What Is a Registrar?

The registrar is the office, and the senior administrator who leads it, responsible for keeping and managing the official academic records of a college or university. If your question is about registration, transcripts, grades, enrollment status or graduation, the registrar is usually where it ends up.

What the registrar does

• Registration: runs the system for choosing and enrolling in courses, including add/drop and waitlists.
• Scheduling: builds the course schedule and assigns classrooms, often with departments.
• Records: maintains your official academic file, including grades and degree progress.
• Transcripts: issues official transcripts and enrollment verifications.
• Degree audits and graduation: checks that you have met requirements and confers degrees.
• Policy: applies academic regulations, such as those on credit transfer, grade changes and residency.
• Privacy: protects student records under laws such as FERPA in the US.
• Exams and calendars: publishes the academic calendar and final exam schedule.

When you will deal with them

You will use the registrar to register for classes, request a transcript for a job or graduate application, prove that you are enrolled for insurance or visas, change your name or address in records and apply for graduation. They also handle requests such as grade appeals processes in coordination with departments.

Registrar versus other offices

Admissions handles applications. Financial aid deals with funding, and the bursar handles billing and payments. Your academic advisor helps plan your degree. The registrar holds the formal record of what you have done.

Tips

• Learn the deadlines on the academic calendar.
• Check your holds, since unpaid fees or missing documents can block registration or transcripts.
• Keep copies of important forms.
• Plan ahead for transcript requests, since they take time.
• Use official channels for changes to your record.

Related terms

See bursar, transcript, degree audit, registration hold and academic calendar.