Academics
Early registration for Summer/Fall 2025 begins April 7, 2025.
This page offers information about registering for mathematics courses. You can find other information regarding registration via these links.
See math courses Contact math advisors Check the registration schedule

Special Course Requests

3 to 4 credit information  500- level course information Honors Courses

Be aware of course restrictions

Many mathematics courses have prerequisites for registration, or other restrictions. Such restrictions are typically found in the section listing for the course.

Some courses are restricted during early registration, to ensure that students who need specific courses for their primary program of study are able to register. Some of these restrictions will be lifted later during the registration period. 

Special Course Offerings

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Merit courses

The Merit Program provides an interactive group learning environment for selected students. For general information regarding the Merit Program, consult the Merit Program website.

Registration in Math Merit sections requires approval from the Math Merit Director if students are not already part of the Merit Program. Concurrent enrollment for 1 hour of credit in the Merit Section of MATH 199 is required for MATH 220, MATH 221, MATH 231, MATH 241, and MATH 314.

Jennifer McNeilly, Math Merit Program Director
jrmcneil@illinois.edu

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Honors courses  

Students who have demonstrated excellence in mathematics may use this section for James Scholar credit, but the section is not restricted to James Scholars.

You may find more information on honors courses here.

To request approval for an honors course, please fill out this form: https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/1782500582

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Topic courses

Topics courses emphasize material introduced in other mathematics courses, giving students the opportunity to focus more narrowly on a given topic, explore its nuances, or engage with material that may not be covered in other coursework. Topics courses may be of interest to students looking to gain a deeper understanding in a favorite subject—or to study a subject new to them.

Special Course Requests

Graduate students may request to take a 400-level course for 4 credits

Many 400-level MATH classes are offered as 3-credit sections by default, but some may have a 4-credit option available to graduate students. Because the extra credit hour requires the instructor to prepare additional coursework for the graduate student, this option is offered only at the instructor’s discretion. Please note that the inclusion of a 4-credit section on the timetable does not guarantee that the instructor will be offering a 4-credit option.

To request additional credit, students must first register for the 3-hour section. The professor assigned to the course should then complete and submit the 3 to 4 credit hour form between the first day of the semester and the 8th week of the semester.

Undergraduate students may request to take a 500-level course

Undergraduate students who wish to enroll in a graduate mathematics course should first have completed significant work at the 400-level with A or A+ grades.

To request approval to take a graduate MATH course, fill out the webform located at https://forms.illinois.edu/auth/1209343045.

Note that for some classes, including MATH 500 and MATH 540, registration is temporarily restricted to mathematics graduate students to ensure that they are given priority for the classes they need. Review may be requested in advance, but they may also be delayed if the current semester’s class grades are needed for the review.