You searched for ARIS 3. Chances are you need to log in, pay a fee, check your results, or reset a password — and you need to do it now. The official portal at aris3.udsm.ac.tz is the destination, but it doesn’t tell you how anything works.
That’s what this guide is for.
ARIS 3 is the University of Dar es Salaam’s official academic management system. It handles course registration, fee payments, exam results, transcripts, accommodation, and more. Whether you’re a first-year student setting up your account for the first time or a returning student who just got locked out before a fee deadline — this guide covers every step.
One thing that trips up first-year students: ARIS 3 is not the same as the UDSM admission portal (admission.udsm.ac.tz). The admission portal is for checking selection status and applying. ARIS 3 is what you use after you’ve been admitted and need to actually do things — register, pay, check grades.
One thing before we start: only use the official URL. aris3.udsm.ac.tz is the only legitimate portal. Fake login pages do exist, and entering your credentials on one of them is a serious security risk.
Table of Contents
Quick Answers
- What is ARIS 3? → The University of Dar es Salaam’s official student portal at aris3.udsm.ac.tz
- How do I login? → Go to aris3.udsm.ac.tz, enter your registration number and password, click Login
- How do I pay fees? → Login → My Payment → select fees → save → generate control number → pay via mobile money
- How do I request a transcript? → Academic Menu → My Transcript Requests → Add New Request → pay control number → submit physical form at Sisal House Building
- ARIS 3 not loading? → It’s usually a peak-traffic issue — try early morning or late evening instead
What Is ARIS 3 UDSM?
ARIS 3 — Academic Registration Information System version 3 — is the University of Dar es Salaam’s centralized online platform for managing academic and administrative records. It’s accessible at aris3.udsm.ac.tz, built exclusively for UDSM students and staff, and covers everything from course enrollment and fee payments to exam results and official transcript requests — all from a single dashboard.
The “3” matters. This is the third iteration of the system. Earlier versions handled registration through more limited interfaces with fewer integrated payment options. ARIS 3 brought in full mobile money integration, hybrid account support for users who are both students and staff, and a more complete academic records module. It’s the version UDSM currently runs, and it’s where your academic life happens.
What ARIS 3 Does for Students
Here’s a quick map of what you can do inside the portal:
| Function | What You Can Do |
|---|---|
| Course Registration | Enrol in courses each semester; system checks prerequisites automatically |
| Fee Management | Generate control numbers and pay for tuition, NHIF, accommodation, and other fees |
| Academic Records |
View semester grades, cumulative GPA, unofficial transcripts |
| Transcript Requests |
Submit and track official transcript requests |
| Accommodation |
Apply for university housing and check room allocation status |
| Timetables |
Depending on your programme, view class and exam schedules |
| Profile Management |
Update personal and contact information |
| Notifications |
Receive system alerts on deadlines, results, and registration windows |
ARIS 2 vs ARIS 3: What Changed?
| Feature | ARIS 2 | ARIS 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile money payments | Limited / not integrated |
Integrated mobile money options (e.g. M-Pesa, Tigo, Airtel, Halo, TTCL) |
| Hybrid accounts | Not available |
Combined access for users who are both students and staff |
| Academic records depth | Basic |
More detailed GPA tracking and records |
| Transcript requests | Manual / paper-based |
Online initiation with control number generation |
| Mobile accessibility | Desktop-focused |
Responsive design — works on smartphones |
| Accommodation applications | Separate process | Integrated within portal |
How to Login to ARIS 3 UDSM (aris3.udsm.ac.tz)
The login page is at: https://aris3.udsm.ac.tz/index.php?r=student%2Fuser%2Flogin
Bookmark it. Seriously. Searching for ARIS 3 every time wastes time and occasionally surfaces unofficial clones.
Student Login — Step by Step
- Open your browser and go to aris3.udsm.ac.tz
- Click the Student Login section on the homepage
- Enter your Registration Number (for example 2025-04-99954) as your username, exactly as it appears on your admission documents
- Enter your password
- Make sure Caps Lock is off — passwords are case-sensitive
- Click Login
Done. You’ll land on your student dashboard, where you can navigate to Academic Records, Course Registration, Payments, and more.
But what if you can’t get in? Check the troubleshooting section below — it covers the most common login errors.
Staff Login
Staff use a separate portal: https://aris3.udsm.ac.tz/staff
The login process works the same way — staff ID and password. If you’re new staff, your credentials are issued by the HR Office and activated through the ARIS Coordinator’s Office.
Login Tips for Mobile Phones
ARIS 3’s interface is responsive — it works on smartphones without needing a separate app. A few things that make mobile login smoother:
- Use Chrome or Firefox for the most reliable experience
- If the page looks broken or forms don’t submit, try switching to desktop mode in your browser settings
- Avoid saving passwords in shared or public devices
- If you’re on a slow connection, give the dashboard a few seconds to fully load before clicking anything
How to Create Your ARIS 3 Account
New to UDSM? Your account doesn’t automatically exist — you need to create it once using the details from your admission.
New Student Account Setup
- Go to aris3.udsm.ac.tz and click Sign Up (or “Don’t have an account? Create one”)
- Select Student as your account type
- Enter your Registration Number — this was issued to you by the UDSM Admission Office. Use the exact number on your admission letter
- Fill in your full name (first name, middle name if applicable, last name — as they appear on your academic certificates)
- Enter your email address and registered mobile number
- Create a username you’ll use to log in, if prompted
- Set a strong password — use uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and at least one symbol
- Save your account
You should receive an activation email or SMS. If you don’t, check your spam folder, or contact the ARIS Coordinator’s Office directly. Don’t create multiple accounts — duplicate registrations can lock you out permanently.
Staff Account Setup
Staff account creation follows a similar process but uses a staff identification number rather than a student registration number. The ARIS system requires staff credentials to be pre-registered by the university’s HR Office before an account can be activated.
Hybrid Account — Student and Staff Combined
Some people at UDSM are both. Lecturers completing postgraduate programmes, for instance, hold both student and staff status simultaneously.
ARIS 3 handles this through what is often called a hybrid account — a single login that lets you switch between your Student view and your Staff view without logging out and back in. To set up a hybrid account, create your Staff account first, then contact the ARIS Coordinator’s Office to link your student registration to the same account. It’s not something you can configure entirely on your own, but once it’s active, the transition between roles is seamless.
How to Pay Fees on ARIS 3 UDSM
Let’s clear something up first: ARIS 3 absolutely supports fee payments. You log in, generate a control number for the fees you owe, and then pay that control number through your mobile money service. The payment reflects back into ARIS 3 automatically.
Here’s a list of common fee types you can usually pay through the portal:
| Fee Type | Category |
|---|---|
| Tuition Fee | Academic |
| Examination Fee | Academic |
| Registration Fee | Administrative |
| Accommodation Fee | Campus Services |
| Transcript Fee | Academic Records |
| Graduation Fee | Academic |
| Convocation Fee | Academic |
| NHIF (Medical Fee) | Health Insurance |
| Student ID Card Fee | Administrative |
| DARUSO Fee | Student Union |
| HESLB-related charges | Loan Board |
| Quality Assurance / TCU Fee | Regulatory |
| Penalty and Fines | Disciplinary |
| Lost ID Fee | Administrative |
| Appeal Fee | Academic |
How to Generate a Control Number
- Login to your ARIS 3 account
- Navigate to My Payment
- Select the fees or services you want to pay — tick the checkboxes
- Specify the amount where required
- Click Save to generate your Control Number
That control number is your payment reference. Write it down or screenshot it. You’ll enter it in your mobile money app to complete the payment.
One thing worth knowing: control numbers aren’t permanent. Pay promptly after generating one — if it expires before you pay, you’ll need to generate a new one.
Paying with M-Pesa
- Dial *150*00#
- Select Lipa kwa M-Pesa
- Choose the option for government or institutional payments (for example, Malipo ya Serikali)
- Enter your Control Number when prompted
- Enter the exact amount
- Confirm the transaction
You’ll receive an SMS confirmation. Check ARIS 3 — the payment should reflect within a short time.
Paying with Tigo Pesa
- Dial *150*01#
- Select the “Pay Bill” or similar payments menu
- Choose the option for government or institutional payments, if available
- Enter your Control Number
- Enter the amount and confirm
Paying with Airtel Money
- Dial *150*60#
- Select the “Lipia Bili/Pay Bill” or similar payments menu
- Choose the option for government or institutional payments, if available
- Enter your Control Number
- Confirm the payment
Other Mobile Money Options
ARIS 3 also supports Halo Pesa and TTCL Pesa. The process follows the same pattern — access your government payments or utility bills menu, enter your control number, confirm. If you’re unsure of the menu path for your specific operator, your network provider’s customer service can walk you through it.
And if a payment doesn’t reflect in ARIS 3 after a few hours? Don’t generate a second control number. Check your ARIS payment history first, confirm your mobile money receipt, and if there’s a discrepancy, contact the UDSM Bursary with your transaction reference.
How to Register for Courses on ARIS 3
Course registration opens at the start of each semester — and it closes. Miss the window, and you may not be registered for the courses you need. ARIS 3 doesn’t send reminders. Check the academic calendar and act early.
Missing registration deadlines or prerequisite checks can delay your graduation, so treat this section as non‑optional.
Step-by-Step Course Registration
- Login to your ARIS 3 account
- Click the menu icon (four bars, top right of the screen)
- Select Registration from the menu
- Choose My Course Registration
- Browse available courses — you can search by department, course code, or instructor
- Select the courses you want to enrol in
- ARIS 3 will automatically check prerequisites — if you haven’t passed a prerequisite, the course won’t allow registration
- Confirm your selection and follow the on-screen instructions to complete
Check your registration list after saving. If a course doesn’t appear, it may be full — contact your department directly. There’s no waiting list system in ARIS 3.
What Happens If a Course Is Full
ARIS 3 enforces capacity limits. If a course is full, you simply won’t be able to register for it through the portal. The fix isn’t a workaround inside ARIS — it requires going to your department and requesting manual enrolment or a seat addition. Your department or Dean’s Office handles this. ARIS 3 will only show the outcome once a change is made administratively.
How to Check Your Results on ARIS 3
Results are published through the portal as soon as they’re released by the university. So first question: are you sure results have actually been released? ARIS 3 shows nothing for unreleased results — not even a placeholder.
Assuming results are out:
- Login to your ARIS 3 account
- Go to the Academic tab
- Select My Course and Results (or similar — menu labels may vary slightly by semester)
- Choose the relevant academic year and semester
- Your grades and cumulative GPA will display
Results only appear after the university officially publishes them for that semester, so if nothing shows, first confirm that the release date has actually passed.
Reading Your Results and GPA
UDSM uses a standard letter grade system. Your cumulative GPA is calculated across all semesters and updated each time new results are published. ARIS 3 shows both the per-course grade and the running cGPA — check both. If a course result is missing, it’s either not yet published or there’s a registration discrepancy.
What to Do If a Result Is Missing
Don’t assume ARIS 3 is wrong. First, confirm the course appeared on your registered course list. If it did and the result is still missing after the official results publication date, contact your department’s examination officer — not the ICT helpdesk. Missing results are usually an academic records issue, not a system error.
How to Request a Transcript on ARIS 3 UDSM
This is the section most guides skip. It’s also the process most students get wrong — because it’s not fully online. There’s a physical step at the end that you can’t avoid.
According to UDSM’s official transcript request procedures, here’s the full process:
- Login to your ARIS 3 account
- Go to Academic Menu and click “My Transcript Requests”
- Click “Add New Request”
- Fill in the pop-up form — including the number of copies you need and your permanent address
- Save your request
- Shortly after saving, you’ll receive your Control Number
- Pay the transcript fee using your preferred mobile money service (see the fee payment section above)
- Download the Transcript Request Form from the UDSM website, fill it in, and attach any required documents
- Submit the completed form physically at the Sisal House Building (formerly the School of Education Building) on the UDSM campus
Remote Submission by Email
If you’re not able to submit in person — you’re outside Dar es Salaam, or you’re an international student — UDSM does accept remote submission. Send your completed form and attachments to the designated email address provided on the official transcript procedures page. Make sure payment is confirmed and your control number is included in the submission.
One practical note: don’t submit your transcript request form before paying. The processing only begins once payment is confirmed against your control number in the system.
How to Reset Your ARIS 3 Password
Locked out? Password expired? It happens to most students at some point — usually right before a deadline.
The official password recovery process is a 4-step verification system:
- Go to aris3.udsm.ac.tz and click “Forgot Password?” on the login page
- On the User Information Verification form, enter your registered email address and phone number linked to your account
- Follow the verification steps (the system will send a code or link to your registered contact)
- Set your new password and login
What to Do If Your Password Has Expired
ARIS 3 may enforce password expiry for security. If you see an “expired password” message rather than a standard login error, you won’t be able to proceed until you change it. Use the “Forgot Password?” link — it handles both forgotten passwords and expired passwords. You don’t need a separate process.
What to Do If Your Registered Email or Phone Doesn’t Work
This one’s harder. If your email address is outdated or your phone number has changed since registration, the verification system can’t reach you. In this case:
- Visit the ARIS Coordinator’s Office on campus with your student ID
- Request a manual account recovery
- Bring proof of identity — your student ID card is sufficient
Don’t try to create a second account. It won’t resolve the issue and may complicate your records further.
Troubleshooting Common ARIS 3 Problems
Most ARIS 3 problems fall into one of a few categories. Here’s how to handle each one.
“This Site Can’t Be Reached” — Fix
Before assuming the system is broken, check when you’re trying to access it. ARIS 3 experiences significant traffic spikes during:
- Semester registration windows
- Exam results release dates
- Fee payment deadlines
During these periods, the server gets overloaded and the site becomes slow or temporarily unreachable. It’s not down — it’s just overwhelmed. The practical fix: try early morning (before 7am) or late evening (after 9pm). Traffic is significantly lighter at those times.
If you’re outside a peak period and still can’t reach the site:
- Check your internet connection — run a quick speed test
- Clear your browser’s cache and cookies
- Try a different browser (Chrome and Firefox tend to work best)
- Try a different device
- Check if classmates are seeing the same issue — if everyone is affected, it’s likely a temporary system overload rather than a problem on your side
- Ask a classmate if they can reach the site or check official UDSM channels for any outage notices
“Account Not Active” Error
This appears most often for new students who’ve created an account but haven’t activated it through the email/SMS confirmation step. Go back and check your inbox (including spam) for an activation message. If none arrived, contact the ARIS Coordinator’s Office.
Name Not Appearing in the System
New students sometimes can’t find their name during account setup. This usually means your admission data hasn’t yet been loaded into ARIS 3 by the Admission Office — it’s a processing delay, not an error you made. Wait a day or two and try again. If it persists more than a week after your official intake date, contact the UDSM Admission Office with your admission letter.
Session Expired Error
ARIS 3 automatically logs you out after a period of inactivity. If you’ve left the browser open without clicking anything, you’ll see a session expiry message. Just log in again — you won’t lose any saved data from completed tasks.
When to Contact the ICT Helpdesk
Contact UDSM’s ICT support only after you’ve tried the above steps and the problem persists. Have these ready when you reach out:
- Your Registration Number
- A screenshot or description of the error message
- The browser and device you’re using
- The time and date the problem occurred
The ICT helpdesk handles system-level errors. For academic record issues (missing results, wrong grades), contact your department. For account credential issues beyond self-service recovery, contact the ARIS Coordinator’s Office.
ARIS 3 Security — Avoid Fake Login Pages
This section isn’t dramatic — but it is important.
Phishing pages that look like the ARIS 3 login form do exist. They’re designed to capture your student credentials. Once someone has your registration number and password, they have access to your academic records, payment history, and fee payment functions.
The only legitimate ARIS 3 URL is: aris3.udsm.ac.tz
Always check the address bar before entering your login details. The domain must end in .udsm.ac.tz — not .com, not .net, not .org. If you clicked a link in a message or from a search result and the URL looks even slightly different, close the tab and navigate directly.
A few other practices that help:
- Don’t save your ARIS 3 password in a shared computer’s browser
- Use a password that’s unique to ARIS — don’t reuse it from other accounts
- If you think your account has been compromised, change your password immediately and contact the ARIS Coordinator’s Office
UDSM’s ICT team will never ask for your password via email, phone call, or SMS.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is ARIS 3 UDSM?
A: ARIS 3 (Academic Registration Information System version 3) is the University of Dar es Salaam’s official online student portal, accessible at aris3.udsm.ac.tz. It manages course registration, fee payments, exam results, transcript requests, accommodation, and more.
Q: How do I login to ARIS 3 UDSM?
A: Go to aris3.udsm.ac.tz, enter your Registration Number as your username and your password, then click Login. Staff use the separate portal at aris3.udsm.ac.tz/staff.
Q: How do I reset my ARIS 3 password?
A: Click “Forgot Password?” on the login page, enter your registered email and phone number, and follow the 4-step verification process. If your contact details are outdated, visit the ARIS Coordinator’s Office in person.
Q: How do I generate a control number on ARIS 3?
A: Login → My Payment → select the fees you want to pay → click Save. Your control number generates and appears on screen. Use it in your mobile money app to complete payment.
Q: How do I pay fees using M-Pesa on ARIS 3 UDSM?
A: Generate a control number in ARIS 3 first. Then dial 15000# on your phone, select Lipa kwa M-Pesa, choose the government or institutional payments option (such as Malipo ya Serikali), enter your control number, enter the amount, and confirm.
Q: How do I request a transcript on ARIS 3?
A: Login → Academic Menu → My Transcript Requests → Add New Request → fill in the form → save to get your control number → pay the fee → download the Transcript Request Form → submit it physically at Sisal House Building (or by email if you can’t attend in person).
Q: What is a hybrid ARIS 3 account?
A: A hybrid account is for people who are both a UDSM student and a staff member. It lets you switch between your student and staff dashboards without logging out. Contact the ARIS Coordinator’s Office to set it up — you need to create a staff account first.
Q: Why is ARIS 3 not working or loading?
A: Usually it’s peak traffic — the server slows down during registration windows, results release, and fee deadlines. Try early morning or late evening. If it’s a persistent issue outside those windows, clear your cache, switch browsers, or try a different device and connection.
Q: How do I register for courses on ARIS 3?
A: Login → menu icon (top right) → Registration → My Course Registration → select your courses → follow the on-screen prompts. ARIS 3 checks prerequisites automatically and won’t let you register for a course you’re not eligible for.
Q: How do I check my exam results on ARIS 3 UDSM?
A: Login → Academic tab → My Course and Results → select the academic year and semester. Results only appear after the university officially publishes them. If a result is missing after publication, contact your department’s examination officer.
Conclusion
ARIS 3, can be considered as your operating system of academic life with the University of Dar es Salaam. All most every important activities register courses, pay fees, checking results, request transcript is done through the portal at aris3.udsm.ac.tz.
The system works. But it is good to have the procedures written down, to understand how the mobile money payment system works and what to do when your site doesn‘t load at 11pm just before the registration deadline.
Use this guide as your reference point. Bookmark the official portal. And if you hit a problem that isn’t covered here, the UDSM ICT helpdesk and the ARIS Coordinator’s Office are your two escalation paths.
For official UDSM payment procedures, refer to UDSM’s official payment guidance. For transcript requests, use UDSM’s official transcript request page as the authoritative source for any process changes.
Disclaimer: Note: This material is for information and educational purposes only. Our information and instructions efforts are put into making sure all the information are correct and up to date, however procedures, fees and steps on portals can change from time to time without leaving prior notice. Always do several checks with the official UDSM ARIS 3 portal and other official UDSM channels for payment, transcript orders, academic registration and more. We do not have any ties with University of Dar es Salaam or the official ARIS3 system.
