This policy defines the upper limit of credits for which a graduate student may enroll each term and addresses the criteria for surpassing the limit.
Graduate students pursuing Master's or PhD degrees in academic programs under the purview of the Graduate School.
Non-dissertator graduate students are allowed to enroll for a maximum of 15 credits in fall and spring semesters, and 12 credits in summer term.
The enrollment system does count all credits in determining maximum credit load. Courses taken for audit, courses taken with the pass/fail grading option, courses offered as satisfactory/unsatisfactory, and 100- or 200-level courses taken by graduate students are counted in total credit load, along with 300-level and above courses.
A student who wishes to surpass the maximum credit load for a term or a student who seeks to enroll in a number of credits greater than the number of weeks in any short session during summer term (excluding dissertators) must submit the Credit Overload Request form. The Graduate School will look closely at the rationale for the request, the student’s course load, satisfactory progress, and assistantships.
Dissertators are not eligible for credit overloads in fall or spring terms. In the summer, a dissertator enrolled in the general 8-week session for 3 credits may request an overload for 1-2 additional credits in a short session and retain dissertator status. For such requests to be approved, the course must be related to dissertation research or professional training that is not offered in regular semesters.
Faculty advisors must sign an overload request form for summer term which is available from Academic Services in the Graduate School.
Even though pass/fail courses, audit courses, and 100- or 200-level courses are not considered graduate level credits, they are counted in a total credit load.
06-30-2023
