Course Registration

Students register for courses in mid-February using BannerWeb / Banner9 Registration System.

You will find here course registration policies, guidelines, and instructions. The Bread Loaf office will send enrolled students a reminder about course registration in January. If you do not receive this information by February 1, contact the campus coordinator for your campus.

If you have enrolled after March 8, please contact your campus coordinator to register for courses.

Course Registration Policies

As you make your course selections, please be aware of the following policies:

  • You may take only one course by any given professor in a single summer.
  • You may take only one creative writing course per summer, unless you are an MLitt student with a concentration in creative writing.
  • Without prior approval of the dean, you may not repeat a course with an identical course number, even if the professor and readings have changed. Creative writing courses are an exception: you may retake a creative writing workshop once if the faculty member is different than your previous course.
  • The standard course load is two units. After the first summer, students with an outstanding academic record may request permis­sion to take a third unit of credit as an overload at the Vermont or Oxford campus. Requests, explaining the reason for taking the overload, should be submitted in writing to the appropriate campus coordinator within a week of enrollment confirmation.

General Guidelines

The BannerWeb/Banner9 Registration system will:

  • Show you immediately whether you are registered in a course or need to opt for another course or the waitlist.
  • Allow you to register for the standard course load, and for an extra course if and only if you have received approval prior to the start of the registration period.
  • Block you from signing up for courses that meet at the same time. Oxford students please note: the course meeting times listed in Banner9 Registration are placeholders only, and not the actual times classes will meet.
  • Allow you to drop a course, add an available course, or add your name to any waitlist during the registration period.

In order to register, you will need:

  • Course Registration Numbers (CRNs), listed on the campus course schedules below. Note that if you have been approved to take a DRW, your campus coordinator will register you for your DRW.

Vermont 

Oxford

California

Online Critical Writing Tutorials 

  • The time at which you may begin registering. Students will receive an email from the Registrar’s office informing them of this registration window, which is based on Bread Loaf registration codes. Registration codes are determined by the Bread Loaf office and are dependent on the number of completed courses plus anticipated courses for the upcoming summer. Each course has a value of 5 points.

For example, a registration code of BL30 means you have completed four courses (for 20 points) and anticipate taking two more (10 more points) in the upcoming summer. Anticipated courses include DRWs approved to be taken as an overload and courses pre-approved for transfer. The code for new students is BL10. In addition, the code BL70 is used for students with special circumstances and BL80 for non-degree students.

If you would like to calculate your registration code, please refer to your Degree Progress Worksheet.

Registration Schedule and Instructions

Each registration session opens on the day listed below at 4 pm (EST) and remains open through 5 pm (EST) on the last day of the course registration period.

Monday: Seniors (BL50)
Tuesday: Fourth-year students (BL40, BL45)
Wednesday: Students with special circumstances (BL60, BL70)
Thursday: Third-year students (BL30, BL35)
Friday: First- and second-year and non-degree students (BL10, BL15, BL20, BL25, BL80)

You may preview your registration window by logging into Banner9 Registration, selecting “Prepare for Registration,” and selecting the appropriate summer session for BLSE.

Follow these step-by-step instructions to register for courses in Banner9 Registration.

Degree Progress

Your degree progress worksheet allows you to see how the courses you have taken fulfill the requirements for the Bread Loaf MA and should help you plan for course registration in February. 

Degree progress worksheets utilize a “best fit” algorithm that makes updates whenever record changes are made; therefore, your degree progress audit will look different over your summers of enrollment depending on the courses you take and the attributes that are assigned to them. For more information on the degree progress worksheet features, please watch this short video or refer to the FAQs on the registrar’s website. Please notify your campus coordinator if you have any questions regarding your degree progress worksheet or meeting your graduation requirements. 

You can access your degree progress worksheet through BannerWeb. You will need to use your Middlebury username (email) and password to access BannerWeb. Click on the Student Records and Registration tab, select the Student Records link, and finally click on the Degree Progress Worksheet option.

Bread Loaf Degree Requirements

Students Admitted in 2025 and After

M.A. candidates must take ten units within a ten-year period. Each unit carries the equivalent of three-semester hours of graduate credit (30 class hours). Students must earn a B- or better in any given course to receive credit for that course. MA candidates are required to take:

  • One unit in each of the groups that center on literary fields (four units total);       

    Group 2 British Literature: Beginnings through the 17th Century
    Group 3 British Literature: 18th Century through the Present
    Group 4 American Literature
    Group 5 World Literature

  • One unit in either of the groups that center on methodologies (one unit total);

    Group 1 Writing, Pedagogy, and Literacy
    Group 6 Theater Arts
  • Five units of electives, from any curricular groups.

Students Admitted Between 2013 and 2024

M.A. candidates must take ten units within a ten-year period. Each unit carries the equivalent of three-semester hours of graduate credit (30 class hours). Students must earn a B- or better in any given course to receive credit for that course.

Five of the ten units must fulfill the following distributional requirements:

  • 1 unit in Group 2: British Literature: Beginnings through the 17th Century
  • 1 unit in Group 3: British Literature: 18th Century to the Present
  • 1 unit in Group 4: American Literature
  • 1 unit in Group 5: World Literature
  • 1 additional course in Group 2, 3, 4, or 5

The remaining five units are electives and can come from any of the above Groups or from Group 1 (Writing, Pedagogy, and Literacy) or Group 6 (Theater Arts).

Students admitted between 2013 and 2024 may instead elect to fulfill the 2025 degree requirements.

Students Admitted Before 2013

M.A. candidates must take ten units within a ten-year period. Each unit carries the equivalent of three-semester hours of graduate credit (30 class hours). Students must earn a B- or better in any given course to receive credit for that course.

Six of the ten units must fulfill the following distributional requirements:

  • 2 units in Group 2: British Literature: Beginnings through the 17th Century
  • 2 units in Group 3: British Literature: 18th Century to the Present
  • 1 unit in Group 4: American Literature
  • 1 unit in Group 5: World Literature

Students can replace any one of these six requirements with an elective, with permission of the dean. The remaining four units are electives and can come from any of the above Groups or from Group 1 (Writing, Pedagogy, and Literacy) or Group 6 (Theater Arts).

Students admitted before 2013 may instead elect to fulfill the 2013-2024 degree requirements.

Waitlists

When a course is fully enrolled, students have the option to add their names to a waitlist for that course. In the event that someone drops the course, students will be offered the space in the order in which they have registered. If an opening emerges in a course for which you have been waitlisted, you will receive an email letting you know, and you will have three days to accept the space before it is offered to someone else.