Bulk purchasing and enrollment with Canvas Catalog

The Bulk Purchase and Enrollment option in Catalog allows any user to purchase and reserve multiple seats and to invite other users to enroll in the course. A button for Bulk Purchase and Enrollment will show on the course listing right beside the Enroll button if the setting is enabled.

free course will display a Bulk Enrollment button (See Fig. 1). A pay for course will display a Bulk Purchase button (See Fig 2). If you (the purchaser) are already enrolled in the course, you will only see the Bulk Enrollment or Bulk Purchase button on the course listing.
Bulk Enrollment option on a Catalog course
Figure 1: Bulk Enrollment option on a Catalog course
Bulk Purchase option on a Catalog course
Figure 2: Bulk Purchase option on a Catalog course

If you are using bulk enrollment, inform your invited users to not forward the link and to use the email address you used for the bulk enrollment invite. This will allow correct user tracking in the Catalog Analytics.

Step 1: Bulk enroll or purchase seats

  1. Create your Canvas Catalog account using Alternative Login. You do not need to create accounts for any individuals you enroll.
  2. As the purchaser, login to Canvas Catalog.
  3. Select Bulk Enroll or Bulk Purchase to claim seats and to invite other users to enroll in the listing. Seats will be reserved for a limited time during checkout.
  4. Enter the number of seats you want and then select Claim Seats (See Fig. 3).
    Box to enter the number of required seats with a blue Claim Seats button
    Figure 3: Claiming seats for a Catalog course
  5. Claiming seats will bring you to the checkout page.
    • If the course is free, once you (the purchaser) are logged in, you will then be able to Claim Seats on the Checkout Page (See Fig. 4).
      The number of seats are shown with a blue claim seat button
      Figure 4: Claiming the chosen seats
    • If the course is paid, once you (the purchaser) are logged in, you will be directed to the Checkout Page where you will see the total price of the seats reserved for that course. If you are given one or multiple promotion/discount codes, you can input the code in the provided text field. You can cancel the transaction and all reserved seats will be released, or proceed to pay the enrollment for the selected seats by selecting Purchase Seats on the Checkout Page (See Fig. 5).
      The number of seats are shown with the associated price and a Purchase seats button
      Figure 5: Purchasing the desired seats
  6. Once seats have been claimed (or paid for), the purchaser has the option to (See Fig 6):
    • Select Invite Students to Enroll to invite users to enroll in the course immediately.
    • Select Purchases & Enrollment to invite users to enroll at a later time (this link can be also accessed by clicking on your name at the top-right corner of Catalog and selecting Purchases and Enrollment).
    • Select Return to Catalog.
      Options listed to invite students, or to return to the catalog
      Figure 6: Options after confirming or purchasing the seats.

Step 2: Inviting users to enroll in a course via bulk enroll or purchase

To invite users select Invite Students to Enroll or from the Purchases and Enrollment option under your name.

  1. Manually input email addresses in the provided text field (add an email address and hit the Enter key on your keyboard to add the next email address) (See Fig. 7). 
    Inviting students with email addresses or to select to import the list
    Figure 7: Adding email addresses to the invitation listYou can also import a CSV file containing the email addresses. A template CSV file is attached to the bottom of this article for you to use.
    Note: Manually adding email addresses first and then importing a CSV file will result in the imported file to override any email addresses already in the text box. To add emails using both methods, import the CSV first, then manually add additional addresses.
    Note: When inviting a user for one of the seats you claimed or paid for:
    • If the user does not have an account with Catalog yet, the email address you send the invite to must be the same email address that they will use to create their account.

    • If the user already has an account with Catalog, invite them to the course with their existing Catalog account email address.

  2. Select Send Invite.
  3. When an invitation has been sent, the invitation status displays in the Status column. Select the three-stacked dots to Resend Invite or Revoke Invite (see Fig. 8).
    List of invited users showing optiosn to resend or revoke the invitations
    Figure 8: Options to resend or revoke invitations
  4. The invited user will receive the invite via the email addresses that the purchaser used. The invited user will have to select the Enroll link in the email invitation they received to complete the registration process (See Fig. 9).
    email text including the invitation to enroll in the course and a blue Enroll Now button
    Figure 9: Email invitation that the user receives

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