Enrollment Form

If you have not done so already, the first step to confirm your enrollment is to complete and submit your enrollment decision form. To submit your enrollment form; log in to your Applicant Portal and click on the enrollment decision form link.

Trailhead Account Claim

Approximately one to two days after you submit your enrollment decision form, you can claim your Trailhead account. This is your student account and provides access to the registration/grading/billing system, your Mines student email account and the online learning environment, Canvas. Instructions for claiming your account are on the Account Claim webpage.

University Identification

Online students are required to upload their credentials (e.g., government-issued ID) to confirm the identification. For your convenience, Mines accepts electronic submissions. Please follow the directions on the BlastCard Photo Upload page to submit your photo and credentials. Please note that you will not receive a physical card from the BlasterCard office. 

Canvas

For your online classes, you will be using the Canvas Learning Management System. To discover more about your online learning environment and how to access it, visit the Understand the Learning Environment page.

In order to offer online programs and courses in every state (except California), Mines is required to adhere to the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA). This agreement requires fully online students attending Mines to verify their state of residence every semester.

You will receive an email 30 days prior to the start of the semester prompting you to login into Trailhead to verify your address. Please note that you won’t be able to verify until 30 days before the start of the upcoming term.

When you log in, you will be prompted to follow these steps:

1. Update your Emergency Alert phone number and emergency contact first, if prompted.
2. Update your address by selecting “Edit/Add Address”, if needed.
3. Make your updates and then select “Modify Address” to save your changes.
4. Select “Verify Address” to verify your address. You will see a message confirming that you’ve verified your address.
5. After verifying, please allow one business day for the hold in Trailhead to be removed from your account. Please be advised that if you don’t verify your address before the start of the term, access to your upcoming courses in Canvas will be restricted. For assistance, please reach out to the Registrar’s Office at registrar@mines.edu.

Guide to Online Learning

You also have access to a self-paced course called the Guide to Online Learning which was designed to familiarize you with the online learning environment, Canvas.

After you have logged into Canvas, please complete the online orientation class.

You will receive an email from your program when it’s time to register for classes. Once you have that information, please visit the registration page for more information on how to register for courses being offered each semester.

Tuition and fee payments are due on the first business day following Census Day. Learn more about tuition and fees.

Students must accept the Student Financial Responsibility Agreement each semester they are enrolled. Student Financial Responsibility Agreement.

Please submit final official transcripts and diplomas from all previous colleges/universities you have attended or are currently attending. Please refer to the enrollment checklist in your Applicant Portal to see what items we have already received and what we are still missing.

You will be permitted to register for courses in your first academic term at Mines without final official transcripts. However, a hold to prevent registration for future terms will be placed on your account if these documents are not received within your first term of attendance.

Please read the following information for a definition of final official transcripts.

Final official transcripts must meet the following criteria

• Arrive to Colorado School of Mines directly from the prior college or university.
• Be accompanied by a diploma if you received a degree from that institution. The diploma must contain the date the degree was conferred.
• Contain the transcript(s) and diploma(s) both in English and the original, native language. If the international university issues official documents in English, that is acceptable and no translation is needed.
• Show all courses with final grades (i.e. no grades in progress).
• Be accompanied by a credential evaluation if the university you attended was located outside of the U.S. (more information in the next bullet and below in the Credential Evaluations section).

International Transcripts

We will also accept transcripts and diplomas as official if they come to us from a NACES Credential Evaluator and your credential evaluation may serve as the English translation. See the Credential Evaluations section below for more information.

Methods for submitting official documents

1. Directly from your prior university via email to us at grad-admissions@mines.edu
2. Directly from your prior university via any electronic document sending service
3. Directly from your prior university via postal mail, in a sealed envelope to: Colorado School of Mines – Graduate Admissions
   Starzer Welcome Center
   1812 Illinois Street
   Golden, CO 80401
4. Delivered to the Office of Admissions in a closed, sealed envelope with a university signature, stamp or seal the outside of the envelope.

Credential Evaluations

• If you attended a university outside of the U.S., you are accepted to Mines and have confirmed your enrollment, your international transcripts and diplomas must be accompanied by a course-by-course credential evaluation completed by a National Association of Credential Evaluation Service (NACES) member. Please refer to your enrollment checklist in your Applicant Portal after you have been accepted to determine if you are required to submit a credential evaluation and to check if we have received yours.
• The preferred NACES members are Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE) and World Education Services (WES). Other NACES members will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Remember to designate “Mines Graduate Admissions” as a copy recipient of your evaluation.
• If your university-issued your transcripts and diplomas in a language other than English, we require a copy of the documents in the native language as well. Your credential evaluation will be accepted as the English translation of the documents.
• Some credential evaluators will forward your official transcripts and diplomas directly to Mines for an additional fee. Mines does accept these documents as official.

If you have not already had official Graduate Record Exam (GRE) or Graduate Admissions Test (GMAT) scores and they are required for your program, submission of your official test scores are required.

To be considered official, your test scores must come directly to us from the testing agency. Please use code 4073 for the GRE.

• Official test scores are required BEFORE you are provided course registration access and official TOEFL, IELTS and Duolingo scores are required before Mines can send you immigration documentation.

If you have not done so already, you will need to submit your Tuition Classification Form. To submit this form, log in to your Applicant Portal and click on the Tuition Classification form link under the Application Resources tab.

If you have been awarded an assistantship or fellowship by your academic department, you will need to contact your department and complete the contract outlining the components of your award. In addition to the contract, it is the policy of Colorado School of Mines to conduct background investigations as a condition of Employment or Appointment. The link to this information can be found in your applicant portal. You may review the Summary of Your Rights that we are required to provide you as part of the background screening process. Questions related to the human resources background check should be directed to Human Resources.

For those students wishing to obtain student loans, information is available from the Financial Aid website.

Non-degree-seeking students are not eligible for financial aid.

Student Services and Support

For advising, other services, and support for online students, visit the Services and Support page.

Technical Assistance

For assistance with technical issues, visit the Technical Support page.

Student policies can be found on the Mines website. Student can report a complaint, specific or general, about their experience at Mines, by visiting the Student Complaint page.

Students are responsible for ensuring compliance with all applicable Mines policies, including but not limited to the Mines Honor Code, the Academic Integrity Policy, and the Information Technology Appropriate Use Policy.  Additionally, some Mines online courses will involve real-time video discussions with the faculty presenters and other members of the class.  Any student participating in such a real-time video discussion is responsible for ensuring that his or her webcam usage will not violate Mines policies or the privacy of any individuals present in the student’s environment.

Additional program information can found on the Degrees and Certificates webpage.

Computer recommendations and specifications