diff --git a/lib/kgrader/backend/svn.rb b/lib/kgrader/backend/svn.rb
index 59664a0..1661ae9 100644
--- a/lib/kgrader/backend/svn.rb
+++ b/lib/kgrader/backend/svn.rb
@@ -23,7 +23,9 @@ module KGrader::Backend
         print "svn: password: "
         @password = STDIN.noecho(&:gets).chomp
         puts
-        puts "svn: bad password or other network issues" unless test_okay url
+        unless test_okay url
+          raise SVNError, "bad password or other network issues"
+        end
       end
     end
 
diff --git a/lib/kgrader/errors.rb b/lib/kgrader/errors.rb
index 568826e..30b9722 100644
--- a/lib/kgrader/errors.rb
+++ b/lib/kgrader/errors.rb
@@ -25,4 +25,10 @@ module KGrader
 
   class SubmissionError < KGraderError
   end
+
+  class BackendError < KGraderError
+  end
+
+  class SVNError < BackendError
+  end
 end
diff --git a/lib/kgrader/filesystem.rb b/lib/kgrader/filesystem.rb
index ca277e8..58f7e91 100644
--- a/lib/kgrader/filesystem.rb
+++ b/lib/kgrader/filesystem.rb
@@ -35,7 +35,9 @@ module KGrader
     # -------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
     def courses
-      Dir[File.join spec_dir, '*', ''].map! { |fn| File.basename fn }
+      Dir[File.join spec_dir, '*', '_config.yml'].map! do |fn|
+        File.basename File.dirname fn
+      end
     end
 
     def assignments(courseid)