Title: Program Waiting Lists
Number: AP 2.13
Adopted: September 2026
Purpose:
The Nicolet College policy on Program Waiting Lists is intended to ensure that students who apply for high demand programs are enrolled based on admission priority criteria outlined in Wisconsin Administrative Code TCS 10.07.
Policy:
Periodically, high demand for a particular program results in a waiting list. The College manages program waitlists for certain programs where there are capacity limitations, and/or the program has academic preparedness requirements. Program waitlists for all Wisconsin Technical College System-approved programs are managed by the Strategic Enrollment Team.
Program waitlists determine which students access core courses for each available term, in accordance with Administrative Code TCS 10.07.
Definitions:
High demand program: an academic program with limited instructional or clinical capacity in which qualified applicant demand exceeds available seats, necessitating the use of admission waitlists. The determination of which programs are deemed high demand or low demand is made by the strategic enrollment team.
Low demand program: an academic program in which the number of qualified applicants is consistently at or below available enrollment capacity, allowing the institution to offer admission to all eligible applicants without the need for a waitlist.
Admitted: Pre-Core: The student has been admitted to the College for a program and on the waiting list for available space in core courses. They have met all admission requirements but have not yet satisfied the academic preparedness criteria for a program. Pre-Core students may enroll in coursework to make progress toward academic preparedness requirements and general education coursework.
Admitted: Core-Ready: The student has been admitted to the College for a program and on the waiting list for available space in core courses; they have completed admission requirements and academic preparedness requirements (if applicable).
Admitted: Core-Active: The student has been admitted to the College for a program and should enroll in core courses. This status will be applied once a Core-Ready student is enrolled in their first term of core courses in a program.
Application Management
Each term, the Nicolet College admission office will monitor applications to programs. When a student meets admissions requirements and can be admitted to the College for a high demand program, the appropriate student status (outlined above) will be applied to the student's record in accordance with PR 2.13.01: Application Management for High Demand Programs.
Program Enrollment Management
Prior to registration opening for each term that core coursework is available, the Enrollment Team will verify capacity for programs, verify students' statuses, and follow procedures related to waitlist communications, shared programs, maintaining waitlist status, program continuation and readmission, and program changes outlined in PR 2.13.02: Program Waiting List Management.