Admitted Students

Just a heads up that because we’re gathering info from across many different departments on campus, it may take up to 5 business days for your step to show up as “completed” (i.e. that lovely little green check mark) on your Next Steps Checklist.

If you know you’ve completed a step, you can absolutely move on to the next checklist item!

If you can’t find your eight digit PLU Student ID Number to work through next steps (such as setting up your ePass to see your financial aid updates), here are two places to look:

• Log in to your PLU student applicant portal and click on ‘View Updates’. Locate your initial offer of admission (your admission letter). Your PLU ID Number was printed in that letter.
  • Don’t worry if you don’t remember seeing it when you first got your offer – there’s a lot of info in that letter!
• If you have received a personalized financial aid offer in the mail, you’ll find your PLU ID Number printed in the upper right hand corner of the paper.

If you still can’t find your PLU Student ID number, call the Admission Office at 253-535-7151 and we can provide it over the phone after a couple of security questions.

Your PLU ePass gives you access to your PLU student email (and full Google suite), Banner Self-Service (your student account, financial aid, grades, etc.), Sakai Learning Management (for classes), PLU library resources and more.

Once you’ve got your ePass, check your PLU email consistently. Your New Student Registration appointment confirmation will only be sent to your PLU email, as well as information about LUTE Welcome, any class information from your professors, etc.

Not sure how to log on to your PLU email? Follow these steps:

1. Go to the PLU homepage.
2. Click on the menu on the top, select “EPASS”, then select Gmail.
3. Sign in using your ePass log-in info. (Don’t type in the ‘@plu.edu’, though)

We recommend connecting your PLU email to your phone email app. That way you don’t have to do steps 1-3 on your phone every time!

The Living Plans & Learning Community Application includes the application for housing (check out PLU’s themed learning communities!), roommate questionnaire, AND, for students who will be living at home, the first part of the Confirmation of Living at Home (COLAH) process.

Whether you’ll be living on-campus or off-campus, as a new student you must complete the Living Plans & Learning Community Application.

If you will be commuting to campus, you’ll find additional helpful commuter resources here.

One of the most important steps to complete before you register for class is your Student Financial Agreement.

What the Agreement is: Essentially, you’re telling us how you plan to pay any owing balance for tuition, fees and/or housing and meal plans after financial aid to PLU, and you have three different options (you can choose more than one!):

• Payment in full – you’ll pay the owing balance before each semester or term starts (August 25 for fall, December 25 for J-term & January 25 for spring)
• Financial aid covers your costs – choose this one when tuition, fees, housing & meals are completely covered by scholarships, grants, and/or loans (this does include if you plan to use a Parent PLUS loan to cover all remaining costs)
• Monthly payments – choose this one if you want to pay the owing balance in no interest monthly installments (we work with an outside company, Nelnet Campus Commerce, for which you’ll need to sign up separately)

What the Agreement is not: Sometimes there’s confusion between this Financial Agreement and a billing statement. This is not the billing statement and you are not paying any owing balance yet! That will come later, but we need to know ahead of time how you will pay any amount left owed after financial aid, hence this agreement.

How to complete the agreement: You can complete the agreement on your PLU Banner Self Service student account. You’ll find instructions here on the Student Financial Services site.

What happens if I don’t have the Agreement completed by my class registration appointment? Your student account will be put on hold and we won’t be able to register you for classes until it’s complete.

The Meningococcal Release Acknowledgement is a form you have to fill out only ONCE as a PLU student, where you must read and acknowledge the risks of meningitis, or meningococcal disease (this is a Washington State legal requirement).

This can be done on your PLU Banner Self Service student account:

• Go to https://banweb.plu.edu
• Select “Banner Self Service”
• Sign in using your PLU ePass information
• On the ‘Personal Information’ tab, select ‘Notifications and Preferences’ from the menu
• Select ‘Meningococcal Release Information’
• Review the provided information, then click the acknowledgment button.

What happens if I don’t have it completed by my class registration appointment? Your student account will be put on hold and we won’t be able to register you for classes until it’s complete.

The Student Immunization History & Emergency Contact form is a required form to complete and send to PLU’s Health Center. (This is also where you’ll be able to upload all medical documentation of vaccinations, including the required COVID-19 vaccine.)

How to submit your Student Immunization History & Emergency Contact form:

• Submit your completed form through the secure Etrieve site (https://etcentral.plu.edu/#/form/24)

OR

• Mail your completed form to: PLU Health Center, 12180 Park Ave S, Tacoma, WA 98447

OR

• Fax your completed form to 253-536-5042

Do NOT email your completed Student Immunization History & Emergency Contact form!

If you have included a copy of your official immunization documents when you submit your Student Immunization History & Emergency Contact form, then you do NOT NEED to have a healthcare provider sign the form.

The Math Placement Evaluation is one of the most important tasks to complete to ensure you get into the classes you need when you go through the registration process.

This evaluation is what PLU uses to determine which math classes you can be placed into and if you’re allowed to start in some courses and/or majors (think biology, chemistry, nursing pre-requisites, business pre-requisites and more).

*All students, no matter their math background or their planned academic major, must take this evaluation.*

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about the evaluation (and their answers):

• Is it really required for registration? Yes, it is.
• Do I really have to take it even if I (fill in the blank with whatever your question(s) might be)? Yes, you do.

The Center for Student Success has this super helpful Google Doc with information about what each score means for course placement, as well as answers to the most common questions we get about Math Placement.

The PLU Department of Languages & Literatures offers the following language courses:

• Chinese
• French
• Spanish
• Southern Lushootseed

If you have previous experience with French, Spanish, or Chinese, you can use the Language Placement Guide to determine the course level that is right for you. After looking over the guide, if you’re still uncertain about which course to take, you can fill out a Language Placement Survey and a faculty member will contact you with a personalized recommendation on which course to take.

The PLU Department of Languages & Literatures

Our three programs–Chinese, French & Francophone Studies, and Hispanic & Latino Studies–offer introductory and intermediate-level courses in Chinese, French, and Spanish, as well upper division literature, film, and cultural studies courses. We also support the Native American & Indigenous Studies Program by offering introductory level courses in Southern Lushootseed.

If you intend to major or minor in one of our programs, the sooner you start, the better!

In addition to counting towards majors and/or minors in these fields of study, our courses can fulfill General Education Requirements.

Final official transcripts from high school and any college/university attended are required to start classes. This includes transcripts for credit by exam (AP, IB, CLEP, etc.).