Enrollment Requirements

International Student Enrollment

F-1 and J-1 students must enroll full-time to maintain their student status. The enrollment information on this page pertains only to immigration requirements. Other situations, such as maintaining scholarship eligibility, may require more hours.

Enrollment Deadlines

International students must be enrolled full time, or possess reduced course load authorization approved by the ISSO, by Census Day for the semester. Failure to enroll full time by Census Day jeopardizes F-1 status.

F-1 Enrollment Requirements

General Requirements

• Undergraduates = 12 credit hours
• Graduates = 9 credit hours
• Summer is optional unless:
  • It is your first semester at UT Dallas
  • It is your first semester in F-1 status (for example, after a change of status)
  • It is your first semester with an I-20 for your current degree program (for example, after a change of level).
  • You are a transfer student whose SEVIS release date is before summer classes begin

• Courses must apply to the degree listed on the I-20.
• No semester can be made up solely of prerequisites.
• In any required semester, enrollment must cover the full term (all courses cannot be in one 5- or 8-week session)
• Enrollment must include the correct number of credit hours and the appropriate method of instruction.
• The standard F-1 enrollment requirements state that only one distance education course can count toward the full-time requirement. Distance education courses include online and hybrid courses. To determine a course’s instruction type, look it up through Galaxy or the UTD CourseBook. If you are not sure of the course’s instruction type, check with your academic advisor.
  • Students in their graduating semester must enroll in at least one face-to-face course for the duration of the graduating semester. Additional courses needed to complete the degree in the graduating semester may be online, hybrid or face-to-face.

Alternative Ways to Meet F-1 Requirements

There are some situations where an F-1 student may be authorized to enroll less than full-time for a given semester.

• Concurrent enrollment – Enroll at UT Dallas and another institution concurrently. Submit a Concurrent Enrollment Form to the UT Dallas ISSO by Census Day of each semester.
• Graduating semester – “Graduating semester” refers to the last semester of degree requirements, whether you are attending a graduation ceremony that semester or not. In your final semester, you meet full-time enrollment requirements by enrolling in all remaining courses, even if the total number of hours is less than the standard 9 or 12 credit hour requirement. To use this option you must:
  • Be graduating from the major and degree listed on your I-20
  • Apply for graduation by Census Day.
  • Enroll in at least one face-to-face course for the duration of the graduating semester. Additional courses needed to complete the degree in the graduating semester may be online, hybrid or face-to-face.
  • Students with thesis/dissertation requirements who chose to apply for graduation by Priority Deadlines may have different enrollment requirements in their final semester. See the Graduation and Beyond page for more information about the impact of Priority Deadlines on F-1 Status.
• Reduced Course Load due to CPT – Graduate level students may be eligible for a Reduced Course Load authorization if they are participating in a full-time CPT that lasts at least 11 weeks. This option cannot be used in two consecutive long semesters (spring and fall), and a number of restrictions apply. See the CPT page for more details. This option is not available for undergraduate students.
• Reduced Course Load due to Academic or Medical Reasons – The Department of Homeland Security allows F-1 students to request a reduced course load in certain academic situations or due to medical reasons. You must submit the appropriate, signed request form and receive authorization prior to dropping below full-time enrollment.
• Reduced Course Load due to Thesis/Dissertation – Students who have completed all of their coursework and who are only required to enroll in a thesis/dissertation course may request a reduced course load. With this authorization, the student can enroll in fewer credit hours of the thesis/dissertation course. Students must take a minimum of 1 credit hour to maintain F-1 status. The academic department may require the student to take more than 1 credit hour to meet academic requirements.
• Study Abroad – Students who participate in UT Dallas-approved study abroad programs are enrolled full-time in a special UT Dallas course. Check the Education Abroad for International Students webpage for requirements and restrictions. For information about study abroad opportunities and requirements, contact Education Abroad.

F-1 Enrollment Charts

The enrollment charts reflect the F-1 regulations and standard enrollment requirements. The temporary exception for fall 2022 changes what instruction type is acceptable, but does not change the required credit hours.

SEVP defines two groups of F-1 students, with two separate enrollment requirements.

• F-1 students who were in Active F-1 status on March 9, 2020 can meet their full-time enrollment requirements with an entirely online course load.
• F-1 students who began their F-1 status after March 9, 2020 must take at least one course with in-person components each semester and should be prepared to participate in the in-person components. Students in this group must continue to enroll in at least one course with in-person components every semester.

Fall and Spring

F-1 students must enroll full-time each fall and spring semester unless approved for a reduced course load.

Academic Level	Minimum Hours	Instruction Type
Undergraduate	12 credit hours	Of the required 12 credit hours, at least 9 hours must be “face-to-face”
Graduate	9 credit hours	Of the required 9 credit hours, at least 6 hours must be “face-to-face”

Examples:

• An undergraduate student enrolls in 15 credit hours, with 9 credit hours face-to-face and 6 credit hours online. This meets the enrollment requirements because the student is taking more than the minimum 12 credit hours, and at least 9 credit hours are face-to-face.
• A graduate student enrolls in 9 credit hours, with 3 credit hours online. This meets enrollment requirements because the student is taking the minimum required credit hours and is only counting one online course towards the required hours.

Summer

• Summer enrollment is optional unless it is your first semester at UT Dallas, in F-1 status, in a new program of study, or it is your graduating semester
• Summer enrollment is required if you are a transfer student whose first semester in the U.S. was spring, at another school, you have not completed an academic year in the U.S. and you transfer to UT Dallas for summer
• Summer enrollment is required if you are a transfer student whose SEVIS release date is before summer classes begin
• If you do not meet one of these criteria, enrollment is optional. You may take any number of classes of any instruction type, or you can take zero classes.

Academic Level	Minimum Hours	Instruction Type
Undergraduate	9 credit hours	Of the required 9 credit hours, at least 6 hours must be “face-to-face”
Graduate	6 credit hours	Of the required 6 credit hours, at least 3 hours must be “face-to-face”

Examples

• A student who began their program of study at UT Dallas in the spring semester is considering whether to take summer classes. Summer enrollment is optional, since it is not the student’s first semester in the U.S., in the program, in F-1 status, or their graduating semester. The student decides to enroll in one online course. If the student needs to drop the class later, that is okay because summer enrollment is optional.

Graduating Semester

The graduating semester enrollment requirements are the same, whether you are an undergraduate student or a graduate student. “Graduating semester” refers to the last semester of degree requirements, whether you are attending a graduation ceremony that semester or not. You must be completing the degree and major listed on your I-20 to be eligible to enroll less than full time.

Students with thesis/dissertation requirements who apply for graduation by Priority Deadlines may have different enrollment requirements in their final semester. See the Graduation and Beyond page for more information about the impact of Priority Deadlines on F-1 Status.

Academic Level	Minimum Hours	Instruction Type
Undergraduate or graduate	At least one credit hour. You must finish your remaining degree requirements.	Enroll in at least one face-to-face course for the duration of the graduating semester. Additional courses needed to complete the degree in the graduating semester may be online, hybrid or face-to-face. If you only have one course remaining, it must be taken face-to-face. Remember that you must be enrolled for the entire semester, not just one 8-week or 5-week session.

Examples

• A student is graduating in spring and has three courses remaining to finish their degree. The student can enroll in one face-to-face course and two online courses to meet their enrollment requirements.
• A student is graduating in fall and only has one course remaining. In order to meet the physical presence requirement for enrollment, the student enrolls in a face-to-face section of the course that lasts for the entire semester.

Online and Hybrid Courses

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requires F-1 students to enroll in a minimum number of “physical presence” courses each semester in order to meet the full-time enrollment requirement. Students who enroll in too many distance education (online or hybrid) courses and who do not take the minimum number of “physical presence” hours/courses violate their F-1 status.

Distance Education is defined as a course where the student receives the majority of instruction in a way other than being present in a classroom on campus. CPT and independent research courses are not considered distance education courses. If you have questions regarding what is defined as a “physical presence” course or other elements of the full-time enrollment requirement, contact an international student advisor.

Keep in mind:

• Only one distance education course can count towards the total number of required credit hours for F-1 students.
• If a student has only one course remaining in the last semester before graduation, that course cannot be an online course.

J-1 Enrollment Requirements

General Requirements

• Undergraduates = 12 credit hours
• Graduates = 9 credit hours
• Summer is optional unless it is your first or last semester UT Dallas or in J-1 status.
• Courses must apply to the subject/Field listed on the DS-2019.
• No semester can be made up solely of prerequisites.
• In any required semester, enrollment must cover the full term (all courses cannot be in one 5- or 8-week session).
• Enrollment must include the correct number of credit hours and the appropriate method of instruction. According to the new guidance from the Department of State,
  • As a J-1 student, you must meet the full course of study requirement (9 credit hours for graduate students and 12 credit hours for undergraduate students)
  • You may enroll in one online/hybrid course towards meeting the full course of study requirements (per semester). 
  • You may add additional distance education courses to your full-time requirement. Distance education courses include online and hybrid courses. To determine a course’s instruction type, look it up through Galaxy or the UTDCoursebook. If you are not sure of the course’s instruction type, check with your academic advisor.  

Examples:

• A graduate student may register for 2 in-person classes and 1 online/hybrid course for a total of 9 credits.
• A graduate student may register for 2 in-person classes and 2 online/hybrid courses for a total of 12 credits.
• An undergraduate student registers for 3 in-person classes and 1 online/hybrid course for a total of 12 credits.
• An undergraduate student registers for 3 in-person classes and 2 online/hybrid courses for a total of 15 credits.

Alternative Ways to Meet J-1 Requirements

• Authorized reduced enrollment for medical or academic reasons – Authorization must be issued by your Program Sponsor prior to reducing enrollment.
• Graduating semester – Apply for graduation by Census Day of your final semester.

Impact of Withdrawals

If a student drops below full-time enrollment without prior approval from the ISSO, their immigration status will be terminated in accordance with federal regulations. This applies to both academic and non-academic withdrawals, as well as retroactive withdrawals completed after the semester end date.

Students must take care to maintain their full-time enrollment and to obtain a reduced course load authorization prior to dropping below full-time enrollment, to avoid termination of their immigration status. For retroactive withdrawals, keep in mind that reduced course load authorizations cannot be backdated or retroactively approved. If a student retroactively withdraws and falls below full-time enrollment, their immigration record will be terminated.