Education and Student Services

Course Registration

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Course Registration

Learn all about registering for courses at Brown including the CAB, Canvas, shopping period, and overrides.

How do I register for classes?

Courses@Brown (CAB)

  1. Navigate to cab.brown.edu
  2. Click Sign In in the upper right corner of the page.
  3. Enter a search term (department, course code, instructor, etc.) in the Course Search box, then click Find Courses.
    • You can search for all public health courses by typing PHP in the search bar. 
    • For independent study courses, you must check the Include Independent Study and Research Coursesbox in the search bar.
    • Note the specialized search options: Courses in My Concentration and Courses in a Master’s Program
    • Note the options in the Advanced Search section, including Find courses that are accessible to remote students for those students studying remotely.
    • Remember to add all components of the course when trying to register.
  4. For a course with a published Canvas site, add the course to your Primary Cart. After adding the course to your Primary Cart, you will see a link to Course Materials. This link will lead you the Canvas site, if it exists and was published by your instructor.
  5. If you wish to remove yourself from having temporary access, you will need to remove the course from your Primary cart. Otherwise, at the end of shopping period, all non-Banner registered students will be removed from those Canvas courses.

Overrides/Instructor Permission

You will find that some courses (including all independent study courses) require instructor permission for registration. This approval is termed an “override”. If a course you wish to register for requires an override, you should request the override through CAB as part of the registration process.

  • See Students: Request an Override in Courses@Brown for instructions on how to do this.
  • Please do not email the instructor in addition to requesting the override through CAB.
  • You will receive an email when the instructor approves or denies the override request. 
  • Note that the granting of the override does not register you for the course.  When your override/permission request is approved, you must go to your registration cart to finalize your registration.

What is shopping period?

  • At Brown, the first two weeks of the semester are designated “shopping period.”
  • During shopping period, students explore courses in line with their interests and develop a personalized course of study.
  • Non-registered students can access published Canvas course materials during shopping period.
  • At the end of shopping period, students not officially registered for a course through Banner will be removed the Canvas course site.

Note shopping period deadlines

  • Note in the academic calendar the last day to add a course without a fee, which is the official end of “shopping period.”
  • CAB is then taken down for approximately 1 hour.
  • Once relaunched, all course additions require instructor override and a late fee of $15 per course.

Shopping period troubleshooting

I added a course to my primary shopping cart. Why don't I have access to the Canvas course?
There may be a short delay between when you add the course to your Primary Cart and when you are granted access to Canvas. The instructor might not have a published canvas site.  You also need to be sure to register your cart.

Why do I keep getting emails from courses I have not registered for?
Remove the course from your primary shopping cart in CAB. Access to the Canvas site will be removed. Note that you can have multiple carts. If you would like to save a course for future semesters, create a new cart and save the course there.

Can I get notifications from one of the courses I am shopping but not others?
No. You are added to the Canvas course as a 'prospective student' for all the courses in your primary shopping cart. Note: Notification settings in Canvas are set globally, not individually for each course. 

Search and Register for Courses

Need Assistance?

Your program administrator may be able to help you. You may also contact sph-academics@brown.edu to connect with the Office of Education and Student Services.