Auditing Courses

A “community auditor” (an enrolled student, alumni, faculty, or staff of The Claremont Colleges) may audit Pomona College courses with the consent of the instructor and are not charged a fee. Persons outside of the community may also audit Pomona College courses, provided they obtain the permission of the instructor and the registrar (and in some cases, the department chair), and pay the regular auditor’s fee ($100).  (The fee is waived for senior citizens who enroll through the Joslyn Senior Center and the Napier Initiative Program). Courses which are participation-intensive (such as art, writing, theatre, language and physical education), or in high demand, do not allow auditors. The College reserves the right to rescind permission to audit at any time.

Audit registration opens the first day of the semester and closes on the deadline to add courses. Students who are ineligible to re-enroll or are on leave of absence, or who are otherwise separated from the College prior to graduation, may not audit courses. First year students may not audit classes.

Audited courses do not qualify for academic credit and may not apply toward academic degree requirements. Audited courses do not count toward load for financial aid eligibility or to attain full-time status. Audited courses may not qualify as pre-requisites for more advanced courses without the approval of the department chair and the instructor of the course to be audited. Unless a course is explicitly labeled as repeatable for credit in the course catalog, auditors may not subsequently enroll in the same course or challenge the course by exam for academic credit.

While students who choose to audit a course may drop or withdraw from courses by published deadlines, they may only convert an audit to a credit-bearing option by the add deadline and with the approval of the instructor. Similarly, students enrolled in courses for academic credit may only convert a course enrollment to an audit by the add deadline.

Instructors determine the requirements for auditors in their classes. The instructor assigns a grade: the grade of “AU” indicates that a student has successfully completed the audit, based on the faculty members expectations for attendance and participation; a grade of “AX” encompasses all other situations. A future instructor of the course and a department chair may use an “AU” or “AX” designation to determine whether the course may be audited again. The grade AU and grade AX appear on unofficial and official transcripts.

Faculty, including visiting scholars, are not expected to register as auditors, but may do so to have access to certain course resources. Occasional visitors invited by the instructor, such as guest lecturers and admitted students, are not required to register as auditors.

Degree-seeking Pomona College students may audit courses at the other Claremont Colleges, with the permission of the host college and instructor of the course. Pomona College limitations, registration deadlines, and grading policies apply; permission to remain registered in an audited class at the other Claremont Colleges remains at the discretion of the host college and the instructor of the course. For students from the other Claremont Colleges, the home campus audit policy applies.