Graduate Student Handbook
Registration Information
All students must be registered in the semesters in which they plan to take classes, take qualifying exams, defend theses and dAll students must be registered in the semesters in which they plan to take classes, take qualifying exams, defend theses and dissertations, and/or graduate. The table below outlines the minimum numbers of credit hours students need in order to register. Some students will register for more than these minima, depending on circumstances. For example, MFA students may enroll for more credit hours in a given semester in order to complete their required 48 hours of degree credit within two years, or students need to enroll in more credit hours to comply with the specifications of their financial aid.
| Fall or spring semesters | Summer A | Summer B | Summer C | |
Full-Time students
not on Appointments or receiving fellowships of more
than $3150 per semester |
12 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
Full-time students
receiving teaching assistantships |
9 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Part-time students not receiving fellowships or assistantships (absolute minimum registrations) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Typical course loads for full-time graduate students are 3 courses for students who are not teaching and 2 courses for students holding Teaching Assistantships. Because these course loads do not equal in credit hours the minimum requirements for registration, students can enroll in supplementary credit hours. Here are the options and restrictions for supplementary hours:
- MA students who are writing a thesis can take unlimited hours in ENG 6971 (MA Research), but only six hours will count toward the degree.
- Students may use a total of 5 hours in ENG 6910 (Supervised Research).
- Students who are teaching may use a total of 5 hours in LAE 6940 (Supervised Teaching).
- PhD students who have not been formally admitted to candidacy (that is, students with MA degrees who have not completed the area examinations and dissertation prospectus) should register for hours in ENG 7979 (Advanced Research).
- PhD students who have been admitted to candidacy should register for hours in ENG 7980 (Dissertation Research).
The Graduate School usually allows no more than eight hours of post-baccalaureate work to be credited towards a degree. MA and MFA students can transfer up to but no more than six hours of work done elsewhere.
