Class registration at Winston Salem State University, 1973. From 1973 The New Ram

As college students across North Carolina head back to class it seems like a good time to take a peek in our NC College Yearbooks collection and see what registering for classes used to look like before we were able to just sit in our dorm room, or coffee shop, or be halfway across the world to sign up on our computers. Until the early 1990s, to sign up for classes involved a lengthy process of waiting in very long lines and hoping that no one in front of you got into the class you wanted or needed before you did. As the images below show, the overwhelming feeling among students about this process was pure frustration. Today’s students can be glad this is one college tradition they do not experience anymore!

Registration day was a feature in community colleges as well. This is from Wayne Community College’s 1974 yearbook, Insights.

Registration frustration from UNC-Wilmington’s 1966 Fledgling yearbook

Utilizing the gym floor to figure out classes during registration, from UNC-Chapel Hill’s 1982 Yackety yack

Registration was a “hassel!!” at NC Agricultural and Technical State University in 1974. from 1974 Ayantee

To view more college yearbooks from North Carolina, visit the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center’s NC Yearbooks collection here, and welcome back to school students!