Student and Alumni Access FAQs
FitRec’s system receives our data from the University registrar (for students/alumni) and Human Resources (for faculty/staff). Below is some information regarding different classifications of students/alumni and the transition between the two. For students, generally how the registrar classifies you is the affiliation that we will see. Our system will only allow you to purchase membership (or sign the waiver in the case of full-time students) if your account has the proper permission level attached to it.
Given the high number of unique classifications at Boston University (such as for PhD students, students on internships, etc.) there is no way for us to make this list exhaustive, so please feel free to reach out to fitrec@bu.edu if you have any questions about your own access. For students in programs which deviate from the traditional credit system (but for which you are still classified by your school/college as full-time), documentation may need to be submitted to our staff in order for us to grant you the appropriate access level.
New/Incoming Full-Time Students - Fall 2025
Incoming Fall 2025 students may begin utilizing FitRec after July 1 AND once they have been issued their Terrier Card (BUID). There will be a grace period between August 25 and September 15 for certain types of full-time students (such as off-campus Graduate Students) who may be delayed in being issued their BUID. Between August 25 and September 15, please bring a photo ID if you have not yet been issued your student ID. Students need to sign their online waiver prior to their first visit. When completing the waiver process in our system, you are technically purchasing a $0 membership as the cost of FitRec is included in the fees for full-time students. Simply follow the instructions on this page and be sure to log in using your BU login credentials (NOT where it says “general public login”).
Full-time students can purchase membership for their spouse (upon proof of marriage) or for their children under 18 years of age. More information can be found here.
Full-Time Continuing Student
If you were full-time in the spring semester, and are Fall 2025 full-time term-activated, you will have continued swipe access throughout the summer. Most continuing full-time students do NOT need to re-sign their waiver. In August we will email any full-time student that needs to sign their waiver.
*NOTE* Even if you were full-time this spring and are registered as full-time for this coming fall – if you are taking BU summer classes, you may be listed as a part-time student in our system. If this is your case, please email Membership Manager Ally Holloway to have full-time permission added to your account for this summer. You MUST be enrolled full-time this past spring and next fall in order to gain this exception.
If you are not yet term-activated full-time for next fall by the end of this May then your swipe access would terminate as of May 31. If/when you become term-activated full-time for next fall (assuming you were full-time this spring), we would normally receive that data into our system the following day and you would need to re-sign your online waiver prior to attempting to swipe in. If the system does not let you sign or renew a waiver, that means the system does not recognize you as a full-time student at that time.
Graduating This May - Courses Completed
Students who are scheduled with the University to graduate in May will retain the same account access level through the end of the month of May.
Starting on June 1 you would qualify to purchase membership at the Young Alumni level. Young Alumni status is granted for two years following graduation and provides a 35% discount over regular Alumni Membership.
Graduating This May - Courses Not Completed
If you are technically graduating this May but needing to take classes during BU summer session to complete your degree requirements, you would remain a full-time student in our system ONLY if you are enrolled for eight credits in BOTH Summer Session 1 and Summer Session 2. Any course load less than this and your account may have part-time student permission which would qualify you to purchase membership at this level. If the University does not consider you a part-time student for the summer session, then you would be able to purchase membership at the Young Alumni rate.
Graduated but starting Graduate School in the fall
If you have graduated you are not considered a “continuing student”. If you are starting full-time graduate work in the fall, you would regain full-time student access on the same date as new/incoming full-time students. The expected date for this in 2025 is July 1.
Going from Full-Time to Part-Time
If you are full-time now but only registered for a part-time class load next fall (or this summer), you would need to purchase a part-time student membership as of June 1.
If you were/are full-time this past spring as well as next fall, but part-time in the summer, please consult the “continuing students” section above.