<p>I'm sure these are very naive questions, but thanks in advance:</p>
<p>What is the minimum number of credit hours one can take each semester and maintain status as a FT student?</p>
<p>Does this differ among colleges (eg, by state, or public/private)?</p>
<p>Is tuition the same regardless of how many credit hours one takes?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>There is no one answer to these questions.</p>
<p>It will vary by school. At the 2 schools I am familiar with the minimum credit hours in a semester for full time are 12 credit hours. I believe that is fairly common but will vary by school. Also some schools have a semester system and some have a quarter system so full time would vary there also. You will have to check with your school for what they consider full time.</p>
<p>How tuition is calculated will also vary according to school. The schools I am familiar with the tuition is per credit hour so will vary depending on the # of credit hours. For instance if the tuition/fees are $400 an hour then 12 hours in a semester would be $4800 while 16 hours would be $6400. At other schools the tuition is a set amount no matter how many classes you take. You would have to check with your school.</p>
<p>If it is for the health insurance purposes, usually FT is 12 credits for undergrad, 9 for grad student. Some schools count credits differently, and you would need the school to confirm that the number of credits you are taking is considered full time.</p>
<p>If it is to find out how many classes you can take - this varies by school. Some (most) schools will have a limit on credits per semester (which is usually high enough, so you should not exceed it if you want to preserve your sanity). Some will allow a few more credits with adviser’s signed permission. Some schools do charge extra above certain number of credits.</p>
<p>So to get an accurate answer, you have to contact the school in question.</p>
<p>^^ Ditto - - best to ask the school in question. Also, the requirement is that students register for a certain number of credits - - I know students who have registered for 12 creds planning from the outset to never attend a 2cr class and just take the failing grade (at some schools a failing grade in a pass/fail class is not factored into the gpa); this allows them to keep finaid (which requires that student be ENROLLED f/t).</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. I’m asking because I think my S (who is now just a HS sophomore) might need to take a reduced load because he seems to get overwhelmed pretty easily. </p>
<p>Fortunately we don’t need to worrry about financial aid-- does that in itself make a difference?</p>
<p>It helps that he does not need financial aid. Not being full time reduces the amount of aid a student is eligible for. Merit Scholarships also often have a requirement for a minimum # of hours.</p>
<p>The minimum to be full time is probably lower than most students enroll for and probably is not that demanding. The minimum at my daughters school is 12 credit hours which is around 4 classes unless there are science classes with labs involved. She has never taken the minimum as it would be impossible to graduate in 4 years or even in 5 with just 12 hours per semester.</p>
<p>D has sometimes lightened her load, not by taking fewer credits, but by:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>taking a course (or two) that require less reading or </p></li>
<li><p>instead of taking 4 academic courses (4cr each), taking a 2cr academic course and a 2cr phys ed course</p></li>
</ul>
<p>She has also carried fewer than 16cr, but stayed on track to graduate in 4yrs by:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>taking a 2cr course during Jan or May term or</p></li>
<li><p>taking a 3-4cr course during the summer at local public uni (also worked p/t)</p></li>
</ul>
<p>At our big state u’s (where my kids are), 12 hrs. is minimum to be FT. In our state system, tuition for undergrads is a flat full-time price. Anything over 12 hours you pay FT tution whether you take twelve hrs. or eighteen hrs.
I think if your’e a PT student, you pay by the credit hr. I know that’s how we did S2’s summer sch.</p>
<p>^^ Interesting - our large State Us you pay by the credit hour so I assumed (wrongly) that all public Us did it that way. I don’t have a problem with the tuition being by the credit hour but but do find some of the multiple fees her State U charges (comes to almost as much as tuition) being by the credit hour a bit annoying!</p>
<p>^^Gotta love the UNC system:)</p>
<p>FT tution and fees for this sem. for S2 = $2238.50.
He’s taking sixteen hrs. this sem. The price is still the same.</p>