A requirements based registration system for higher education that decreases students' time-to-degree and credits-to-degree by optimizing the registration process. After students log into the system, they are presented their student profile and degree progression information. Once that information is verified, the system displays the students' available remaining requirements to obtain their desired degree. After students specify the requirement(s) to be satisfied, the system generates fulfillment options that ensure each course selected does in fact satisfy the specified requirement(s). Upon submission of courses, the system verifies that the student is eligible to enroll in each course and also checks if any course can be used in a more restrictive requirement. The system can prevent students from registering for non-degree (ND) courses or allow a set number of ND courses, based on each student's individual profile (e.g., classification). Students must designate the reason for taking ND courses. The system automatically sets special review flags for first-time freshmen, new transfers, and students changing majors to ensure that due diligent efforts have been performed (e.g., review of transfer equivalencies) prior to registration.