Registration Guidelines

Information about declaring and changing majors, course loads, cancelling, and dropping courses.

Contact Us

If you have questions about getting started at CNM, call (505) 224-3000 or visit our Contact CNM page.

Adding, Changing, and Declaring Majors

You may change your major (program) at any time during a term in which you are enrolled. To graduate from a CNM program, you must declare a major either at the time of admission, during your enrollment at CNM, or when completing your application for graduation.

Adding Courses

Classes may be added according to the dates and deadlines listed in the Schedule of Classes.

Students cannot register for or attend classes that overlap in time.

Attendance

Students are expected to attend all class sessions. Please note the following:

  • Instructors may drop students with excessive absences from courses.
  • Enrolled students who miss the first class meeting and have not contacted their instructor, or who miss two consecutive class meetings in the first week, may be dropped from the course.
  • Students dropped from courses that have co-requisites also must drop the co-requisite courses.
  • Students should not expect instructors to drop them if they stop attending classes.

Note: Individuals cannot sit in on or participate in classes for which they are not officially enrolled.

Canceling Your Registration

If you are not able to attend CNM but have registered for classes, you must drop all of your classes through the online registration system in myCNM before the beginning of the term. Refund information is available through the Cashier's Office.

Course Load

The standard course load for a full-time college student is 12 to 18 credit hours. Students wanting to take more than 18 credit hours must meet the following conditions:

  • Have a college-level cumulative grade point average of 2.5 and
  • Have no grade lower than a C in the last term enrolled in college and
  • Obtain approval from your Program's School or Advisement

First-time college students may not enroll in more than 18 credit hours in a term. No student may take more than 22 credit hours in the fall term, and 22 credit hours in the spring term, or more than 20 in summer term.  In circumstances where CNM's employer/industry partners require specific programmatic design, certain cohorted career technical education (CTE) programs may require course loads that exceed these limits.

Course Overfills

Faculty will not accept or approve course overfill requests before the first day of the course. If approved, the overfill will be granted through the instructor's myCNM account.

Note:

  • Overfill permission does not waive a course prerequisite or co-requisite.
  • Student should print their class schedule to verify official registration.

Course Repetition Limit

A Course Repetition Limit is the number of times a course may be repeated. Students may, in most cases, attempt the same course two times without restriction.

Division Approval to Enroll

Departmental Approval is required to enroll in some classes. Permission to enroll may be obtained from the department office. Permission to enroll does not waive a program requirement or permit a class to be overfilled.

Dropping Courses

You may drop your class according to the Registration Deadlines for the term. 

If you drop your class on or before the Last Day for Refund of that part of term, the course will not appear on your CNM transcript. After that date, a withdrawal grade (W) will appear on your record for classes dropped.

You should not assume you will be dropped from classes for nonattendance. If you do not officially drop the class, you will receive a final grade at the end of the term. If you are physically unable to drop a class by the published deadline (for example, because of hospitalization), you may submit a written appeal, along with required supporting documentation, to the school on which the class is offered requesting an exception to the drop deadline policy.

Appeal forms are available in the Registration/Grades tab of myCNM.

NoteStudents who wish to withdraw completely after the term has started must officially drop all their classes.

Final Grades

Final Grades are available through myCNM.

Grade Options

Students may change the grading option (grade mode) of a class through the last day to drop the class. Note that some courses do not have multiple grading options. It is highly recommended that students consult with Advisement and a Financial Aid Advisor before selecting an Audit or Credit/No Credit grade mode.

Grade change request forms are available at all campuses and are processed by the Registration Office, Main Campus.

Step-ups/Step-backs

Students may, with departmental approval, step-up or step-back into 1) most developmental courses numbered 0999 and below through the second week of the term and into 2) some lower level career and technical courses (in the same discipline) through the fifth week of the term.

Students may, however, step-up or step-back into self-paced, developmental math courses through the tenth week of a full term and the eighth week of the 12-week session or term. 

Students who are having difficulty in a class and are considering this option should contact the instructor or their achievement coach.