Registration
University students register online for each semester and summer session. Complete information about the registration process is given in the Course Schedule.
Registration for New Graduate Students
Applicants are notified by e-mail of their admission or denial. Admitted applicants should notify their graduate advisers as soon as possible whether they plan to accept admission. Either in an interview or by correspondence, admitted applicants should then learn the specific requirements of their graduate program. Students should consult the Course Schedule to learn whether advising before registration is required in their major area.
Late Registration
The period of late registration is given in the Course Schedule. During this period, a student may register with the consent of the graduate adviser, and a late fee is imposed. After this period, registration is permitted only under exceptional circumstances, upon recommendation of the graduate adviser, and with consent of the graduate dean and the registrar.
Registration for Continuing Graduate Students
Continuing graduate students should consult the Course Schedule to learn whether advising before registration is required in their major area.
To continue in the Graduate School beyond the first semester or summer session, the student must make satisfactory progress in fulfilling any admission conditions that were imposed, meet any requirements made in writing by the Graduate Studies Committee, maintain a graduate grade point average of at least 3.00, and receive the approval of the Graduate Studies Committee. For more information about grade requirements, see Graduate Credit.
Registration Following Graduation
Students who wish to continue enrollment beyond the semester in which their degree is awarded must be admitted as nondegree students or as degree-seeking students in a new degree program. Students must request a change of major or degree-seeking status from the Graduate School.
Course Load
Maximum Course Load
The maximum course load for a graduate student is 15 semester hours in a long-session semester or 12 semester hours in a twelve-week summer session. A heavier course load must have the recommendation of the graduate adviser and the approval of the graduate dean. It is permitted only under exceptional circumstances.
Full-Time Course Load
There is no minimum course load for graduate students; however, a graduate student enrolled in at least nine semester hours during a long-session semester and three hours during a summer session is considered by the Graduate school to be registered for a full-time load.
Agencies that grant loans or provide for educational funding may establish different definitions of full-time status. Students should be familiar with the regulations of any agency to which they have an obligation.
Under various circumstances, graduate students must register for and must remain registered for a full-time load. In other circumstances, graduate students must register and must remain registered for a minimum number of hours; those requirements are given below.
Holders of Graduate School–administered fellowships and scholarships: Nine hours each long-session semester and three hours in the summer session (in any combination of summer-session terms).
Graduate student academic employees: Nine hours each semester and three hours in the summer session (in any combination of summer-session terms). A “graduate student academic employee” is a graduate student who is also employed by the University under one of the following titles: teaching assistant, assistant instructor, graduate research assistant, academic assistant, assistant (graduate), and tutor (graduate).
Students receiving certain student loans should consult the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid for course-load regulations.
Students living in University housing should consult University Housing and Dining for course-load regulations.
International students: Nine hours each long-session semester. International students must consult with International Student Scholar Services and must have the written permission of their dean to take fewer than nine hours. No minimum load is required in the summer. Some approved courses in English as a second language do not carry University credit, but each course is considered the equivalent of a three-hour course for purposes of the course load requirement. Students may enroll in these courses with the approval of their graduate adviser.
Affiliated studies: Students enroll in affiliated studies (AS) when they participate in a study abroad program offered by an institution with which the University has an affiliation agreement. Students enrolled in affiliated studies are considered full-time students, but are not eligible to serve as graduate student academic employees. More information about affiliated programs is given in General Information.
International study and research: Students may enroll in international study and research (ISR) when they conduct research or study independently abroad. A student enrolled in international study and research is considered a full-time student, but are not eligible to serve as graduate student academic employees. When a doctoral candidate receives approval to enroll in ISR, that enrollment is an acceptable substitute for registration in dissertation hours, except in the final semester, when enrollment in the dissertation writing course (-99W) is required. More information about international study and research is available from the Study Abroad Office.
In Absentia Registration
Students must be registered for the semester in which they graduate and must apply for graduation by the deadline published in the academic calendar. A student who fails to complete all degree requirements or misses the deadline for acceptance of the thesis, report, recital, dissertation, or treatise must register and pay tuition the following semester or summer session in order to receive the degree.
An exception is made for students who apply to graduate in the summer session but miss the deadline for acceptance of the thesis, report, recital, dissertation, or treatise. In this case, the student will be registered in absentia for the fall semester, only for the purpose of receiving the degree, by degree evaluators in the Office of Graduate Studies. The thesis, report, recital, dissertation, or treatise must be accepted by the deadline for in absentia registration, which falls before the beginning of the following fall semester. Additional exceptions may be granted by the graduate dean under unusual administrative circumstances. The fee for in absentia registration is $25. The student will be registered in absentia only once.