Academic Load
Date Developed: 1/00
Date Reviewed: 8/05
Date Approved: 5/13/05
Procedures |
Interpretation |
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Academic load refers to the number of credit hours of graduate
coursework for which a student may register during any one academic
period. For the purposes of evaluating load the academic period may be
either a specific trimester or an academic year.
Maximum Academic Load
Maximum credit load refers to the maximum number of course credit
hours a student may register for during any one trimester.
Students in good academic standing may register for no more than 12
credits of graduate coursework in a trimester. Any student wishing to
register for more than 12 credit hours must receive permission from the
Dean of Graduate Studies.
NOT SUBJECT TO APPEAL
Full-time Status
To be classified full-time, a graduate student must register for at
least 12 credit hours per academic year, with no fewer than 3 credit
hours in any trimester of that academic year. However, students admitted
to candidacy for the degree (see individual program requirements) may be
classified full-time when registered for 1 credit hour of Thesis Research
or for 1 credit hour of Practicum I or Practicum II in a given trimester.
Half-time Status
Students registering for 6 to 11 credit hours per academic year, with
no fewer than 3 credit hours in any trimester for that year, are
classified half-time.
Part-time Student Status
Students registering for less than 6 credit hours per academic year
are part-time. Furthermore, students who accumulate 54* or more credit
hours toward a Master of Science degree must be classified part-time.
* The maximum timeframe for the completion of a degree is limited by
federal regulations to 150% of the published length (in credit hours) of
the degree program.
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Notice: None
Appeal: A student appealing the determination of the Dean of
Graduate Studies must petition the Graduate Council in writing within one
week of being notified of that determination. The petition of appeal
should provide sufficient grounds and any necessary documentation to
assure effective review. If the Graduate Council approves this petition,
the additional registration will be completed automatically. The
determination of the Graduate Council is final.
Remediation: None.
* A Graduate Advisory Committee or, in the absence of such a
committee, a designated advisor and the Graduate Council.
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According to this policy a student taking the maximum of 12 in one
term could take 3 in each of the next two trimesters, or register for any
combination of 3 or more adding up to at least 18 credits in a year,
would be classified Full-Time,. This is theoretical and based only on the
policy. It does not take into account sequence of course offerings nor
graduation in two years. The only exception to this rule relates to
registration for either Thesis (A700) or Practicum II (C661), in which 1
credit MAY constitute full time. When taking these courses, students may
elect to register for other courses together with one credit of thesis or
practicum but are not required to do so! Again, theoretically if a
student took 10 credits in each of their first three trimesters, and
saved Thesis or Practicum for the last year they could take 2 credits per
trimester that year and still be full time.
A student could be HALF-TIME if they registered for three to four
credits in each trimester of a single academic year, unless in that year
they were also registered for hours of either Thesis of Practicum.
However, if a student registered for 10 credits in their first term and 6
and 2 in the next two they would be classified PART-TIME beginning the
term they register for 2 credits (unless those were Thesis or Practicum)
although they have registered for 18 credits that year.
A student registering for 10 credit hours could also be classified
PART-TIME if they have accumulated 54 total graduate credit hours at that
point, regardless of courses taken (Thesis and Practicum do not alter
this).
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