diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/bulk_enroll/tests/test_views.py b/lms/djangoapps/bulk_enroll/tests/test_views.py
index 5e54d42124..3b9ee7ee1b 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/bulk_enroll/tests/test_views.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/bulk_enroll/tests/test_views.py
@@ -350,7 +350,10 @@ class BulkEnrollmentTest(ModuleStoreTestCase, LoginEnrollmentTestCase, APITestCa
             'cohorts': "cohort1,cohort2"
         })
         self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 400)
-        self.assertIn('If provided, the cohorts and courses should have equal number of items.', response.content)
+        self.assertIn(
+            'If provided, the cohorts and courses should have equal number of items.',
+            response.content.decode('utf-8')
+        )
 
     def test_fail_on_missing_cohorts(self):
         """
@@ -366,7 +369,7 @@ class BulkEnrollmentTest(ModuleStoreTestCase, LoginEnrollmentTestCase, APITestCa
         self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 400)
         self.assertIn(u'cohort {cohort_name} not found in course {course_id}.'.format(
             cohort_name='cohort1', course_id=self.course_key
-        ), response.content)
+        ), response.content.decode('utf-8'))
 
     def test_allow_cohorts_when_enrolling(self):
         """
@@ -381,7 +384,7 @@ class BulkEnrollmentTest(ModuleStoreTestCase, LoginEnrollmentTestCase, APITestCa
             'courses': self.course_key
         })
         self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 400)
-        self.assertIn('Cohorts can only be used for enrollments.', response.content)
+        self.assertIn('Cohorts can only be used for enrollments.', response.content.decode('utf-8'))
 
     def test_add_to_valid_cohort(self):
         config_course_cohorts(self.course, is_cohorted=True, manual_cohorts=["cohort1", "cohort2"])
@@ -525,7 +528,7 @@ class BulkEnrollmentTest(ModuleStoreTestCase, LoginEnrollmentTestCase, APITestCa
                 }
             }
         }
-        res2_json = json.loads(response2.content)
+        res2_json = json.loads(response2.content.decode('utf-8'))
         self.assertIsNotNone(get_cohort_id(self.notenrolled_student, CourseKey.from_string(self.course_key)))
         self.assertEqual(res2_json, expected2)
 
@@ -621,6 +624,6 @@ class BulkEnrollmentTest(ModuleStoreTestCase, LoginEnrollmentTestCase, APITestCa
                 }
             }
         }
-        res2_json = json.loads(response2.content)
+        res2_json = json.loads(response2.content.decode('utf-8'))
         self.assertIsNotNone(get_cohort_id(self.notenrolled_student, CourseKey.from_string(self.course_key)))
         self.assertEqual(res2_json, expected2)
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/bulk_enroll/views.py b/lms/djangoapps/bulk_enroll/views.py
index 562e3267b4..e5c492f69f 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/bulk_enroll/views.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/bulk_enroll/views.py
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ API views for Bulk Enrollment
 """
 from __future__ import absolute_import
 
-import itertools
 import json
 
 from edx_rest_framework_extensions.auth.jwt.authentication import JwtAuthentication
@@ -12,6 +11,7 @@ from opaque_keys.edx.keys import CourseKey
 from rest_framework import status
 from rest_framework.response import Response
 from rest_framework.views import APIView
+from six.moves import zip_longest
 
 from bulk_enroll.serializers import BulkEnrollmentSerializer
 from lms.djangoapps.instructor.views.api import students_update_enrollment
@@ -87,8 +87,8 @@ class BulkEnrollView(APIView):
                 'action': serializer.data.get('action'),
                 'courses': {}
             }
-            for course_id, cohort_name in itertools.izip_longest(serializer.data.get('courses'),
-                                                                 serializer.data.get('cohorts', [])):
+            for course_id, cohort_name in zip_longest(serializer.data.get('courses'),
+                                                      serializer.data.get('cohorts', [])):
                 response = students_update_enrollment(self.request, course_id=course_id)
                 response_content = json.loads(response.content.decode('utf-8'))