Course Load

Unless there are unique circumstances, such as a medical emergency or a student’s final semester, international students must be registered full-time.  Please see the class withdrawal page and the reduced course load page for more information on those topics.

This does affect program coordinators and advisors in particular.  By law, international students are allowed to have a semester break or vacation semester after they have studied two semesters of full-time work.  However, international students must be reaching a certain amount of annual credit amounts in order to be in good status.

• CELE and undergraduate students must be enrolled a minimum of 12+ credits per semester.  They need to reach a minimum of 24 credits annually.
• Graduate students need to be registered for 6-8+ credits per semester depending on the program requirements.  Annually, they need to reach a minimum of 16-18+ credits.

Knowing this amount allows graduate students a little bit of flexibility in their program.  Most graduate programs study classes sequentially and not at the same time.  If a student has already reached their annual credit minimum, then they may be able to take a break.

This can be complex, but if program coordinators or advisors have questions, please contact ISS.