Academic Load and Enrollment Designations
All academic credit is given in semester credit hours. Full- and half-time student status is determined by the number of credit hours in which a student is enrolled during a given term (e.g. Fall, Spring, Summer). The recommended load for students enrolled in 8-week courses is nine credit hours or less. Permission of the dean is required to enroll in more than nine credit hours per each 8-week course offering. In credit hours, the academic load designations for graduate students are as follows:
Full-time Enrollment
- Doctor of Education students - six or more credit hours per term (e.g. Fall, Spring, Summer)
- Specialist students - six or more credit hours per term (e.g. Fall, Spring, Summer)
- Graduate students - six or more credit hours per term (e.g. Fall, Spring, Summer)
- Certificate seeking students - six or more credit hours per term (e.g. Fall, Spring, Summer)
Half-time Enrollment
- Doctor of Education students - three to five credit hours per term (e.g. Fall, Spring, Summer)
- Specialist students - three to five credit hours per term (e.g. Fall, Spring, Summer)
- Graduate students - three to five credit hours per term (e.g. Fall, Spring, Summer)
- Certificate seeking students - three to five credit hours per term (e.g. Fall, Spring, Summer)
Less than Half-time Enrollment
- Doctor of Education students - two or fewer credit hours per term (e.g. Fall, Spring, Summer)
- Specialist students - two or fewer credit hours per term (e.g. Fall, Spring, Summer)
- Graduate students - two or fewer credit hours per term per term (e.g. Fall, Spring, Summer)
- Certificate seeking students - two or fewer credit hours per term (e.g. Fall, Spring, Summer)
Notes: (1) In order to remain in compliance with U.S. visa regulations, students on an F1 visa must maintain full-time enrollment status by enrolling in a minimum of six credit hours per term.
(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 only enrolled in the completion of a thesis or capstone experience are considered less than half-time students.
(3) Active duty military personnel pursuing certain online graduate programs in the semester format may qualify for full-time enrollment status at six credit hours. Such students should contact the VA certifying official for more information.