeking students have registered. Courses are subject to availability and we cannot guarantee your preferred
course(s) will have space available for you. You will be asked which course(s) you wish to register for as
part of the application process. Detailed information about course registration is provided to special
students at the time of admission.

To view Lewis & Clark’s course offerings:

1. Go to WebAdvisor’s Search for Sections page. Choose the appropriate CAS (College of Arts and
   Sciences) term (e.g., CAS Fall 2024 or CAS Spring 2025) from the drop-down menu in the Term box.
2. In the drop-down menu in the Subject box, choose the academic department (for example, Mathematics or Spanish) that houses the course you wish to take.
3. No other information needs to be entered. Click Submit at the bottom of the page.
4. On the Section Selection Results page, all courses taught for your selected term in your selected academic department will be listed. Look for the course you wish to take and be sure to note whether multiple sections are being taught. Then note whether the course/section is listed as Open, Waitlisted, or Closed in the Status column. Special students may register only for classes in Open status.
5. Please note that our degree-seeking students will continue to work on course registration up until the day classes begin. Classes that have space available now may be full by the time the semester begins, and courses that appear to be full on initial examination may have space available later. If you are offered admission as special student, you should plan to check on the availability of the course(s) you are interested in multiple times over the weeks leading up to the first day of class.

Application Process

If you are interested in being a special student, please submit the Special Student Initial Interest form. Upon its receipt, our office will consider your interest and eligibility and, if appropriate, will contact you with further details and a link to the application.

Note: You will need to include your top three course choices on both the initial interest form and application form. See the Registration section above for instructions on how to view Lewis & Clark courses in WebAdvisor.

To apply to be a special student, you will be required to submit the completed Special Student application form, including a statement explaining your reasons for wanting to enroll as a special student and official transcripts from all undergraduate colleges and universities you have attended to date. Applicants who have not been enrolled in college must submit an official high school transcript. Electronic transcripts should be sent to admissions@lclark.edu; physical copies should be mailed to Lewis & Clark College Office of Undergraduate Admissions, 615 S. Palatine Hill Road MSC 32, Portland, Oregon 97219.

Some students may be asked to submit a Statement of Good Standing, completed by their current or most recent institution. If this document is required in your case, the Office of Admissions will notify you and provide you with further instructions.

Special students are required to have health insurance coverage. You must either purchase this insurance through Lewis & Clark or sign an insurance waiver form at Student and Departmental Account Services, which can be reached at 503-768-7829.

For More Information

Consult our undergraduate Catalog for information regarding general Lewis & Clark policies and guidelines. If you have questions about being a special student, please contact the Office of Admissions at 503-768-7040 or admissions@lclark.edu.

Special Student Initial Interest Form