Visiting US Student Registration

We welcome visiting students to participate in Boston University Summer Term 2026. The summer 2026 course listings are now available. Visiting domestic students (US Citizens and US Permanent Residents) should follow the enrollment instructions on this page; no special admission is required.

Registration for summer 2026 is now open.

If you have never taken classes or been affiliated with BU before, including applying to BU at any time, simply follow the process below to add courses to your Wishlist, complete the Contact Information Form, and enroll.

If you have taken classes at BU before, been enrolled in a BU program in the past, or applied to BU – and have a BU ID and BU login and Kerberos password – you should be able to register directly via the MyBU Student Portal. Follow the instructions for current BU students. Please note, you may need an enrollment record for the current session, in which case please email summer@bu.edu and we will submit that request on your behalf, which may take a few business days to be fulfilled.

Students new to Boston University can register online by completing the steps below.

Part 1: Add courses to wishlist, complete the contact form, and enroll 

1. 1. Click this link to move straight to the “Class Search” dashboard of the MyBU Student Portal. You can search for courses based on specific criteria (e.g., session, subject, instructor, course catalog number, instruction mode).

Please note the following details when searching:

• 1. • The “Instruction Mode” filter can be used to identify in-person or online courses.
     • A course “Status” with a green “O” label indicates the course has open seats, e.g., a course showing a green “O” followed by “10/35” indicates the course has 10 seats available.
  2. Once you have identified a course you want to register for, click the three vertical dots at the end of the course row and choose “Add to Wishlist.”
  3. When you are done adding courses to your Wishlist, under “Class Information” on the lefthand side, select “Wishlist.” Then click the red button labeled “Next: Registration Form.” Follow the steps to submit the Contact Information Form.
  4. Once you have completed the Contact Information Form, you will be taken back to your Wishlist, where you can add courses from your Wishlist to your Cart.
  5. In your Shopping Cart, select the courses you want to register for, and then click the red “Enroll” button. You are now registered, but you still need to create your BU login and Kerberos password (see Part 2 below).

Part 2: Claim your BU account (create your BU login and Kerberos password)

1. 1. If the system identifies you as someone new to BU, within a few hours you will receive an email from ithelp@bu.edu with instructions on how to claim your BU account. If you do not receive the email within 24 hours, you can try and claim your account directly at bu.edu/myaccount. Please be patient, and please do not begin the registration process again as that may lead to a duplicate registration!
   2. About 24 hours after claiming your BU account, you will have full access to the MyBU Student Portal.

Important Information

After establishing a BU login and Kerberos password, students can continue to add and drop courses on the MyBU Student Portal until the end of the add/drop period for their particular course. No schedule changes are possible once the add/drop deadline has passed. See the Summer Term Calendar for registration dates and important deadlines. Add/drop dates for nonstandard courses are individually determined and can be found next to the course on the MyBU Student Portal or summer course listings.

Please note that some instructors do not allow students to join their course once it has begun. It is recommended that students register for and attend summer courses by their first meeting date. During add/drop week, if you want to add a course after it has started, you must first contact the instructor to receive permission to add.

Visiting international college/adult students should visit the  international section of the Summer Term website for enrollment information applicable to that population, and high school students should refer to Summer Term’s Pre-College Programs.

Course loads

Summer Term is comprised of two summer sessions. Students can take up to a total of 10 credits (typically two courses) during each summer session. Visiting students who want to overload (take more than 10 credits within one session) must receive permission from the director of Summer Term.

Course codes

All Summer Term courses are assigned a college and departmental code, a three-digit course number, and a section identifier. For example, CAS EC 101S A1 means that the course is offered in the College of Arts & Sciences (CAS), by the Economics Department (EC). The course number 101 indicates it is an introductory course, the S indicates it is a summer course, and section A1 indicates it is a Summer 1 section. Please see Course Codes & Numbers for further information on the numbering system.

Payment

Charges for tuition and fees will appear on your student account soon after you register for courses. These charges will remain and you will be responsible for payment unless you officially withdraw or drop your course(s) by the published deadlines. See the Tuition, Fees, & Payment section for additional payment information.

Still have questions? Our FAQ page might have the answer. If not, please contact us and we will be happy to help.