Create an Account

UC San Diego Online courses are open to a global community of learners that satisfy the requirements specified in the Terms of Use. All you need is access to a computer with a current browser, an Internet connection and, of course, a desire to learn.

To begin, please register for a UC San Diego Online account.

If you are a current matriculated student at UCSD, or you are a current UCSD Faculty or Staff member, you can use UCSD Single Sign On to create your account.

All other learners will need to: 

• Enter your email address
• Enter your full name (this will appear on any Statements of Accomplishment that you earn)
• Create a public username for the forums (this cannot have spaces)
  Note: You cannot change your username once it has been created.
• Create a password
• Select Create Account

All learners will also be asked to provide the following information about themselves:

• Gender*
• Age*
• Ethnicity*
• Highest level of education completed*
• How you heard about UC San Diego Online*
• Country or region of residence

^*required

Registering for a UC San Diego Online account is completely free! You can also take some courses for free, or you can choose to pay a fee and pursue a Statement of Accomplishment.

When you find a course that interests you, you can enroll in the course by clicking the Enroll button on the course About page.

After registering, you will receive an activation email at the email address you entered during registration. Select the link in the email to activate your account. 

Find instructions for what to do if you do not receive your activation email.

Once a UC San Diego Online username has been created at registration, it cannot be changed. 

You can instead create another account using a different email address to have a different username.  

If you would like to use the same email address for the new account, you will first need to associate a different email address to your existing account. 

You can edit your email address from your Account Settings page. Select the dropdown arrow next to your username in the upper right corner of any page and select Account.

Remove the current address from the email field, and type in your new email. After you click out of the email text field, you will see the message "We've sent a confirmation message to 'email address'." Click the link in the email message to update your email address.

Once updated, your original email address will no longer be associated with your current UC San Diego Online account, and will be free to use on the new account with your new username.

Every UC San Diego Online account must have a unique public username. Your first choice or choices may already be taken. If your desired username is taken, the following message appears:

Note that your username can include letters and numbers, but no spaces or special characters.

If you continue to have trouble finding a username that works, we recommend adding a random number onto the end of it.