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Home ― Student Enrollment Status

Student Enrollment Status

Policy 1.16
Approved by: President
Responsible Officer: Provost and Senior Vice President for academic affairs
Responsible Office: Academic Affairs
Originally Issued: 01/11/1988
Last Revision: 09/09/2024
Category: Academics
Related Policy

SDBOR Policy 2.6.1 Academic Program Student Credit Hour Requirements

I. REASON FOR THIS POLICY

Student enrollment status is defined in SDBOR Policy 2.6.1. This DSU policy clarifies University’s discretion to set the graduate course load status pursuant to SDBOR policy 2.6.1(E.6).

II. DEFINITIONS

  1. Course Student Load: The number of allowable credit hours per term.
  2. Overload Status: Student course load that is over the maximum allowed credits per term and with dean approval.

III. STATEMENT OF POLICY

  1. Academic School Year. The academic school year shall include the summer term (prior to fall term), fall term, and spring term. Inclusive dates are published in the University academic calendar and class schedule.
  2. Student Enrollment Status. At DSU, full-time, part-time, half-time, and overload status are defined on a per term basis as follows:
    1. Undergraduate:
      1. Full-time: 12 or more credits
      2. Part-time: 1-11 credits
      3. Half-time: 6-11 credits
      4. Overload: 19 or more credits
    2.  Graduate:
      1. Full-time: 6 or more credits
      2. Part-time: 1-5 credits
      3. Half-time: 3 credits
      4. Overload: 13 or more credits
  3. Enrollment Overloads. The dean of the college at a student’s home institution where the student is enrolled shall approve enrollment overloads.
    1. Undergraduate
      1. 2.75 GPA to approve enrollment overload of 19 or 20 credit hours
      2. 3.00 GPA to approve enrollment overload of 21 or 22 credit hours
      3. No student will be allowed to enroll in more than 22 credit hours in one academic term, except as authorized by the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs.
    2. Graduate
      1. To be eligible for overload status, a student must have approval by the Graduate Dean at the student’s home institution.

Exclusions

None 

Exceptions

For the purposes of external reporting, the University shall use the course student load required by external entities (e.g., Clearinghouse, external survey requests) which may differ from the course student load requirements in this policy.

IV. PROCEDURES  

  1. Determination of Load. The Registrar’s Office shall make the final determination of a student’s course load through the student information system.
    1. Courses conducted on less than full-term schedules in the credit total for the term during which the course starts for purposes of credit load.
    2. Courses for which the student is registered as an auditor in the term total for determination of full-time/part-time status.
    3. Courses for which the student is registered as an auditor in the total term in determining overload status.
  2. Overload Approval
    1. Undergraduate students seeking overload approval shall submit a completed Request for Change in Registration form to the respective dean of the college in which they are degree-seeking prior to the start of classes.
    2. Graduate students shall communicate the request for overload to their respective advisor prior to the start of classes.

V. RELATED DOCUMENTS, FORMS AND TOOLS

None

VI. POLICY HISTORY

Adopted: 01/11/1988

Revised: 11/02/1998

Revised: 05/21/2023

Revised: 09/09/2024

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