Students may drop and add courses using the online registration system for the first two weeks of a semester without charge. Course additions made in weeks 3 and 4 require the instructor's signature and are assessed a fee for each change. Students are not allowed to add a course to their schedule after the first four weeks of the term.

Students may drop a course until the last day of classes, although courses dropped after the second week of classes remain on the student's Internal Academic Record only (not the official transcript). Students on Serious Warning who wish to drop a course in the last four weeks of the term must meet with an academic dean for an advising conversation about the student's reasons for dropping the course and any available resources that could aid the student. After this advising conversation, the academic dean will provide the student with a "drop code," which the student can use to drop the course. 

When registering for courses, Brown students must indicate whether they are taking a course for a grade (G) or satisfactory/no credit (S/NC). As an instructor, you may choose to make your course S/NC for pedagogical reasons. Mandatory S/NC courses are designated with an asterisk on the external transcript.

Students may change their grade option for a course online during the first four weeks of the semester. No grade option changes are allowed after the first four weeks of any semester.

Students use the S/NC option for a variety of reasons. You may even encourage a student who is concerned about your course to choose this option. But most students agree that S/NC allows for exploration of a particular topic without the stress and pressure that a graded evaluation may impart. They often do better in S/NC courses simply because they are intrinsically motivated to perform at a consistent and high level.

According to Faculty Rules, for students who elected to take the course S/NC, instructors are asked to award a grade of "S with distinction" if the student's academic performance in the course is equivalent to an "A." Academic honors such as magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa are awarded on the basis of the number of grades of “A” or “S with distinction” in a student’s record. "S with distinction" grades do not appear on the internal record or official transcripts, but rather appear as "S" grades.

Any student regularly enrolled in a course may request a Course Performance Report (CPR) in ASK and, at the instructor’s discretion, receive one. Instructors of mandatory S/NC courses are obliged to honor such requests. For all other courses, instructors may decline to submit such a form if they believe they have inadequate information to do so. Students are required to request CPRs before the end of the term. They begin the process by completing the student portion of the CPR form, which is then forwarded to the instructor of record (the instructor may delegate completion of the form to a colleague, such as a graduate student instructor or co-instructor). If an instructor agrees to honor a student's request for a CPR after the end of the semester, the student should email college@brown.edu with the name of the course and evidence that the instructor has agreed to write a CPR after the end of the semester. A member of the College can enter an override along with a new CPR deadline, and the student will then be able to request the CPR via ASK.

Course Performance Reports are not part of a student’s official academic record or transcript, but a student may request that the University send out one or two CPRs with their official transcripts. In such cases, students must provide the Registrar’s Office with copies of the CPRs when submitting their transcript requests.