Before you publish your first enrollment, three concepts decide how everything will work: Program Options, Enrollment Models, and Classes. Get them right and your enrollment form practically builds itself. Get them wrong and you will be rebuilding mid-season.
This guide walks you through each concept, the decisions that depend on it, and the exact setup steps in Enrollsy. New to the platform or coming back for a refresher? Start here.
Prerequisites Checklist
Before you can take enrollments you will need:
An approved Merchant Account (if enrollment is not free)
At least one published Location
At least one published Enrollment Period
At least one set of Program Options
At least one Program
At least one Class with a Capacity of one or more
The rest of this article walks you through steps 4–6: creating Program Options, a Program, and at least one Class with capacity.
Locations
Locations are the first thing customers see at enrollment, and they keep each site's data cleanly separated. If you only run one Location, you have nothing to configure ‑ Enrollsy auto-selects it for the customer and shows the name in your Admin header.
If you run multiple Locations, the Location selector at the top of the page filters most views, with two exceptions: Submissions (Leads/Gift Cards) and the Programs tab inside Classes or My Company. Rename "Location" to anything that fits your business (Area, District, Region, etc.) using the cog icon, and remember to publish each Location before it can accept enrollments.
NOTE: Pay attention to which Location you select to ensure you are in the correct Location for what you are viewing or editing.
Heads up: Locations are billed individually. If you are not sure whether a new site should count as a separate Location, message us in chat before adding it.
Editing Locations
Click the cog icon next to any Location to rename it ‑ and remember that the word "Location" itself is just a label, so you can relabel it as Area, District, Locale, Region, or anything else that fits your business.
Each Location must also be published before Enrollees can sign up. A crossed-out eye icon means the Location is already live; clicking it will unpublish it.
Enrollment Period
An Enrollment Period is the time frame your Programs and Classes live in ‑ think of it as your school year, season, or cohort. You need one if your offerings have start and end dates. Enrollment Periods appear as a dropdown on the Classes, Programs, Enrollees, and Getting Launched pages, and you can create, duplicate, archive, or delete them from any of those screens.
Like other labels, "Enrollment Period" can be renamed (Course, Term, Season, etc.). If you have not built one yet, see How do I publish Enrollment Periods and How do I delete and/or archive Enrollment Periods.
From any of these pages you can manage Enrollment Periods end to end ‑ create new ones, duplicate existing ones, and archive or delete the ones you no longer need.
Programs & Classes (Overview)
Programs and Classes are the heart of every Enrollsy setup. A Program is a complete offering ‑ typically defined by a Name, Schedule, and Time ‑ and it is what your Enrollees actually sign up for. Without a Program, there is nothing to enroll in. Programs can vary dramatically in structure, but they always group Enrollees into distinct buckets that usually funnel down to a price. Like other Enrollsy concepts, "Program" is just a label and can be renamed to Plans, Trips, Courses, or whatever fits your business.
Programs are built and subdivided using Program Options, and most of a Program's settings dictate how enrollment behaves once a customer selects it.
A Class lives inside a Program and is the bucket that actually holds Enrollees and a capacity. Classes can be front-and-center in the enrollment process ‑ a required choice the Enrollee makes themselves ‑ or kept out of view entirely, with Admins making Class assignments after enrollment based on info collected on the form.
The distinction between enrolling into a Program versus a Class, combined with how those offerings appear on the enroll form, is called the Enrollment Model. That single decision shapes nearly everything else you will set up, so it is worth understanding before you start building.
Two quick references will help you make the right choices up front:
Decisions to make during Program or Class creation
Decisions to make during Program or Class creation
Use this checklist to lock in your structure before creating anything in Enrollsy. Each decision below affects fields you'll see during setup, so working through them first prevents rework.
Decide how many Programs you'll offer. List every distinct offering by name. If two offerings share most details but differ on a single attribute (schedule, time, age group), treat them as variations and continue to step 2.
Decide whether variations need customer selection. Determine if the customer must pick the variation themselves (e.g., M/W/F vs. T/Th) or if all enrollments funnel into one Class for an Admin to sort later.
Decide who assigns Classes. Choose one:
The Enrollee selects a Class during enrollment, or
An Admin assigns the Class after enrollment (use this when you sort by age, skill, or preference).
Choose the Class display format (only if Enrollees select Classes). Pick the layout that best matches how customers shop your offerings:
List — one flat list of all Classes.
Multi-List — Categories you name, each containing a list of Classes.
Week-view Calendar — Classes shown on a weekly grid.
Month-view Calendar — Classes shown on a monthly grid.
Set selection limits. Decide whether there's a cap on how many Classes an Enrollee can pick, or restrictions on which Classes can be combined.
Set cancellation and reschedule rules. Decide whether Enrollees can cancel or reschedule on their own, or whether Admin approval is required.
Decide your pricing structure. Determine how each Program is priced and at what level the price lives:
Flat Program price — one price covers the whole Program (required for the Simple model).
Per-Class price — each Class carries its own price (List, Multi-List, Calendar, Series).
Per-Day price — price scales with how many days the Enrollee picks (Days per Week).
Free — no Merchant Account required; skip steps 8 and 9.
Decide whether any Class price should override the Program-level price.
Decide your payment behavior. Choose how and when customers pay:
Pay in full at enrollment vs. Payment Plan (recurring installments).
Which payment methods you'll accept (card, ACH, or both).
Whether to apply deposits, late fees, or prorated charges for mid-term enrollments.
Whether coupon codes or scholarships/discounts apply, and which Programs they target.
Confirm an approved Merchant Account is connected to the Location running this Program.
Decide your refund and cancellation policy. Determine the refund window, whether refunds are full or partial, and what happens to remaining Payment Plan installments when an Enrollee withdraws. Make sure these rules match the Terms & Conditions attached to the Program.
Set age and eligibility restrictions. Decide who is allowed to enroll:
Age range — minimum and maximum age (calculated as of a specific date, e.g., the Enrollment Period start).
Grade level or skill level requirements, if applicable.
Prerequisite Programs or Classes the Enrollee must have completed.
Whether the Program is Private (invitation/link only) or publicly listed on the Enroll Form.
Any household or guardian requirements (e.g., adult-must-accompany, member-only access).
Confirm capacity and waitlist rules. Decide the Capacity per Class (or per day for Days per Week), whether to enable a Waitlist, and whether the Waitlist is per Class or shared at the Program level.
Result: You now have every decision needed to choose an Enrollment Model in the next section and to fill in Program and Class settings without backtracking.
Tip: Document these decisions in a short setup brief (one row per Program) before opening Enrollsy. It makes building multiple Programs in the same Enrollment Period much faster and easier to QA.
Before going further, make sure you've reviewed the Prerequisites Checklist at the top of this article ‑ items 4–6 are what the rest of this guide walks you through.
Enrollment Models
The Enrollment Model is how your Programs and Classes are presented to the Enrollee on the enrollment form. It's a single choice you make per Program, and it determines three things: whether the Enrollee picks a Class themselves or has one assigned by an Admin, how Classes are displayed (list, calendar, days-of-the-week, etc.), and how capacity is counted. Getting this right up front saves you a rebuild later, because the Enrollment Model is locked to the Program once Enrollees start signing up.
You select an Enrollment Model when you create a Program. It lives in the Program's settings ‑ not the Class's ‑ which means every Class inside that Program inherits the same model.
Keep in mind that the Program Options Categories that you've created will apply regardless of which Enrollment Model you select for your Programs. Depending on what you're trying to accomplish, you may be able to create fewer Program Options Categories if you employ a Days per Week or Classes Enrollment Model. We'll break this down in the sections that follow so that you can see how it all comes together.
Choose an Enrollment Model
Use this procedure to pick the right Enrollment Model for each Program. The model is set at the Program level and cannot be changed once Enrollees have signed up, so confirm your choice with a test enrollment first.
1 - Review the five models. Each model is built for a specific real-world scenario:
Simple — Enrollee enrolls into the Program only; Admin assigns the Class later. Best when you place Enrollees based on info collected on the form.
Days per Week — Enrollee picks which days of the week they'll attend. Best for daycare, after-school, or any offering priced by attendance frequency.
Classes (List or Multi-List) — List: Enrollee picks specific Classes from a list. Best when each Class is a distinct session and order doesn't matter. Multi-List: Classes are grouped under headings you define, each heading containing its own list of Classes. Best when you have a lot of Classes and want to help the Enrollee navigate by type, age, or topic.
Classes (Week-View Calendar) — Classes shown on a weekly grid. Best when time-of-day drives the choice.
Classes (Month-View Calendar) — Classes shown on a monthly grid. Best for one-off events, workshops, or sparse schedules.
2 - Check wow the Enrollment Model affects setup. Each model changes what you configure on the Class itself:
Capacity — Tracked at the Class level (List, Multi-List, Calendar, Series) or summed across the Program (Simple) or per day (Days per Week).
Waitlist — Shared at the Program level (Simple) or maintained per Class (all others).
Pricing — Set at the Program level (Simple, Days per Week) or overridable per Class (List, Multi-List, Calendar, Series).
Class sharing — Supported in all models, with caveats covered in Sharing Classes.
3 - Confirm your choice with a test. Build a draft Program using your chosen model, run one sample enrollment end-to-end, and verify the form behaves as expected.
4 - Lock the model in. Save the Program. Once an Enrollee signs up, switching models requires rebuilding the Program from scratch.
Warning: The Enrollment Model lives on the Program — not the Class — and every Class inside that Program inherits it.
Enrollment Model Comparison Table
Enrollment Model Comparison Table
The table below is the fastest way to pick a model. It isn't exhaustive but it covers the trade-offs that matter for most setups. Match the When to Use column to your situation, then check the Pros and Cons to confirm.
Enrollment Model | Pros | Cons | When to Use |
Simple |
|
|
|
Days per Week |
|
|
|
Classes |
|
|
|
Next step: With your model chosen, move on to creating Program Options.
Program Options
Program Options are the choices that narrow an Enrollee's broad interest into a single enrollment. They are not Programs themselves ‑ think of them as the scaffolding you use to build Programs and Classes. Every Program Option lives inside a Program Option Category, and the combination of one Option from each Category defines a unique Program.
One Category with three Options gives you three possible Programs. Add a second Category with two Options and you have six. Add a third Category with two more and you have twelve. The more Categories you stack, the more precise your filtering becomes for the Enrollee ‑ and the more combinations Enrollsy can build behind the scenes.
Categories and Options can be edited or deleted at any time. See the warning under "Working with Program Options" below before removing anything that is already in use by a live Program.
See How Program Option Combinations Multiply
See How Program Option Combinations Multiply
Starting with a single Program Option Category called Program Name with three Options inside it, you create three possible Programs:
Add a second Category called Schedule with two Options (M | W | F and T | TH), and your three possible Programs become six:
By adding a second Program Option Category called Schedule and adding two Program Options to it, I went from having three possible combinations of Programs to six. If it's easier for you to see this in a table view, see below:
Potential Program # | Program Name | Schedule |
1 | Program 1 | M | W | F |
2 | Program 1 | T | TH |
3 | Program 2 | M | W | F |
4 | Program 2 | T | TH |
5 | Program 3 | M | W | F |
6 | Program 3 | T | TH |
Add a third Category called Time with two more Options (Mornings and Afternoons), and your six possible Programs become twelve:
Potential Program # | Program Name | Schedule | Time |
1 | Program 1 | M | W | F | Mornings |
2 | Program 1 | M | W | F | Afternoons |
3 | Program 1 | T | TH | Mornings |
4 | Program 1 | T | TH | Afternoons |
5 | Program 2 | M | W | F | Mornings |
6 | Program 2 | M | W | F | Afternoons |
7 | Program 2 | T | TH | Mornings |
8 | Program 2 | T | TH | Afternoons |
9 | Program 3 | M | W | F | Mornings |
10 | Program 3 | M | W | F | Afternoons |
11 | Program 3 | T | TH | Mornings |
12 | Program 3 | T | TH | Afternoons |
The pattern is exponential: every Category you add multiplies the number of Programs Enrollsy can present. You only need to build the combinations you actually offer ‑ Enrollsy hides the rest automatically.
If every combination of Programs possible is created, here is what my Enroll Form would look like (fully expanded):
Likewise, if Program 1 is only offered on M | W | F in the Mornings, then when an Enrollee selects Program 1 during enrollment, they will not see the T | TH Schedule or the Afternoons Time in the selection lists.
Working with Program Options
Everything you do with Program Options — creating them, editing them, reordering them, and importing them in bulk — happens in one place: the Manage Program Options panel. Use this procedure end to end the first time you set up a new Enrollment Period, then come back to individual steps as needed.
Before you start:
At least one published Enrollment Period exists for the Location you're configuring.
(Optional) A CSV of Option names ready for bulk import.
You've decided what your Categories will be (e.g., Sport, Schedule, Time) and what Options belong under each (Tennis/Basketball, M-W-F/T-Th, Mornings/Afternoons).
Tip: Program Option Categories are unique to each Enrollment Period. They can be reused across Enrollment Periods, but they don't carry over automatically — you'll either rebuild or import them each term.
1. Open the Manage Program Options panel
Go to My Company > Programs. The action you take next depends on whether the Enrollment Period already has Options:
If Options exist: Click Manage Program Options at the top of the page.
If this is a brand-new Enrollment Period: Click Open Options near the bottom of the (otherwise empty) page.
Two entry points: Manage Program Options at the top of an existing Programs page, or Open Options at the bottom of a brand-new Enrollment Period.
2. Add a Program Option Category
Click the + button in the Manage Program Options panel, enter a Category name (e.g., "Sport," "Schedule," "Time"), and click Save. The new Category appears as a column in the panel, ready to receive Options.
Click + to add a new Program Option Category, give it a name, and click Save.
3. Add Options inside the Category
Click the + inside the Category you just created and fill in the Add Option form:
Name — what the Enrollee will see on the Enroll Form.
Image — optional, but strongly recommended for visual Categories like Sport or Location.
Description — optional helper text shown to the Enrollee.
Repeat until every Option that belongs under the Category exists. Then repeat steps 2 and 3 for each additional Category.
Add each Option's Name, Image, and Description. The Name and Image are what the Enrollee sees on the Enroll Form.
4. Reorder Categories and Options (optional)
The order Options appear in the Manage Program Options panel is the exact order Enrollees see them on the Enroll Form, left to right. To reorder:
Hover over the Option (or Category) you want to move.
Grab the six-dot handle in the upper-left corner of its white square.
Drag it into the position you want and release.
Use the six-dot handle in the upper-left of any white square to drag-and-drop Options into a new order.
Tip: Put the most important or most-selected Options first. Front-loading the popular choices reduces clicks and helps customers find the right Program quickly.
5. Edit Program Options as needed
You can update a Category or an Option at any time. Editing — renaming, swapping the image, or updating the description — is always safe and has no effect on Enrollees who have already signed up.
6. (Optional) Import Program Options in bulk from a CSV
If you have a long list of Options for a Category, importing is faster than adding them one at a time.
Prepare your CSV. The first column must contain the Option names you want to import. Do not include the Category label itself — only the individual Options that live under it.
Open the panel. Go to My Company > Programs and click Manage Program Options.
Upload the CSV. Click the Upload icon (the first icon) beside the Category you're importing into and select your file.
Refresh the page to pull the new Options into view.
Click the Upload icon (first icon) beside the target Category to import a CSV of Option names.
⚠️ Warning: Deleting Categories or Options
Deleting a Category or Option that is currently in use by a Program will break your Enroll Form until you edit the affected Programs and assign them a replacement Category or Option.
If you need to remove something that's live, do it in this order:
Open every Program that references the Category or Option you intend to remove.
Reassign each Program to a replacement Category or Option (or remove the requirement).
Save each Program.
Then delete the original Category or Option from the Manage Program Options panel.
Editing (renaming, swapping the image, or updating the description) is always safe — only deletion is destructive.
Result: Your Categories and Options are now defined, ordered, and ready for use. Collapse the Manage Program Options panel and move on to Creating a Program, where you'll combine these Options into the filters Enrollees see on the Enroll Form.
Creating a Program
Once your Categories and Options are in place, collapse the Manage Program Options panel and click the circular Add new Program button in the top right.
Pick one Option from each Category to define this Program.
You can also assign one or many Locations ‑ this clones the Program identically across sites, except that under the Classes Enrollment Model, the Classes (and their pricing) can be unique per Location.
Every Program must have a unique combination of Program Options ‑ meaning no two Programs can share the exact same Name, Schedule, and Time (or whatever Categories you've built). If two Programs use the identical set of Options, Enrollsy treats them as duplicates and only one will appear on the enrollment form. The other becomes invisible to your Enrollees, even though it still exists in your Admin view.
⚠️ Each Program needs at least one Program Option that differs from every other Program. If you need two Programs that look identical (for example, same Schedule and Time but different pricing), add a new Category ‑ such as Pricing Tier, Age Group, or Format ‑ so each Program has its own unique combination. Without that distinction, one Program will be hidden from the enroll form.
Once each Program has its own unique combination, Enrollsy also hides combinations that don't exist. If Program 1 is only offered on M | W | F in the Mornings, an Enrollee who selects Program 1 will never see the T | TH Schedule or the Afternoons Time in the selection lists. The form shows only the valid choices for the Program they've picked ‑ no dead ends, no error messages.
Why this matters:
In practice, this saves Enrollees a lot of clicking and cuts their cognitive load. Picture a parent enrolling their child in a summer sports camp. The first Category is Sport, and Tennis is one of five options. The parent selects Tennis and instantly sees only the Schedules and Times Tennis actually runs ‑ maybe M | W | F Mornings, before it gets too hot. Meanwhile, Basketball (played on indoor courts) might run every day of the week in both Mornings and Afternoons, and a different parent selecting Basketball sees that fuller set of options. Same enrollment form, different paths, zero confusion. Getting your Program Options and Categories right is what makes this work ‑ and Enrollsy carries that segmentation through to your Classes page, filters, and back-office views as well.
Breakdown of Programs and Progam Options from the Classes page
Creating a Class
Once you have your Program Options, Categories, and the actual Programs in place (with their appropriate Enrollment Models), you are ready for the final step: adding Classes. A Class is the bucket that holds your Enrollees and a capacity ‑ and regardless of how your Programs are set up, you need at least one Class with a Capacity of one or more inside a Program before you can open enrollment.
what depends on the Enrollment Model] Creating a Class is straightforward, but the Enrollment Model you picked for the parent Program changes which settings are inherited from the Program and which you set on the Class itself. The table below is your cheat sheet:
What is Inherited vs. Set on the Class
While creating Classes is easy to do, there are some nuances to the options that you should be aware of. The table below demonstrates how some settings are inherited from the Program or need to be set within the Class directly depending on the Enrollment Model you've selected for a given Program.
Classes In Programs of this Enrollment Model | Capacity | Start & End Time | Start & End Dates + Holidays | Pricing |
Simple | Set in the Class | Set in the Class | Inherit from Program | Inherit from the Program |
Days per Week | Set in the Class | Set in the Class | Inherit from Program | Inherit from the Program |
Classes (List, Multi-List, Week/Month View) | Set in the Class | Set in the Class | Set in the Class | Inherit from the Program OR Set in the Class |
On top of these inheritance rules, Classes come in two flavors ‑ Single Class and Series ‑ and there are a few extra settings (Email Reminders, Holiday Calendar) worth knowing about. Both are covered below.
How to Create a Class
Head to the Classes page (you may have renamed the word "Class") and select the Program you want to create a Class inside of. Click the Add Class button at the top of the Classes column.
A slide-out form appears with all the Class settings. Work through it top to bottom.
Basic information
Image ‑ Optional. Upload a photo to help Enrollees recognize the Class on the enroll form.
Name ‑ Required. The Class name as Enrollees will see it (up to 100 characters).
Instructor(s) ‑ Optional. Pick one or more Instructors from your Users list. Instructors can be assigned later if you don't know yet.
Capacity ‑ The number of Enrollees this Class can hold. Once Capacity is full, additional Enrollees go to the waitlist if one is enabled.
Class description (optional) ‑ Check the box to reveal a description field where you can explain what the Class covers, what to bring, age range, etc.
Class Types
As of right now, Enrollsy supports two types of Classes:
Single Class: A unique Class that meets however many times you set on the calendar. When Enrollees sign up, they are expected to attend every date the Class meets. Use this for a typical weekly class, daycare, after-school program, or any recurring session where attendance is all-or-nothing.
Series: A unique Class that meets once on each date set on the calendar. When Enrollees sign up, they are expected to attend only the specific dates they select. Use this for camps, workshops, or any offering where each date is its own enrollable session.
When Does Class Happen?
You are only presented with the option to choose your Class Type when you toggle on Set days/dates when the Class occurs. If the Class only meets once, the Class Type choice does not apply.
When choosing days/dates when the Class occurs, you can either create a recurring schedule by choosing which days the Class runs and setting a Start and End Date (see below) or you can select the days one at a time.
When you set days/dates on your Class, you'll see a calendar icon appear within that Class, and when you click it, the dates you set will display as follows:
Holiday Calendar
Click + Holiday Calendar to skip dates the Class does not meet (e.g., national holidays, school breaks). Holidays are excluded from the schedule and from any Class Reminder emails, so Enrollees aren't reminded about a session that isn't happening.
Email Reminder
If you've set Dates and Times for the Class, you can also configure an Email Reminder to go out a set period of time before each Class session ‑ for example, 1 hour before. Use the dropdown to pick the lead time, and click Preview email to see what the Enrollee will receive.
Once a reminder is configured, a small bell icon appears over the Class's calendar icon on the Classes page. Click the bell to view or edit the reminder settings without re-opening the full Class form.
Sharing Classes
Enrollsy lets you share a single Class across multiple Programs. This is useful when several Programs have different pricing, coupon codes, or terms and conditions, but all of the Enrollees end up in the same Class with the same capacity.
Open the Class you want to share, choose the additional Programs that should also offer it, and click Save.
Sharing Classes is most common when the Programs sharing the Class have unique pricing, coupon codes, or terms and conditions, but the Enrollees all need to end up in the same physical Class.
⚠️ Important: Enrollment Model overrides when sharing
Creating and sharing Classes can be powerful, but watch for these exceptions ‑ we are actively working to make them more obvious inside Enrollsy:
The Enrollment Model of the Program that originally created the Class is what governs the Class, even when it's shared into a Program using a different Enrollment Model. For example, if you build a Series Class inside a Program using the Days per Week Enrollment Model, the Enrollee on the enroll form will still pick days of the week ‑ they will not see the list of all Classes in the Series.
Test the enrollment flow end-to-end after every share to confirm the form behaves the way you expect.
Conclusion and Next Steps
Program Options, Program Option Categories, Enrollment Models, and Classes are the four levers behind every successful Enrollsy setup. When they line up with how your customers actually think about your offering, enrollment becomes faster for them and back-office work shrinks for you. Next up: build your first Class capacity, then publish the Enroll Form and run a test enrollment end to end.