understanding full-time status the graduate school, october 2015
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Understanding Full-Time Status
The Graduate School, October 2015
Does a graduate student have to be full-time?• Maybe, but only under certain conditions:• International student with F-1 or J-1 visa (and no associated assistantship)• If student has a fellowship or scholarship that requires it• If the program reports full-time for accreditation (discipline-specific)
• Students who do not meet the conditions above are not required to be full-time.
What are the implications of the various course loads for domestic students?Number of hours Financial Aid eligibility
and repayment deferral
Graduate Assistantship Health Insurance (automatically enrolled unless have evidence of own insurance and opt out)
9 or more Full-time tuition and full living expenses
Eligible Eligible (with ≥6 main campus)
7-8.5 ¾-time tuition and full living expenses
Eligible Eligible (with ≥6 main campus)
4.5-6.5 ½-time tuition and full living expenses
Eligible with ≥6 Eligible (with ≥6 main campus)
<4.5 (if not 699/799 as described below)
No No No
3 of 699/799 *with candidacy & doing hours req’d on POS
actual tuition and full living expenses
Eligible Eligible
1 of 801/802/803 No No – hourly wage is an option
No
Full-time status
¾ time status 1/2 time status
Further explanation of impact of load on financial aid
What are the implications of the various course loads for international students with an F-1 or J-1 visa?
Number of hours Full-time Status? Graduate Assistantship
Health insurance: Required!
Visa okay?
9 or more Yes Eligible Yes Yes
6-8.5 If assistantship relates to academic program, considered to meet visa requirements (not “FT”)
Eligible Yes Yes
<6 if not 699/799 as described below
No Not eligible Yes It depends: must contact IPC in advance
3 of 699/799 *with candidacy and doing hours req’d on POS
Yes Eligible Yes Yes
1 of 801/802/803 No Not eligible Yes With candidacy and with letter of support from faculty advisor
Master’s Students
After completing all required course work, a master’s student may be considered full-time while enrolled in a 3 credit hour thesis course (699). Master’s students may maintain full-time status with 3 credits of 699 for two terms.
Continued enrollment in thesis credit hours beyond those that are required will not provide full-time status unless the student also enrolls in thesis extension and/or research extension courses to fulfill the 9 credit hour requirement.
Doctoral Students
After entering candidacy status, a doctoral student may be considered full-time while enrolled in a 3 credit hour dissertation course (799) . Doctoral candidates may maintain full-time status with 3 credits of 799 until completion of the number of dissertation credit hours specified by their program in the Graduate School Bulletin or their departmental Plan of Study.
Continued enrollment in dissertation credit hours beyond those that are required will not provide full-time status unless the student also enrolls in dissertation extension, and/or research extension courses to fulfill the 9 credit hour requirement.
Candidacy status = • Final Plan of Study and committee approved• Completed all courses• Passed comps• Dissertation topic approved• Applied for admission to candidacy for the doctoral
degree
Issues to Consider:• Are doctoral students using up dissertation hours before passing
comps? Is there a need to design a “research” course instead?
• When are doctoral students applying for candidacy?
• When is the department willing to approve the dissertation topic? Is this tied (or not) to the proposal defense?
• Should the final Plan of Study show a range of 799 hours (min. to max.) to provide student with some flexibility?