Spring 2027 Enrollment Guide
Spring 2027 enrollment at HDS takes place over two periods. In the fall during the course enrollment period, students will review plans with their academic advisor and enroll in a full courseload of spring courses. Over the winter break, enrollment will be paused and no changes are made. In January during the add/drop period, students can make changes as necessary to their enrollment.
my.Harvard has been updated with the latest planned offerings. You can search for spring classes by going to my.Harvard, clicking on "Harvard Divinity School", and then clicking on the menu "Spring 2027 Courses".
Spring 2027 Enrollment Dates
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
October 21, 2026 | HDS Crimson Cart opens. Students add courses to their Crimson Cart. Courses should reflect academic and degree requirement goals. Students begin meeting with their academic advisors to review course plans. HDS and FAS petitions for limited enrollment courses (instructor permission required) open. |
November 4, 2026 | Course enrollment period begins. Students begin enrolling in courses from their Crimson Cart. |
November 18, 2026 | Course enrollment period ends. No changes in enrollment are allowed until the add/drop period opens in January. By this date, students must be enrolled in a full courseload. |
January 16, 2027 | Add/drop period begins. |
January 25, 2027 | First day of HDS Spring 2027 classes. |
February 1, 2027 | Self-enrollment deadline. Last day for students to make enrollment changes directly in Crimson Cart. After this date, any further changes are submitted through a Course Change Request Form, reviewed by the student's academic advisor, and processed by the HDS Registrar's Office. |
February 12, 2027 | Add/drop deadline, add/drop period ends. Last day for students to add courses or drop courses without penalty. Last day for students to change a course from credit to audit or vice versa. |
April 4, 2027 | Grading Option Change and Course Withdrawal deadline. Last day for students to change a course from letter graded to Sat/Unsat or vice versa. Last day for students to withdraw from a course, which will appear on the transcript with a "W". After this date, no withdrawals are possible and all enrolled courses will be assigned a final grade. |
Holds and Immunizations
In order to participate in enrollment, students will need to have all holds cleared from their account in my.Harvard. Most importantly, students who have not yet met the HUHS Flu Vaccine Requirement will have an HUHS hold.
To clear this hold, students can visit an HUHS Flu Vaccine clinic or receive a vaccine outside of HUHS and document it through their HUHS Patient Portal. For more information, please visit the HUHS website.
The HDS Registrar's Office is unable to waive this requirement or approve overrides. Due to health privacy concerns, any questions and concerns must be addressed to HUHS directly.
Phone: (617) 495-2055
Fax: (617) 495-8077
Email: mrecords@huhs.harvard.edu
January Term (J-Term) Courses
HDS does not typically offer J-Term courses. HDS students can cross-register for J-Term courses offered at partner schools (Harvard, MIT, Tufts Fletcher, and BTI). Such cross-registration is covered by the Spring tuition payment. This means that J-Term courses are considered part of the spring courseload. The course will appear on the student's HDS transcript as a spring course.
Because we consider J-Term and the spring semester as one combined semester, there are impacts on courseload limits and cross-registration limits.
For instance, a student who takes a 4-credit J-Term course is limited to no more than 16 credits in the spring. Similarly, taking an 8-credit J-Term course would limit a student to no more than 12 credits in the spring. There are no exceptions to this rule. Students who plan to take J-Term courses should carefully consider any potential impacts to their spring plans.
J-Term courses are also counted towards the cross-registration limit rule. For instance, consider a student who takes a 4-credit J-Term course outside HDS and then enrolls in 12 credits in the spring. The student has enrolled in 16 total credits, and 4 of them are already outside of HDS, so in the spring only 4 credits could be outside of HDS. The HDS Registrar's Office considers exceptions to this rule for students who have done more work inside HDS in previous semesters.
How to Enroll in J-Term Courses
Enrolling in a J-Term course is a two step process.
- First, you will request and receive permission in your Crimson Cart using the "validate" button.
- Then, you will submit an HDS Course Change Form, which is automatically sent to your advisor and then to our office. Once received, and so long as you have permission and no holds on your account, our office will enroll you in the class.
Why can't I enroll in my J-Term course?
You cannot self-enroll via the Crimson Cart; you should only validate to request permission. Instead of using the enroll button, complete the two steps indicated above.
How do I know if I have been approved for a J-Term course?
As with any course, you can view the petition approval status in your Crimson Cart. When approved, the status will display above the course.
I now have permission, but since the HDS enrollment period is closed until the add/drop period begins, how do I add a J-Term course?
You need to submit the HDS Course Change Form for your advisor to approve. Holds of any kind will block your ability to add a J-Term course. Please make sure you have cleared all holds prior to submitting a request to your advisor.
What happens once my advisor approves my petition?
If you are eligible to add a course, the Registrar’s Office will finalize your enrollment into the J-Term course. Keep in mind that you are subject to the host School’s deadlines for dropping a J-Term course, so please pay close attend to their calendar.
Does J-Term count against my enrollment total for the spring semester?
J-Term courses are considered part of your spring 2027 enrollment. Students can take no more than 20 credits in a given semester. For example, if a student takes a J-Term course (4 credits) and 4 spring courses (16 credits), then the total Spring courseload is 20 credits. That student could not take a fifth spring class, as that would be a total of 24 credits and exceed the semester credit limit.
Cross-Registration
During the enrollment period, FAS will allow cross-registration from HDS students. Other Harvard schools, MIT, and Fletcher will not allow early cross-registration from HDS students. Instead, students should follow the regular procedures for enrolling in these classes in January.
Some BTI schools will allow early cross-registration from HDS students. Students can request enrollment in the BTI portal, and should enroll in the placeholder XREG BTI 01/02 in the Crimson Cart to represent their intention to take BTI courses.
For more information visit Cross-Registration.
Reading and Research
If you are planning to enroll in HDS Reading and Research, please follow the instructions at Reading and Research Courses. Please be aware that students are welcome to submit an HDS Reading and Research Proposal in my.Harvard in November, but the HDS Registrar's Office will not begin processing the proposals until the add/drop period begins.