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 undergraduate 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 U.S. visa regulations.
(2) Course extensions (including 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 or capstone experience 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.
Academic Overload
Full-time traditional students may enroll in a minimum of 12 credit hours and a maximum of 18 hours per term 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 by completing the Petition for Academic Overload form then submitting with the appropriate signatures for approval.
Honors Overload
With administrative authorization, full-time traditional students with cumulative grade point averages above 3.5 may take courses up to 24 credit hours of undergraduate coursework at no extra charge as long as the traditional student matriculated prior to the 2021-2022 academic year. Students that matriculate during the 2021-2022 or any future academic years will not be eligible for the honors overload. In addition, the honors benefit shall apply to early access graduate courses. Students who do not meet the required minimum GPA must complete Petition for Academic Overload form then submitting with the appropriate signatures for approval.