By default, all courses are set to closed, and only the Instructor can set the course to available. It is recommended that the course be available to students one week prior to the start of the class with access to the course syllabus available. At the conclusion of the course, the Instructor has the choice to set the course to private or complete.
Set Course to Available
- Login to Blackboard and enter the course you would like to make available to students.
- In the top right hand corner of the course, select Course Settings next to the gear icon.
- In the Course Access section select Open.
- You will see the course setting change to OPEN. You can now leave this page.

Set Course to Closed
At the conclusion of the course, an Instructor can set the course to closed. This means students can no longer get into the course at all and review any course content/grades.
- Login to Blackboard and enter the course you would like to make private to students.
- In the top right hand corner of the course, select Course Settings next to the gear icon.
- In the Course Access section select Closed.
Set Course to Complete
At the conclusion of the course, an Instructor can set the course to complete. This means the students can still access the course to review content/grades, but cannot make any changes to the course or submit work. The course moves into a read only state and the Instructor will need to make the course available again if they would like to make a modification to the course.
- Login to Blackboard and enter the course you would like to make private to students.
- In the top right hand corner of the course, select Course Settings next to the gear icon.
- In the Course Access section enable the toggle under Mark Course Complete.