Why can't I see my Blackboard course as a student?

Tell Me

When you register for a class you are automatically enrolled into the Blackboard system for that course within approximately 6 hours. However, there could be several reasons why you may not see a Blackboard course.

I'm a new or returning student who registered for courses.

• Your instructor has NOT made the course available to students yet. Some instructors make courses available before classes start while others wait until the first day.

  • Contact your instructor to see if the course will use Blackboard and if the course has been made available to students. Here is a FAQ for your instructor on how to make a course available.

  • TIP: If your instructor choses not to use Blackboard or the course is not yet available, you will see a message:
    
    
    

    Open

    

    Error Message When Accessing Unavailable Course

I'm a new or transfer student and this is the first time I'm accessing Blackboard:

Here's a visual clue for a portal account - there's no Mail, Calendar, or Blackboard link next to your name:

Example - Portal Only Account	Example - Full Access Account

Example - Portal Only Account	Example - Full Access Account
Open

I changed my schedule, but I don't see it in Blackboard.

• You may have been dropped from the class or there is some other registration problem. In this case, contact your instructor to see if you are enrolled in the course.

• NOTE: If you dropped the course, your instructor cannot add you to Blackboard. You must re-enroll and allow the automated process to add you back to Blackboard.

I am waitlisted or TA for the Blackboard course:

• Your instructor must add you to the course. See this FAQ -> How do I add a teaching assistant (TA), second instructor, or guest to my Blackboard course?

• NOTE: If you were enrolled in the course previously, the automated process has likely disabled you. You must have no previous enrollment in the course for your instructor to add you. If you did drop the course, you and your instructor should review this FAQ -> Why can't I add another user to my Blackboard course?

I don't see the shortcut link to the course under the Blackboard icon in myUMBC:

• If it doesn't show up in the Blackboard "Check My Activity (CMA)" module (see image below), it doesn't mean you are not enrolled or you don't have access. The CMA list is populated 24 hours after Blackboard is updated the previous day. For example, if it is Tuesday afternoon when you check CMA for a new course you just added to your schedule, the information you see was populated from Monday night's data. 

  • Make sure you go to the full Blackboard site, https://blackboard.umbc.edu, to view your list of courses.

Other reasons you may not see your Blackboard course

• Make sure your pop-up blockers are off. Alternately, please allow security exceptions for *.umbc.edu and *.blackboard.com.

• Try accessing the page directly instead of going through myUMBC. Type the following into the address bar of your browser: https://blackboard.umbc.edu

Finally, in a rare situation, you could be trying to access your course on Blackboard when it is offline for maintenance or an unexpected service interruption. Check the splash graphics below and links to associated announcements: