While most students at USask apply for regular admission to USask's colleges and programs, there are many reasons you might want to apply as an early learner or a casual student. Unlike auditing classes where you don't complete assignments/exams nor receive credit for classes you take, as a casual student or early learner, you are a full participant in the class and will receive a grade and credit for the classes you complete.
Early learners
Early learners include students who are still in high school who:
- want to enrol in a university course, either for interest or to get a head start and earn credit that may be used toward a future degree program, or
- want to earn dual credit from a list of approved courses that can be applied toward high school graduation and toward several university degrees.
Casual students
Casual students include those who want to take a university course without enrolling in an academic program. These may include:
- members of the broader community who want to take a course for personal interest or development, or who want to try taking a course to learn if university is the right fit,
- USask alumni interested in returning only for a class or two, or
- university faculty or staff planning to take a class through their employment benefits.
Be aware that casual students and early learners are required to re-apply and pay the application fee for each academic year you plan to enrol in a class. Casual students may enrol in up to 6 credit units per term, up to a maximum of 12 credit units total in an academic year. If you complete 12 credit units and wish to continue, you are required to apply for regular admission to your college and program of choice and submit required documents to demonstrate you meet the posted admission requirements.
If you think you may want to apply courses you complete toward an academic program, you should apply for regular admission rather than as a casual student to ensure you are admissible.
Deadlines
You must submit the application and application fee by the deadline for your preferred start term to be eligible for consideration.
| Start term | Deadline for COMM 101 |
Deadline for other courses |
|---|---|---|
| Winter January |
December 1 | December 1 |
| Fall September |
June 30 | July 15 |
Only Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be considered for admission as casual students or early learners.
It is your responsibility to check whether the course you want to take is offered in the term you are applying for, and whether you meet prerequisite requirements to enrol in that class. For example, high school chemistry is required to take first-year chemistry classes.
How to apply
1. Create an admissions account
Use an email address you will have access to throughout the admissions process to ensure you can receive communications from the university about your application.
2. Fill out and submit an application
The online application takes about 30 minutes to complete. It is possible to start an application, save it and return to finish and submit it later if you need to.
When asked what you are interested in applying for, select Other and then Take undergraduate classes as a casual student or early learner.
Fill out the USask casual and early learner application form, providing your name, contact details, biographical information, and academic history.
The choices you are given under Planned program of study will depend on your previous answers.
- If you indicated you are still in high school, you'll be able to choose from a list of dual credit classes or colleges open to early learners.
- If you are not in high school, you'll be able to choose from colleges where you can take classes as a casual student.
After filling out and reviewing your application, select Submit Application and provide a Visa or Mastercard to pay the $120 CAD application fee.
3. Check your application status
After submitting your application, you can log in to the USask admissions portal to check your application status.
No documents are required for casual student and early learner applications.
When a decision has been made regarding your application, USask will send an email notification to the email address in your USask admissions account.
To review your decision, log in to your USask admissions account and open your application to download your decision letter.
4. Register for your class and pay tuition
Log in to PAWS where you will find:
- the Classes and Registration channel where you can learn more about searching and registering for classes, and can register for the class you want to take
- the Tuition and Fees channel where, after you are registered in your class, you will be able to find your tuition balance and learn how to pay. Casual students and early learners pay the same tuition as other students. The student fees you are assessed will depend on whether you are an on-campus or off-campus/online student.