Free Course Guarantee

Indiana House Enrolled Act 1348-2013, passed by the legislature in 2013, requires that public higher education institutions in the state provide degree maps to all new first-time, full-time students beginning fall 2014. These pathways, or maps, must allow a student to complete a bachelor’s degree within four academic years. The legislation provides a guarantee to students that if they follow their maps but are unable to enroll in a required course in a given semester, the institution must provide the course for free in a future semester unless they can provide the student with a revised degree map that still enables the student to graduate within four years. 

This page lays out the process by which you may claim a free course guarantee if you believe you meet the requirements.

Note: A very small number of degree programs require more than four years to complete, typically due to professional accreditation standards. Degree ppathways will be provided for these degrees in order to help students stay on track for the earliest possible graduation.

Indiana University provides standard degree maps through the One.IU portal. Historically, these were part of the iGPS system. As of 2025, degree maps are available in Stellic, where they are known as pathways.

To be eligible for a free course, you must meet the following requirements: 

  1. You have followed your degree pathway in each prior semester, meaning you completed the prescribed courses or satisfied the prescribed electives in the semester they were mapped. 
  2. You were unable to register for a course mapped for the current semester because it is: 
    -Not offered 
    -Offered only at the same time as another mapped course for which no alternative sections were open, or  
    -Full and you were not placed in the class from the waitlist 
  3. You attempted to register for the course during the published priority registration. For Indiana University, the priority registration period begins with your scheduled registration appointment in One plus seven days (including weekends). Students who register after this timeframe are not eligible for the free course guarantee.
  4. You have not received a revised degree pathway that maps the unavailable course in a future semester while still allowing you to graduate at your scheduled time.
  5. You are within 150 percent of the standard time to complete the degree (for the baccalaureate, this equals 6 years).

A course is considered full only if all sections of the course are full, not just your preferred time slot. If an online version is available to you at any IU campus, the course is considered available to you even if you prefer a hybrid or face-to-face format. For General Education requirements with multiple course options to fulfill the requirement, all sections of all eligible options—not simply your preferred course option—must be full to claim the free course guarantee. 

If you are unable to register for a required class on your degree pathway in a particular semester, you are required to contact your advisor to review all your options. If the required class is closed, you are encouraged to be on the waitlist to provide every opportunity to enroll in the class.

Your advisor may work with you at this point to revise your degree pathway so that you can take the needed class in a later semester. If your degree pathway is revised, you will not be eligible to claim the free course guarantee.

If taking this step does not resolve your problem:

  1. At the end of the first week of the semester in which you have not been able to add a required degree pathway course (after the 100% refund period for dropping courses ends), you must submit a letter explaining why you believe you are entitled to a free class. The letter should be submitted to navigate@iu.edu. 
  2. Your request will be reviewed by the Financial Aid and Bursar Offices to determine if you meet the eligibility criteria.
    -If you do not meet the eligibility requirements, you will receive a response explaining why you are not eligible.
    -If the review confirms that you may be eligible for a free course, your request will be forwarded to the appropriate campus liaison to review the case and make a final determination. The campus liaison will contact you with the results of the review.
  3. If you are found to be entitled to a free class, that information will be forwarded to the Bursar so that the appropriate credit can be placed on your account. When you register in a future term for the class that was approved to be taken for free, the credit will be applied to your account. Note: the credit will include course fees, but not other fees.
  4. If you wish to dispute the decision from the initial review or campus liaison, you can file an appeal with the Free Course Eligibility Committee who will review the case and make a final determination. The decision of the Free Course Eligibility Committee is final.

Be sure to check the eligibility requirements before filing a claim. If you have not been following your degree map in previous semesters or you did not register during the priority registration period, you will not be eligible for a free course.