If you are a semester away from graduating or transferring out of Palomar College, then the college has a going-away present for you: priority registration.

For the rest of Palomar students, Fall 2015 registration is moving from early July to May 26.

A new priority registration group has been created, referred to as “Group 2.” This group is comprised of students in their last term of attendance prior to graduation or transfer.

They will have the ability to register second only to Group 1 priority students, which is comprised of students from the Disability Resource Center, EOP&S, foster youth, CalWORKS, eligible veterans, and active duty military personnel.

There are a total of eight priority registration groups at Palomar. Group 2 began in the fall 2014, Kendyl Magnuson, director of Enrollment Services said in an email.

He added that the intention of creating this group was to allow students the best possible opportunity to finish up classes before they graduate or need to transfer, and thus is only offered, “one time in a lifetime.”

A student looking to finish their final classes can submit an “Enrollment Priority Petition” form, available at the Records and Evaluations Office and/or at Counseling Services in the SSC Building, to apply to be in the Group 2 category.

Magnuson stated that on the petition, the student will need to demonstrate they are about to enter their final semester at Palomar and list the specific courses needed to graduate and/or transfer. If approved, they will be assigned Group 2 priority for their last term. The form needs to be submitted no less than two weeks before the beginning of priority registration for that term.

Magnuson added that regardless of how the last semester goes for the student, if they ever return to Palomar for additional classes they will not be eligible for Group 2 status again, though they are welcome to take more classes.

If they do, they will need to sign up earlier this fall. Magnuson said that moving up the registration dates was a way to give students more time to access student counseling and to register for classes. By enrolling in classes earlier, students are able to resolve any issues that might come up by the time the class actually begins.

In terms of possible future changes to the registration process, Magnuson said Palomar officials are currently exploring the option of moving the fall registration time to be concurrent with summer registration. These registration times are currently a month apart, but Palomar is looking for feedback from students to gauge how much students would want the option of being able to register for two semesters at the same time.