Non-Degree and Guest Students

Ways in without a degree

High school students should go straight to dual enrollment; graduate-level non-degree study is handled through the graduate school.

Non-degree undergraduate enrollment

The non-degree application is a one-page form — no fee, no transcripts unless the course you want has a prerequisite, in which case send proof that you have met it. Decisions take two to three business days.

• Tuition is billed per credit at your residency rate: $381 for Wesconsin residents, $571 at the Midwest Student Exchange rate and $745 for non-residents in 2026–27 (see cost of attendance). Non-degree students are not eligible for federal aid; employer billing is available.
• Registration opens after continuing students have registered: for spring 2027, non-degree registration opens December 7, 2026, and classes begin January 25.
• Limits: clinical Nursing courses, portfolio-gated B.F.A. studios and a few capped labs are closed to non-degree students.
• Moving to a degree: up to 24 non-degree credits apply directly if you are later admitted through the regular application; your Porter GPA carries over.

Visiting students from other campuses

Summer is the busy season — 214 visiting students took Porter courses in summer 2026, most to catch up on a math or science sequence near home. Summer 2027 offers an eight-week session from June 7 and four-week sessions starting June 7 and July 6.

1. Confirm with your home college, in writing, that the Porter course will transfer and what it will count as.
2. Submit the visiting-student form with a letter of good standing or an unofficial transcript, at least one week before the session starts.
3. After the term, request an official Porter transcript be sent to your home school.

If your aid comes from your home college, it can usually follow you through a consortium agreement — start that paperwork with your home aid office a month ahead. Porter students going the other direction use cross-registration.

Senior citizen and community audit

Wesconsin residents 60 and older may audit most undergraduate lecture courses with no tuition charge, on a space-available basis. Course and lab fees still apply, and you receive a Porter Card with library and Forge Recreation Center guest access.

• Register on or after the first day of classes (January 25, 2027 for spring), with the instructor’s signature on the audit form.
• Two audited courses per term; studios, labs, clinical and fully online courses are excluded.
• No grade, no credit, no GPA — the transcript shows “AU.” Instructors set the participation expectations.

Community members under 60 may audit at half the per-credit tuition rate on the same terms. Some 140 auditors enroll each year; the waitlist for Provost Halvorsen’s fall Statics section is long enough to be a running joke in Founders Hall. See auditing a course for the general rules, and the Porter Lifelong Learning Institute for noncredit courses with no exams at all.

Getting started

Call or email the Office of Admissions with the course you have in mind, and a counselor will tell you which status fits. Adults weighing a full return should also read adult and returning students; former Porter degree students who stopped out need readmission rather than non-degree status.