Credit Load

Full-time undergraduate students must be registered for 12 or more credits (or equivalent) each semester. Undergraduate students registered for fewer than 12 credits cannot be certified as full-time students for the purpose of financial aid, loan deferment, athletics, parents’ medical insurance, etc. When a student is considering dropping a course which would result in being registered for fewer than 12 credits, he/she should consult the appropriate offices before the drop is made to avoid major difficulties with financial aid.

Full-time students normally may not carry fewer than 12 or more than 18 credit hours a semester. The normal course load in one semester is 15 or 16 credit hours. Undergraduates are billed extra per credit for exceeding 16 credits. (See "Expenses" section of the catalog for billing information for Honors Program students and Five Year Education Programs.) To carry more than 18 credit hours, written permission from the Office of Student Success and Assessment is required.

Note: Full-time students who expect to graduate in four years, and who are carrying fewer than 15-16 credits in any one semester, will have to make up these credits by taking more credits in other semesters or by attending Winter Intersession or Summer Session courses. The minimum number of credits is 120 credits, but there are some programs that will require more credits. (Please see costs for each additional credit over 16 credits during a semester for the charges under "Undergraduate Expenses".)