New Student Checklist
Complete FAFSA and contact Financial Aid
Financial Aid packaging is completed by the Financial Aid Office. You must complete the FAFSA in order to be eligible for loan packaging.
You must be registered for classes in order for the Financial Aid Office to package you. You should register for summer/fall classes as soon as possible so that there will be no delay in packaging. Once your package is available, you will get an email from Financial Aid. Visit myW&M and click on the Banner icon and log in to view your financial aid award.
Students beginning in the summer term should complete the FAFSA for the current academic year and for the upcoming academic year (e.g., a student starting in Summer 2026 should fill out the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 FAFSA). You must also fill out the Summer Financial Aid application for the Financial Aid office.
If you have questions regarding your loan packaging, please contact the Financial Aid Office at [[finaid,finaid@wm.edu]] or 757-221-2420.
Access W&M email account
You should have activated your credentials in order to make your enrollment deposit. Once paid, you'll be able to access your W&M email account. For instructions on accessing your Office 365 W&M email account, visit the IT website. Use your W&Muserid and password to log in. Please allow 48 hours from depositing to accessing your email.
You should begin to check your W&M email as soon as possible. All university correspondence will now be sent to the W&M email address, not the addresses provided by you during the admission process. If you are not going to use the W&M account as your primary email account, you should make sure to have the W&M email forwarded to whatever account you check regularly.
Complete the Financial Responsibility Agreement Form
You must complete the Financial Responsibility Agreement. Click on “FRA - Financial Responsibility Agreement” at the bottom of the page linked above to submit the Docu-sign form to the Bursar’s Office. If you have any questions, please email bursar@wm.edu or call 757-221-1220.
Order Final Transcript
If you provided unofficial transcripts, or transcripts that included in-progress coursework for a degree program, please be sure to request your final, official transcript once your degree has been posted. We must have an official transcript on file that indicates your degree was conferred. Failure to provide a final transcript will result in a hold being placed on your student record.
What is an official transcript? This is a copy of your final transcript that comes directly to W&M from your previous institution. It includes all grades, credits, degrees conferred, and usually has an official signature or seal from your univeristy/registrar.
Set up meeting with your Advisor
Your admit letter included contact information for your faculty advisor. You can contact your advisor and set up an appointment to review your program of study. You should check your degree progress frequently using DegreeWorks.
Register for Classes
Registration opens Monday, April 6th, 2026. It's online, so you can register from anywhere in the world. You will access registration by visiting registration.wm.edu. Check out our Quick Reference Guide or find additional instructions on the University Registrar’s web site.
Once your complete your registration, you can confirm it in both PATH and Banner Self-Service. You may not see all courses in Blackboard, as not all faculty use Blackboard. When checking to see what courses you are registered for, you should check Banner, NOT Blackboard.
Please let us know if you are having problems with this process. The School of Education, not the University Registrar’s Office, will assist you with any issues you may encounter with registration. Our graduate registrar is [[trgainer, Tammy Gainer]]. She can be reached at 757-221-2316.
When searching for courses, please note that course listings in education begin with three different letter groups:
CRIN Curriculum & Instruction
EDUC Education
EPPL Educational Policy, Planning & Leadership
You can also search by the college code Education.
An important link for you to use is the Academic Calendar. This calendar details registration dates, term dates, deadlines, etc. specific to the School of Education.
Complete Health Evaluation form
Health Evaluation Forms are required for all full-time students (generally, students registered for 9 credit hours or more in a semester). If you are full-time at any point during your program, you MUST complete this form.
Go to Student Health Services to access the online health portal to complete the required information online and upload any required documents. A physician must verify the health information requested on the form. The information required on this form is required by Virginia State Law and William & Mary.
Forms are due in July and failure to complete this requirement will result in a late fee of $100 and a hold placed on your account. If you do not intend to ever be a full-time student, you do not need to complete this form. If you are a part-time PhD student, you will need to complete this form for your residency year.
Complete Health Insurance Waiver or sign up for Health Insurance
William & Mary requires all full-time students (undergraduate and graduate) to be covered by adequate health insurance coverage throughout the school year. William & Mary has contracted with a vendor that provides a student sickness and injury insurance plan that can provide affordable health care coverage. Unless the student has existing health care coverage and submits a waiver request, that is subsequently approved, the student will automatically be enrolled in this W&M-sponsored plan.
All full-time undergraduate and graduate students will be enrolled in the W&M-endorsed student Health Insurance Plan and the fee will be billed to the student’s account in two installments unless proof of other adequate health insurance coverage is furnished.
If you feel you have adequate health insurance and do not wish to be enrolled in the college insurance plan, you must complete the waiver request that can be found on the Insurance page of the Student Health Center website.
If you do not submit this waiver request, you will be enrolled in the college-endorsed health insurance plan, and billed for the annual fee. Important: The waiver request is typically due around July 1.
If you have any questions, please contact the [[student.insurance, Student Insurance Coordinator]] at the Student Health Center, (757) 221-2978.
Find Housing
Some students choose to live on-campus in the Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Graduate Complex and many choose to live off-campus in the Williamsburg community. Check out the William & Mary Off-Campus Housing website. You may also want to check out our Guide to Graduate Living, created by the Higher Education Student Association, to learn more about housing and other resources in town.
Get a Parking Pass
Parking decals may be purchased from the Parking Services Office on Campus Drive. Anyone who parks a vehicle on campus must have a decal. Decals are priced according to student type and parking location. Limited free street parking is available on Mt Vernon Ave.
A student may use their William & Mary ID to ride public bus transportation free to any location on the Williamsburg Transit bus route.
Attend Orientation (On Campus Programs)
Check out the orientation site for this year's orientation dates:
If you cannot attend orientation, please contact the [[mpbarrett, Office of Academic Programs]].
Get an ID card
Students may purchase a William & Mary Student ID card from the Tribe Card Services Office, which is located in the Campus Center on Jamestown Road. Student IDs are required if you want to check books out of the library, take public transportation for free, use the Recreational Center, purchase a meal plan, or use them for discounts around town. The ID also functions as door access and a declining balance card.
Check out eServices
Through eServices, you can set up authorized users to view and or pay your bill, set up direct deposit for Financial Aid refunds, and access the Tuition Payment Plan.