How to Search for Courses in YCS

There are multiple ways to search for courses in Yale Course Search:

  • Basic Search
  • Advanced Search, which includes searching by school, department, meeting time, etc
  • Searching by department attributes

Basic Search Options

  • Keyword box—The search will look for the keyword you enter in the keyword field in course codes, course titles, and course descriptions. You can also search by instructor name. 
  • Term/year menu—Select the desired term (Fall, Spring, Summer) and year. Available options include the current academic year and up to ten years in the past.
  • Search button—Perform the search with the chosen criteria.
    Note: The Search button always remains visible at the top, even while scrolling down.

Perform a Basic Search

  1. Enter a search keyword.
  2. Select a term/year from the menu.
  3. Click Search. Results appear in a new section.
  4. To clear the search results and original search criteria, click Reset Search.

Screenshot of example basic search in Yale Course Search

Advanced Search Options

Multiple boxes and menus allow searching with greater detail. The advanced search uses the basic search boxes as a starting point, and then applies the selected advanced options to filter the results.

Perform an Advanced Search

  1. Enter criteria in the basic search boxes.
  2. Enter/select the desired combination of keywords and options in the advanced search section.
  3. Click the Search button.
    • Click the Reset Search link at the top of the search results to clear all keywords, options, filters, and search results.
    • Try searching by clearing the Keyword field and only use the advanced options to broaden the search results.

Screenshot of filter options in Yale Course Search

Perform a Search with "any course Information Attributes"

Any Course Attributes feature the opportunity to search by school, departmental, and certificate attributes. Attributes are used to attach a searchable label of sorts, to a course. 

Course attributes are used by departments to:

  • indicate to students which courses, primary in a different department, count toward their degree requirements
  • indicate courses that count toward a concentration or area of study within their own department

Course attributes are used by Degree Audit to:

  • track fulfillment of major, concentration, and certificate requirements

Course attributes are used by Certificates to:

  • label courses that count toward certain certificate requirements

Perform an Advanced Search with Attributes

  1. Enter/select the desired combination of keywords and options criteria in the basic and/or advanced search boxes.
  2. Scroll through the alphabetical list of attributes in “Any Course Information Attribute.”
  3. Click on the attribute that applies to the type of course you are looking for.
  4. Click the Search bar. It will open a list of courses that fulfill all your criteria indicated in the search
  5. Be sure to “Reset” after every search.