Coursera Current Students

General Information

The ME-EMon Coursera program is unique among graduate programs at the Թ of Colorado Boulder in its modality, admissions, and course design, and therefore has a number of special policies. These policies are listed in the student handbook.

Student Handbook

The Buff Portal is known as the student portal that will serve as a one-stop-shop for students to findimportant resources such as managing transactions, viewing class schedule, checking current status, and much more.

Upon first logging into Buff Portal, students must consent to conduct business electronically during their time at CU Boulder.

Starting in 2025 Fall 1, certificates will no longer be conferred automatically. You must officially declare any certificate in Buff Portal > CU Boulder on Coursera Program Action Form, before you can earn them.

You can declare, drop, change your degree program using the CU Boulder on Coursera Program Action Form located within your Buff Portal. You must complete the specific performance-based-admission requriements to be admitted to the program you are interested in.

Finding Your Grades

Grades are typically posted about 1-2 weeks after classes end for the session. (See the calendarfor exact dates.)

To find your grades:

  1. Log into .
  2. In the Grades & GPA tile, click Class Grades.
  3. Click on the relevant term to see grades.
  4. Click on the class name for more info.

Converting Percentage (%) to Letter Grade (A–F)

You can find the grading breakdown for each course on Coursera.Simply go to the course in question, find theReading: Syllabusitem (usually in Week 1), and then scroll down to the section outlining the uniform letter grade rubric for that class.

Converting Letter Grades (A–F) to the 4.0 Scale

You can convert letter grades to the 4.0 scale with theCU Transcript Key. Note that theNumeric Grades (Law)column there only applies to Law School classesand is unrelated to the MS-DS.

How do drop, refund, and withdrawwork?

See the Registrar's Special Programspage for information about drops, refunds, and withdrawals.

What are all of my options?

If you're worried about how you're doing in a course, please see Options for ME-EM Students Worried Թ Course Grades for options before, during and after taking a class.

Will dropping or withdrawing affect my ME-EMdegree admission?

The Admissionssection of the Student Handbook explains the criteriafor ME-EMdegree program admission. Note that neither dropped nor withdrawn courses affect your GPA.

How do I re-enroll and complete the course in a future session?

When you're ready to re-enroll in the course, simply enroll from Buff Portal and pay tuition like normal.

Learn More about Drops & Withdrawals

Students currently enrolled in for-credit ME-EMcourses are eligible for free access to non-credit versions of 200+ CU courses through the CU on Coursera learning program. This program grants you sponsored access to a selected bundle of open (non-credit) courses from across the Թ of Colorado Coursera portfolio. Click below to learn more and get started.

Learn Թ CU on Coursera

states 15 credits is the maximum allowable credits per semester (including two sessions). If students would like to enroll in more than 15 credits per 2 sessions, they will need to go through a petition process to demonstrate their ability to be successful with the additional course load.Contact your advisor (emp-coursera@colorado.edu) if you have extenuating circumstances that require you to enroll in greater than 15 credits in a semester. Students in their first session without a GPA will be automatically denied. All petitions must be submitted for review two weeks before enrollment closes for the current session and requires a formal petition process.

Use this list to make sure you have completed everything to earn a grade and credit for your courses.

✅ Student Onboarding Course completed & the final module in your course is accessible.

✅ Green check mark next to all assignments, includingthe Honor Code Verification in the final module. (Must be completed to receive a grade—do not unlock if withdrawing.)

✅ Green check mark next to all weeks (modules), including the final module.

✅ Peer reviews completed (if applicable) or you contacted your Course Facilitator three days BEFORE the last day of of the course if you had any questions about peer review submissions.

Students admitted to the ME-EM degree are eligible to receive a physical Buff OneCard (student ID card) for $30 by emailing a headshot, photo ID, and mailing address to boc@colorado.edufrom your colorado.edu student email address.

Obtain a copy of your tuition statement and 1098T Tax Form.

Account Statements

The Office of the Registrar can provide confirmation of enrollment or degree status for current or former students.

To get started, send an email to reg-specialprograms@colorado.edu.

Before ordering the official CU Boulder transcript, students must check for holds by logging into the . If there are financial obligations with CU, the student transcript will not be released.

Order Transcripts

Note: Click on the "Students with an IdentiKey" button to start ordering an official transcript.

Graduate students with a grade of C+ or lower are eligible for Grade Replacement. Review the eligibility and process here. Only the new grade will count towards your GPA. However, both grades will show up on your transcript and degree audit.

ME-EM allows up to 3 credits of C+s to count towards their degree requirement. The rest must be B-s or higher. Email emp-Coursera@colorado.edu to request up to 3 credits of C+s to be accepted on your degree audit.

Help & Information

Digital Library Resources

Career Resources

Graduation Information

Congratulations on completing your degree! You've made many sacrifices and overcome great challenges to arrive at this moment. Now, it's time to celebrate your accomplishments as a graduating Buff. We are BuffsTogether, no matter where we are!

You do not need to apply to graduate. Students who complete the degree requirements (30 credits- 12core credits and 18 elective credits) typically receive an email confirming their degree conferral about 3-4 weeks after classes end for the session. (See the calendar for exact dates.)

You are welcome to attend the graduation ceremony on-campus upon completion of your ME-EM degree. For more information about Commencement, please visit the Commencement website.

There is one campuswide ceremony per year, held at the end of the Spring 2 session.

All students who have fulfilled their degree requirements in the last academic yearwill be invited to attend the Spring Commencement Ceremony at Folsom Fieldand the Spring EMP graduation ceremony. Invitations will be sent out early Spring.

Regalia Information

In order to walk in the commencement ceremony, students are strongly encouraged to wear approved regalia. Master’s students should wear regalia purchased online from . The regalia set includes the gown, hood, cap/tam, tassel and is yours to keep. You can place your order for the ‘Masters Cap, Gown, Hood, Tassel w/ Yeardate Charm’ ($51.10) directly on Jostens website and it will be shipped directly to your home. Please select ‘Engineering’ as under the ‘Major/Curriculum’ since you will be receiving a Master of Engineering degree.

The deadline to order regalia online for spring 2026 ceremonies is TBD.

Please note that we do not issue visas for international students wishing to attend the in-person graduation ceremony.

  • Date: Early May (TBD)
  • Time: TBD
  • Ceremony Location: TBD

The Թ of Colorado Boulder is committed to hosting accessible and inclusive experiences for its community members. If you require accommodations to participate, engage, or attend the event, please contact Mylee McQuillin (mylee.mcquillin@colorado.edu) no later than 7 days before the event. We will make all reasonable efforts to fulfill requests submitted after the deadline; however, requests received after the deadline cannot be guaranteed as it is dependent on a service provider’s availability.

We'll mail your complimentary paper diploma and/or certificate approximately eight weeks after the end of the session in which you complete your degree requirements.

You should verify both your name that will appear on your diploma, as well as the address your diploma will be mailed to in your Buff Portal. You will need toUpdate Your Contact Informationif your name and/or home address are not listed correctly before the session deadline.

You also have access to a Certified Electronic Diploma & Certificate (CeDiplomas/CeCertificates). Go to the electronic diplomas & certificates card in Buff Portal and click the "Access your CeDiploma/CeCertificate" link to access CeCredential Trust, an approved third-party vendor of CU Boulder. Please seeCeDiplomas/CeCertificatesfor additional information regarding electronic diplomas.

Now that you are a graduate of the Թ of Colorado Boulder, you are welcome to join the Buffs Alumni Association, known as Forever Buffs. Please see the Forever Buffs website for more information on joining the association.

Get Help

Getting Started

New to CU Boulder on Coursera? Click New Student to create your account, and complete identify verification.

All students: Enroll in a course from Buff Portal and pay tuition ($667 per credit hour). Tuition is due at the time of enrollment. You will receive a confirmation message after your enrollment has been processed, typically within 24 hours.

We recommend that new students take one course at a time to start. This allows you to adjust to the graduate-level coursework and get a better sense of how much time you need to budget for the program.

Visit the Bursar'sDegrees on Courserafor more information about payment, account statements, and refund policies.

After enrolling in a course and paying tuition, you will receive an email from the Office of Information Technology (OIT) with with your Student Identification Number (SID) and instructions on how to activate your IdentiKey (which will be your CU login name) and password. You will use your Identikey to access online services and applications at CU Boulder.

Didn't get the email from OIT? Contact them directly at oithelp@colorado.eduto locate your Student Identification Number (SID).

After activating your IdentiKey, you will need to setup your CU Boulder email account. All official forms of communication will be sent through this account.

Important! Link your CU email to your Coursera account to:

  • Gain access to the ME-EM Student Onboarding Course (you must complete this before accessing for-credit content)
  • Allow CU Boulder to grant credit for the work you do in Coursera

To get started, open the linking invitation email from Coursera with the subject line “ACTION NEEDED: Link your Coursera account…”.

Link your account

Prior to accessing for-credit content for the first time, you must pass the non-credit "CU Boulder ME-EM Student Onboarding Course." Please keep the following in mind:

  • You only need to complete this course once.
  • We recommend bookmarking this course so you can refer back to it when you have questions about the program.
  • If you have completed the onboarding course and still do not have access to the for-credit content, the class may not have started yet. See Calendar.

Please keep the following in mind:

  • The courses you enrolled in will be added to your Coursera account once the session begins. If the session you enrolled in is already in progress, your courses should appear in your account within 24-48 hours.See Calendar.
  • Schedule all proctored exams and submit peer-graded assignmentsat least 72 hours prior to the class end date.See Calendar.
  • Tuition cannot be carried over to future sessions.Allfor-credit coursework must be submitted by the last day of the 8-week session you enroll in.
  • Final grades are typically posted about 1-2 weeks after the end of each 8-week session.

All CU Boulder students must complete the mandatory Community Accountability training online in . This non-credit online course covers university policy and resources addressing discrimination, harassment, and sexual misconduct. Students also learn skills for helping as a bystander and for supporting friends to prevent and respond effectively to harm.

Mandatory Community Accountability Training

  1. Log into .
  2. Access the Community Accountability training from your Canvas dashboard. If you don’t see it listed there, select “Courses” on the left, then “All Courses.” Pleasecontact OIECif you are having trouble accessing the course.
  3. Complete the course. Your hold will be lifted within 1 hour. You must wait for our registration system to update overnight to enroll the next day.

*The Community Accountability course is only required after you are admitted to the ME-EM program. If you are not admitted to the program, you do not need to complete the course (and will not be able to completethe course) until after admission. The course will be automatically added to your Canvas dashboard when you are due to complete it. Failure to complete the course by the deadline will result in a registration hold being placed on your account.

See more information on the Թ's Community Accountability page.