Course Restrictions

Before you complete the course list in your application or register for courses in Bear Tracks, it is important to review the restrictions below.

Unless the student exchange agreement with your home institution specifies otherwise, you can take any courses you wish with the following exceptions:

  1. Students participating in the National Student Exchange (NSE) program must NOT use the information provided on this page and must instead check the list of UAlberta "Closed Programs" on the NSE website.
  2. Undergraduate students cannot take courses at the graduate level (usually numbered 500 or higher)
    • Please note that most undergraduate LAW courses are numbered 500 or higher
  3. Graduate students cannot take courses at the undergraduate level (usually numbered less than 500)
  4. Any courses described in Bear Tracks as being closed to exchange students or restricted to only certain categories or groups of UAlberta students. 
    • Exceptions include COMM and PLAN courses (which would indeed be open to exchange students)
  5. Courses with non-standard fees
  6. Alternate delivery sections of any UAlberta courses
  7. Courses from the Faculties of Medicine & Dentistry (with the exception of courses in the Departments of Biochemistry, Cell Biology, and Physiology), Nursing, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Rehabilitation Medicine
  8. Courses at the School of Library and Information Studies, Yukon University, Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, and in the Faculty of Education's English Language School
  9. Courses for field schools, work placements, or practica
  10. Various courses in the Alberta School of Business, including BTM 441, BUS 101, BUS 222, BUS 301, BUS 303, BUS 404, FIN 430, FIN 436, FIN 440, MGTSC 212, SEM 210, SEM 441, SEM 470, and SEM 471, independent research, internship, study tour, competitions, special projects, work experience, Honours (numbered 480) and Special Topic (numbered 488) courses
  11. Various courses in the Department of Renewable Resources, including REN R 301, 401-405, 501, 603-605, and 900+ courses 
  12. The Department of Sociology's SOC 399 and SOC 499 courses
  13. The School of Public Health's SPH 603 course

Please note these other restrictions:

  1. There is no guarantee of registration in the courses you may want or need.  Some courses might not be offered even though they have been in the past, some courses may fill up even before you have a chance to register in them, and/or UAlberta officials may determine that you don't have the necessary prerequisites for some courses.  It's best to prepare a list of alternative courses in the event that some of your initial selections are unavailable.
  2. If your home institution has a student exchange agreement with only one faculty or department at UAlberta you can expect to take courses only in that faculty or department.
  3. Unless your exchange is taking place at the Augustana Campus you must not plan to take courses there (i.e., avoid courses having course codes starting with "AU").  Augustana Campus is located in the town of Camrose which is about 100 km south of Edmonton.
  4. It is highly unlikely that you'll be able to take many (if any) courses in the Departments of Art & Design (with the exception of HADVC courses, ART 134, and DEC 135), Computing Science, Drama (with the exception of DRAMA 101, 102, and 149), and Economics. Courses in these departments are in extremely high demand and often fill up quickly.
  5. You can only take courses in the Alberta School of Business or in the Faculties of Engineering; Law; or Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation if you are admitted to one of those faculties for your exchange.
  6. Students interested in an undergraduate-level exchange to UAlberta's Faculty of Law Juris Doctor program should know that it is an after-degree, professional program.  The other students in the program will each have at least a 3-year bachelor's degree.  Students without similar academic backgrounds are strongly encouraged to discuss their plans with academic advisors at their home institutions before applying for the exchange and seek permission to, if need be, take fewer than the maximum number of courses allowable per term while on exchange.
  7. Undergraduate students must take all or a majority of their courses in the same faculty.
  8. Graduate students must list courses from only one department in their application documents or, if they plan to take courses in a faculty without departments, then the courses listed must be from only that faculty.  (Graduate students *might* be able to take courses in other departments or faculties but that would be something that they must investigate after they have been admitted for their exchanges and is not guaranteed.) 
  9. Please be realistic about your course selections.  For example, if you've only ever studied chemistry at your home institution, please don't think you'll be permitted to register in upper-year philosophy courses during your exchange at UAlberta.
  10. Undergraduate students can't take more than 15 credits worth of courses (typically 5 courses) per term while graduate students can't take more than 9 credits worth of courses (typically 3 courses) per term.
    • Undergraduate students in the Faculty of Engineering, however, usually can't take more than 18 credits worth of courses (typically 5 courses) per term. Undergraduate students unable to register in 5 courses with that total number of credits can sometimes be permitted to register in a greater number of courses, on a case-by-case basis.
    • It is rare for graduate students in the Faculty of Engineering to register in more than 3 courses per term; however, it *might* be possible but the decision to allow registration in a greater number of courses would need to be made on a case-by-case basis by the host department.
  11. Exchange students cannot audit courses.
  12. Undergraduate students cannot conduct research.
  13. Graduate students can take courses or conduct research, but not both.
  14. Graduate students wanting to conduct research will need to find a host supervisor at UAlberta before they submit their exchange applications.

Return to the sitemap of the Incoming Exchange Student Application Guide.

Updated for 2025/26 applications