FAQs

Summer Online courses are open to anyone with a high school degree; no previous affiliation with Notre Dame is required. Typically, students must be 18 years or older.

Yes, all Summer Online courses offer Notre Dame credit. If you are a Notre Dame student and have questions about satisfying requirements through Summer Online courses, check with your DUS or DGS.

The undergraduate and graduate tuition rate for summer 2026 is $1,485 per credit hour. For information about financial aid, please consult the Tuition & Financial Aid page on the Summer Session website or email finaid@nd.edu. Note that Notre Dame graduate students can use their Summer Tuition Scholarships towards Summer Online courses. Non-degree students are not eligible for financial aid.

Yes, full-time Notre Dame faculty, staff, postdoctoral research associates, interns, visiting faculty, spouses as well as retired faculty, staff, and spouses can use the tuition remission benefit toward Notre Dame graduate or undergraduate credits, including those earned through Summer Online courses. This educational benefit provides 100 percent tuition remission for undergraduate and graduate-level courses, up to nine credits per academic year (summer, fall, and spring).

Please note certain uses of this benefit can be considered taxable income. For more information, consult this resource in the HR Self Service Center.

Yes. For more information, consult this resource in the HR Self Service Center.

All Notre Dame Summer Online courses use a learning management system (LMS) called Canvas. Once enrolled in a course, you can log into the Canvas course site using regular Notre Dame credentials. (For those without an existing affiliation with the University, these credentials will be issued following your enrollment.) Canvas is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Instructors will typically open the online course content to students a week before the first live session, as there is often work (reading, watching videos, completing activities) that needs to be completed before that session. Refer to the syllabus and ask the instructor any questions you have about this.

Instructors will provide details about the textbook and other needed materials for class, usually through the syllabus. Most instructors email students the week before their Summer Online classes begin to distribute the syllabus and provide helpful information on how to get started.

You typically are required to go through online content before attending live sessions; class time will be spent talking about and exploring the online content. Following class, you may be assigned online homework, projects, assessments, etc. This is described in detail in the course syllabus.

Summer Online live sessions are delivered via the web-conferencing software Zoom. Each course has a unique Zoom URL, which is listed in the syllabus and in the online class. Before accessing your first class, please sign into your Zoom account at notredame.zoom.us using your Notre Dame NetID and password. (For those without an existing affiliation with the University, these credentials will be issued following your enrollment.) Instructors will also email the Zoom link out roughly one week before the start of the course.

Yes. All Summer Online courses require regular and active attendance and participation in the live class sessions. If you cannot regularly attend the meeting days/times, you should not enroll in the course.

Live sessions are typically recorded only for emergency/contingency purposes. Most courses require attendance at all scheduled live sessions. Students should refer to the syllabus and/or directly contact the instructor for details about how session recordings are handled in each course.

Attendance policies are set per class and by instructors. However, because courses are condensed into six- or eight-week terms, it is critical that students attend all classes and stay on track with deadlines. If you know that you need to miss a class, contact the instructor beforehand to discuss options for making up missed work, etc. If you miss class unexpectedly, you should notify your instructor as quickly as possible.

To ensure that you can view and participate in the live sessions effectively, a stable internet connection is required. A stable internet connection means a hard-wired landline connection or a Wi-Fi connection where you can control the number of users on that connection. That is, connecting by Wi-Fi in a public place like a coffee shop will only work if that coffee shop is nearly empty. If it gets busy, the strength of each connection weakens, and the background noise will become overly distracting. Instead, you should find a regular, stable, and quiet location from which to join the online class. Connecting from moving vehicles is not recommended.

You will need a laptop or desktop computer; having a phone or tablet is not sufficient for completing some of the online assignments. You will also need a webcam and a microphone, whether built into your computer or external.

An online proctored exam simply means a supervised exam. The University of Notre Dame uses online proctoring at no cost to the student. The equipment required to take an online class is the same equipment required to take an online proctored exam; students are not required to go to a specific location and can still take an exam flexibly from anywhere. Students will need a state-issued photo ID or passport to verify identity when taking a proctored assessment. Refer to the course syllabus to confirm if proctored testing is used in your course, or contact your instructor with questions.

Each instructor will set their own office hours or may offer meetings by appointment. This information is explained in the course syllabus.

Summer Online courses can be more challenging because they meet over the course of six or eight weeks, meaning the content and required effort of students are condensed into a shorter period of time. Imagine a full 14-week spring or fall course being compressed but still covering the same content and having the same volume of assignments.

The Summer Online program works with course instructors and Sara Bea Accessibility Services to ensure equal access to educational materials for all students. If you need specific accommodations, you should contact Sara Bea Accessibility Services directly; a member of Sara Bea will handle communication with the Summer Online program.