Undergraduate Load

The minimum academic load for a regular fall or spring semester that qualifies a student for full-time status and financial assistance is 12 semester hours.  Incoming freshmen cannot register for more than 17 credit hours their first semester. 

All students are restricted to pre-registering for a maximum of 17 hours. After the end of the semester or during the first week of classes, additional hours up to a total of 18 can be added to a student's fall or spring schedule using a drop-add form if the following requirements are met:

• Second semester freshmen and all sophomores and juniors are required to earn a 3.0 GPA the previous term.
• Seniors must have a 2.75 GPA the previous term.  

Summer:  A maximum load for a short term during the summer is usually 6 hours.  Students attending for the full summer term may take 12 hours.  Preregistration is restricted to 12 hours; students who meet GPA requirements defined in this policy may register for an additional three hours of classes. 

Three-week Terms: Students are normally limited to no more than three semester hours for any three-week term. 

Graduate Load

The minimum academic load for full-time graduate status is nine semester hours. The usual semester load is 12 hours.  Programs that operate on a year around schedule with three equal terms normally require 9 hours per term.