Hours of Operation

• Monday-Thursday: 8a-7p

• Friday: 8a-5p

Advising will be closed on the following dates:

• Sept 7: Labor Day

• Oct 30: Employee Development Day

• Nov 11: Veteran’s Day

• Nov 26-28: Thanksgiving Break

• Dec 21-Jan 1: Winter Break

Advising is by appointment only.

• Appointments are scheduled via Navigate

  • Current students must schedule appointments with their assigned academic advisor to receive advising services.

• 30-Minute Appointment Session

  • Appointments are scheduled in 30-minute time slots to ensure each student receives dedicated support.

• In-Person and Virtual Options Available

  • You can choose the appointment format that works best for your schedule.

• Same-Day Appointments

  • Drop-in advising is no longer available. However, same-day appointments may be available based on advisor availability and with 1 hour appointment notice.

Important: Students who arrive more than 5 minutes late will be required to reschedule their appointment due to our limited appointment availability and scheduled advising times.

If you do not have a plan on file or if it's off-track, it's recommended to meet with your advisor to update your plan first. Once updated you can register on your own.

Co-Requisite: A course that has to be taken at the same time as another course.

Course Closed: Course max limit has been met.

Waitlist: Course max limit has been met, but if the waitlist is open you can join; this does not guarantee registration. If the waitlist if full, you will receive an error message

Reserved: Course is reserved priority registration for active military, veterans and dependents. You can still request to register via alamo.edu/reserve

Department: Course is for a special group of students or requires Department/Advisor approval or registration.

Cohort/Honors: Course is reserved for either a specific cohort group or is designated as an Honors course

Term: Error message will appear if the wrong term is selected for registration

Max # of Hours: Your max amount of hours have been met for the semester.

• Remote Class: Lecture/lab class meets once/twice a week via ZOOM during a specified time.

• Hybrid Class: Lecture/lab class meets once/twice a week in person and the rest of class is delivered online asynchronous.

• Online: Lecture/lab class is delivered fully online asynchronous - no designated class time.

Parts of Term

• Full-Term: Courses are 16-weeks long and offered in Fall and Spring.

• Start-II: Courses are 14-weeks long

• Flex Courses: Courses are 8 weeks long. Flex I constitutes the first eight weeks of the semester. Flex II constitutes the second eight weeks of the semester.

• Maymester: Three-week session offered between the Spring and first Summer session. A full-time student is enrolled in 3-4 semester hours.

• Wintermester: Three-week session offered between the end of Fall and Spring session. A full-time student is enrolled in 3-4 semester hours.

Full-Time: Taking 12 or more credit hours in a semester/term across the colleges. Some grants, loans, or scholarships may require full-time student status.

^{*The number of credit hours for each class is determined by the second digit in the course number. Example: ENGL 1301 is worth 3 credit hours.}

Fall/Spring Terms

• 16-Week Sessions - Maximum Hours: Eighteen (18) semester credit hours 

Flex I and Flex II 

• 8-Week Sessions - Maximum Hours Per 8-Week Session: Eight (8) semester credit hours 

Fall/Spring Start Two 

• 14-Week Sessions - Maximum Hours: Fourteen (14) semester credit hours 

^{*Fall and Spring, Flex I and II, and Start Two semester credit hours count toward the Fall and Spring totals.} 

Summer Semester 

• Maymester 3-Week Session - Maximum Hours: Three (3) semester credit hours 

• Summer I 5 Week Session - Maximum Hours: Six (6) semester credit hours 

• Summer II 5 Week Session - Maximum Hours: Six (6) semester credit hours 

• Summer 8-Week Session - Maximum Hours: Eight (8) semester credit hours 

^{*Not to exceed 17 semester credit hours for the entire Maymester and Summer session combined.} 

_{Students may not enroll in more than the maximum semester credit hours allowed by the Alamo Colleges for any given semester. According to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), students generally should not be allowed to enroll for more semester credit hours than the number of weeks in a semester/session. Students simultaneously enrolled in terms of different lengths may enroll in a maximum number of semester credit hours equal to the number of weeks in the longest term. Students may petition for additional hours.}

Important: Please refer to the academic-calendar-26-27.pdf for withdrawal deadlines for each term.

• Talk with your instructor to find out if anything else can be done to still pass the course.  

• If you are on financial aid, contact Financial Aid to inquire if withdrawing will impact your aid in any way. Financial Aid is available in person in the Rio Grande Building (RGB 107A) or via phone at 210-212-5266. Additional information can be found here: Financial Aid 

• If you were paying out of pocket and were on a payment plan, please contact the business office to see how this will impact your overall balance: Business Office 

Keep in mind that there are policies that can affect you when withdrawing, please see below: 

• 3-PEAT: Third attempt tuition charge. Due to state legislation, the Alamo Colleges District is no longer reimbursed by the state for courses taken by students who have attempted the same course three or more times previously (which includes courses taken that results in a grade of "W"). Therefore, the tuition for such a "three-peat" course will be the current cost for out of state tuition. 

• Six-Drop Rule: Students are limited to a total of six (6) course drops during their undergraduate career, including a course(s) dropped at another institution. A dropped course is defined as a course in which student has enrolled for credit but did not complete. Students with a total of six (6) drops may not drop the seventh course or any additional courses and will be awarded the grade earned at the end of the semester.   

You must attend classes on the first day or contact your instructor regarding the absence within the first day, or you will be dropped by your instructor.

^{*For fully online courses, an attendance verification activity is assigned and must be completed by the 3rd class day.}

_{*Financial Aid will not pay out for a course(s) not part of your plan.}

This will be your guide to knowing what course(s) to register for and to review your progress towards earning your degree.

Students who fail to maintain a cumulative institutional GPA of 2.0 or higher for a single term are placed on Academic Probation at the end of that term.

Students placed on Academic Probation are:

• required to meet with their certified advisor prior to registering for future terms.

  ^{*hold may be applied that will prevent registration}

• limited to an approved course load, which may include SDEV 0171-Strategies to Success.

Academic Dismissal

Students who score below a 2.0 for two consecutive terms will move from Academic Probation to Academic Dismissal.

Students placed on Academic Dismissal must:

• petition for enrollment after sitting out one full 16-week Fall or Spring term

If petition is approved, student will:

• be required to meet with their certified advisor prior to registering each future term

  ^{*hold may be applied that will prevent registration}

• be limited to a maximum courseload of 6-8 term hours including SDEV 0171-Strategies to Success

• need to earn an institutional GPA of 2.0 or higher in all enrolled courses

• submit midterm progress reports showing academic progress

_{Failure to improve academic progress will result in further restrictions and/or more time sitting out. Please refer to Academic Standards - Palo Alto College - Acalog ACMS™ for more information.}

Students enrolled for 12 or more term credit hours with a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 and a term institution GPA of 3.5-3.99.

President's Honors Qualifications:

Students enrolled for 12 or more term credit hours with a cumulative GPA of 2.0 and term institution GPA of 4.0.

_{Please refer to Academic Standards - Palo Alto College - Acalog ACMS™ for more information.}

1. Schedule an appointment with Certified Advisor to complete an official degree audit to determine eligibility and apply for graduation.

2. Achieve a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 in all course work completed and be in good academic standing at the end of term in which award is received.

3. Earn at least 25% of degree hours required for graduation at Palo Alto College.

_{After applying for graduation, details will be sent to you by email. You can also follow up and find more information at PAC : Current Students : Graduation | Alamo Colleges.}

We have several recruiters who visit our campus, so pay attention to your emails for their information and dates they will be on campus.

You can visit our Transfer Guide site: Transfer Advising Guides | Alamo Colleges to quickly access some of our partnering Universities or search their site for more information and to get in contact with their admissions counselors.

If Financial Aid is not covering a course you believe is a part of your Individual Success Plan, visit our Advising office or email your certified advisor to verify. If approved as part of your program, your certified advisor will place an override so Financial Aid will cover it. If not approved, you will be required to drop the course or pay out of pocket for that course.

• Grade Point Average (GPA): Minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA

• Completion Rate: Minimum 67% successful completion rate of all credit hours attempted 

• Maximum Hours: The maximum time frame a student may receive financial aid may not exceed 150% of the published length of their degree program. 

A SAP Appeal can be completed if you are placed on Financial Aid suspension.

_{Visit the site to learn more: Satisfactory Academic Progress | Alamo Colleges}

If you have non-related advising holds, you will need to get those taken care of before you can meet with advising as you will be unable to register until the hold is cleared.   

Be sure to check your student email regularly!

Your Student ID also gives you access to the VIA U-Pass, which provides students with unlimited VIA rides during the semester.

Please note that in order to receive your student ID, you must have payment on file through financial aid or enrollment in a payment plan.

This is designed to support your transition to college by focusing on academic, career, and personal goals.

A hold will appear on your account if this course is not completed; hold will appear as SDEV advising hold.

1. Call PAC ITS at 210-486-3777 (select option 1).

2. ITS will verify student eligibility.

3. Pickup appointment will be scheduled.

4. ITS will provide a brief overview of the equipment, share helpful resources, and address any questions the student might have.

   
   

What are the eligibility requirements for loaner equipment?

• Must be enrolled in the current term and provide two forms of identification (student ID and state ID)

• Must be PAC home student

• Equipment is loaned on a term-by-term basis and must be returned at the end of term

  
  

Where can I pick up requested equipment?

• All loaner laptops will be available for pickup in the Academic Learning Studio in the Ozuna Library and Learning Center, Room 150.

FALL 2026:

Flex 1 8wk: October 2nd

16wk: November 13th

14wk: November 18th

12wk: November 20th

Flex 2 8wk: November 30th

SPRING 2027:

Wintermester: December 18th

Flex 1 8wk: February 26th

16wk: April 16th

14wk: April 21st

12wk: April 26th

Flex 2 8wk: April 30th

Before dropping a class, be sure to speak to Financial Aid to find out how dropping can impact this.

Changes to your schedule done before this date may affect your tuition or financial aid, but always speak to the respective departments before making changes to ensure you know the impact.

FALL 2026:

Flex I 8-week: August 31st

16-week: September 9th

14-week: September 21st

12-week: October 1st

Flex II 8-week: October 26th

SPRING 2027:

Wintermester: December 15th

Flex I 8-week: January 26th

16-week: February 3rd

14-week: February 12th

12-week: February 25th

Flex II 8-week: March 30th

_Note:

_{Dropping before Census Day will affect your financial aid, and you may owe money back; however, it will not count towards one of your 6 allowed drops through the course of your academic career.}

_{Dropping after Census Day will typically not affect your financial aid; however, it will count towards one of your 6 allowed drops through the course of your academic career and show up as a "W" on your transcripts.}

Possible reasons:

• You applied for FAFSA too late, it has not yet processed, and you did not set up a payment plan before the Payment Deadline to secure your courses.

• You do not qualify for FAFSA and did not set up a payment plan before the Payment Deadline to secure your courses.

• You did not attend your first day of your in-person class to meet the SMART Start requirement.

• You did not complete one of the SMART Start activity and log into the Canvas course within the first 3 days of the course start date.

• Your instructor submitted a withdrawal request due to too many missing assignments or surpassing the maximum # of absences allowed.

  _{*An instructor will drop a student from their course to prevent student from receiving a failing grade and to protect student's GPA; however, this is not always the case - it is the student's responsibility to log in, attend class, complete assignments, and seek additional support as needed.}

  
  

Ways to prevent being dropped:

• Complete FAFSA early (allow 4-6 weeks for processing time before start of any term).

• Make plans to pay in full or schedule a payment plan for any tuition charges, prior to the payment deadline:

  _{'26 - '27 Payment Calendar | Alamo Colleges}

• Show up to your in-person class the very first day, and plan to show up and communicate with your instructor throughout the term.

• Log into your Canvas online course(s) within the first 3 days of the term and complete any and all SMART Start assignments.

• Complete coursework as scheduled, per your syllabus and course outline, and seek additional support services when needed.

  • _{PAC : Campus Resources : Tutoring Services | Alamo Colleges}

  • _{PAC : Mental Health Counseling | Alamo Colleges}

  • _{PAC : Students with Children / Student Parents | Alamo Colleges}

  • _{PAC : Campus Resources : S.H.A.R.E. Center | Alamo Colleges}
    

    
    

Potential for reinstatement:

A student has the potential to be added back into a course that was dropped for non-payment or at an instructor's discretion with the appropriate approval/requirements.

For courses dropped prior to start of term, a student must re-register for the dropped course or another course that still has open seats available before start of term.

For courses dropped after start of term, a student must complete an Add-Drop Form immediately after the drop to obtain approval from the Instructor and Chair of the Department for the dropped course.