Before You Begin

BEFORE YOU BEGIN
INFO FOR ALL STUDENTS

You must be enrolled as a Penn State student when you register
The University course registration system cannot register you for a course if it does not recognize you. To do this you must apply and enroll as either a Workforce Education and Development (“WF ED”) student (undergraduate or graduate) or a “non-degree” student.
•    Click on “Prospective Students” at http://www.psu.edu to enroll as a “WF ED student”.
•    Refer to page 10 for the “non-degree student” application procedure for you.
If you are a non-degree student and you skip a semester, you will have to complete the Re-enrollment Request (page 16) and pay a $20 fee when you want to resume courses.

Get a Penn State ID card.
The Penn State ID card is a photo-ID card that is needed to get your ACCESS Account. It also is a library card good at any Penn State campus, a record of the student’s ID number (no longer the Social Security number), and proof of student status for discounts at many retailers in Pennsylvania. Go to 103 HUB-Robeson Center, University Park to obtain your PSU ID card and to http://www.idcard.psu.edu for more information about the PSU ID card.

Your bills from previous semesters must be paid.

If any bills from previous semesters – tuition, fees, late book fines, parking tickets, etc. – are not paid when you attempt to register, the system will block your registration. Late payment of one semester’s bills, therefore, could force you to register after the registration deadline of the next semester, which will result in a $250 late registration fee. Save yourself a headache later – pay your semester bills during that semester.

Keep track of the date your current teaching certificate expires and monitor your progress toward that goal.
Every Pennsylvania educator’s certificate requires the holder to complete a fixed number of courses within a certain amount of time. When you receive your Emergency, Intern, or Vocational Instructional I certificate from PDE, find out when it expires and what you need to do to keep/earn the next level. If you have a Vocational Instructional II, Supervisor, or Director certificate, find out what you need to do to keep it active. Then plan how many courses you need to complete each year to finish on time. If you need help answering any of these questions, contact your Local Resource Person, Cheryl Stamm (crc10@psu.edu) or Dr. Walter (raw18@psu.edu). However, YOU are responsible for doing what you need to do to be a certified career and technical educator.
 
Tuition bills are now paperless.
Effective during the fall 2006 semester, electronic bills (eBills) replaced all paper bills for Penn State students. Paper bills are no longer mailed. eBills are online student bills that display the same information as the traditional paper billing statements. eBills provide convenient access from any computer with an Internet connection, such as computers at your school or community library. Information is secure and confidential -- only the student and individuals authorized by the student can view the eBill. The eBill is up-to-date with all known financial aid funds.


After students have scheduled their classes, they will receive an e-mail message on their official University e-mail account announcing that the eBill is available to view and pay via eLion. Students can access the eBill by logging into eLion, then selecting "Bills Tuition/Other."


An authorized parent/guardian/other now can access student financial information online via eLion. To access the financial information (Bills Tuition/Other, Bursar Account, Hope/Lifetime Tax Credit) in a student's record, parents/guardians/others must be granted access by the student and have either a Friends of Penn State (FPS) Account or a current Penn State Access Account. Accounts can be created via http://www.elion.psu.edu/ by selecting "Parent/Other." Students can grant access via eLion by selecting "Parent/Other Access."


Electronic payments via eCheck (electronic check) now are accepted on the Web. eCheck is a fast and secure method to pay the eBill. To make an eCheck payment, provide the routing and checking account numbers from the bottom of the check and the amount to be paid. Penn State deducts the amount entered from the checking account, so there is no need to mail a check. There is no additional charge to pay by eCheck. eBills also can be paid online with a credit card (Mastercard or Discover). There is a 2 percent convenience fee charged for payments made with a credit card over the Web. In addition, payment vouchers can be printed from eLion and mailed with a payment to 103 Shields Building, University Park, PA 16802.
No one in the Workforce Education and Development Program has the power to change this University policy. We recommend that you try to use eLion. If you absolutely cannot obtain a bill this way, refer all questions to the Bursar’s Office at (814)865-6528.

Therefore, you must have an active Penn State e-mail account (called an ACCESS Account) to complete registration.

In the past, it was possible to register and complete courses without a Penn State e-mail account. This is no longer the case. Payment of the tuition bill always has been required to complete registration, and now an ACCESS Account is necessary to acquire the tuition bill. Therefore, you must obtain and maintain an active Penn State ACCESS Account.
If you attended the New Teacher Workshop and enrolled every semester since then, you should already have your Penn State Access Account. If you did not attend the New Teacher Workshop or if you did not register last semester, take your Penn State photo ID card to one of the Penn State Access Account signature stations (on the next page) and follow the instructions there. Make note of your user ID and password when they are displayed on the screen. Your account should be active within three business day.
Using your ACCESS Account (xyz###@psu.edu) also is the best way to ensure your e-mail to faculty and other University personnel passes through the Penn State spam filters.


Penn State Access Account Signature Stations

Penn State Altoona
•    Computer Center, 2nd Floor CLRC
•    159 CLRC
For help, contact the PSU Altoona Help Desk at (814)949-5363 or go to www.aa.psu.edu.it.
Penn State Berks
•    143 Luerssen Building
•    Gallery of Information Commons, Thun Library
Hours are listed at www.bk.psu.edu/it.
The Dickinson School of Law
•    Room 017 Computer Lab
Penn State DuBois
•    Main Student Computer Lab, 101 Swift Building
•    Help Desk, 105 Swift Building
Penn State Harrisburg
•    Room C14 Olmsted Building
•    Town Square Olmsted Building
•    Library
Penn State Hazleton
•    Graham Lobby
•    Library Computer Lab
•    Administration Building, 3rd Floor
For help, contact the Library Computer Lab Help Desk at (570)450-3456.    The College of Medicine at the Hershey Medical Center
•    Harrell Library
Penn State Lancaster
•    Room 102 Office
•    1383 Arcadia Road
•    717-299-7667
Penn State Mont Alto
•    102 General Studies
Penn State Schuylkill
•    Cotler Computer Center, Classroom Building, Help Desk Station
Penn State York
•    106 IST Building
University Park
•    103  Boucke Building
•    101  Computer Building
•    215  Computer Building
•        6  Findlay Commons
•     113 Pattee Library
•    201  Pollock Library
•    107  Warnock Commons
•    108  Warnock Commons
•        2  Willard Building

If you have problems using a signature station, contact the computer support staff at the station location or the ITS Computer Accounts Office at (814)865-4772.
Get campus maps
Links to the campus websites

Watch for your tuition bill and Penn State e-mail at any computer connected to the internet.
After you enroll and activate your Access Account, you may access your Penn State e-mail, and tuition bill, with your home computer, a school computer, or any computer connected to the internet. To do that, go to https://webmail.psu.edu (note the “s ”and no “www”). Click on the phrase “Welcome to Penn State Webmail” and log-in with your username and password. Your computer will deliver all of the e-mail that has been sent to your Penn State Access Account.