Academic Load and Enrollment Requirements
All academic credit is stated in semester credit hours. Full and part-time student status is determined by the number of credit hours in which a student is enrolled during any given term. In credit hours, the academic load for semester students is as follows:
Full-time
Twelve or more credit hours
Part-time
Nine to eleven credit hours (three quarter-time)
Six to eight credit hours: (half-time)
One to five credit hours: (less than half-time)
Notes: (1) International students must maintain full-time student status to remain in compliance with US visa regulations.
(2) Course extensions (including culminating project extensions, capstone extensions, and thesis extensions) are not counted among a student’s “hours enrolled.” For this reason, students who are enrolled only in the completion of a thesis, capstone experience, or culminating project are considered less than half-time students.
(3) Missouri students expecting to qualify for Missouri State Grant funds are required by the state to be enrolled in a minimum of 12 hours per semester or nine hours per quarter both at the time the funds are requested and at the time the funds are received.
Full-time students may enroll in a minimum of 12 credit hours and a maximum of 18 hours per semester at no additional cost (other than any costs for lab fees or other fees associated with particular courses). Students enrolled in more than 18 credit hours in a semester are subject to an overload fee and must receive approval for the overload from the Dean of Academic Services. With administrative authorization, students with cumulative grade point averages above 3.3 may take courses up to 24 credit hours at no extra charge. Students should complete the Petition for Academic Course Overload if they do not meet the gpa requirement.