The regular academic year consists of a fall semester and a spring semester. Fall and spring semesters consist of 13 weeks of schedule classes and a two hour comprehensive final exam. As a general rule, a credit hour includes a minimum of 42 hours of coursework with 1/3 being classroom or equivalent instruction and 2/3 being outside course engagement. On average a three credit hour course requires a minimum of 126 hours of work. An equivalent amount of work is required for non-classroom credits. An undergraduate student is classified as full time when enrolled for 12-17 credit hours in a semester. Graduate students are classified as full time when enrolled for 9 credit hours in a semester.
Undergraduate students who wish to register for more than 17 credit hours must meet the following criteria:
- To enroll for 18 credit hours, the student must have a 2.75 GPA.
- To enroll for 19 credit hours, the student must have a 3.0 GPA.
- To enroll for 20 hours, the student must have a 3.5 GPA.
Special sessions include:
- May Term (MA) - three weeks. May term courses are offered at discounted rates in an approximately three-week period immediately following the spring graduation. Most May courses are three credits but a maximum of four credits may be earned. Two credit hours in May is considered full time. A maximum of four credits may be earned.
- Summer Session 1 (S1) - five weeks. Three semester hours of credit is considered full time. A maximum of four credits may be earned.
- Summer Session 2 (S2) - five weeks. Three semester hours of credit is considered full time. A maximum of four credits may be earned.
- Summer1Term (S1T) - 13 weeks. Six semester hours is considered full time. A maximum of twelve credits may be earned.
Students may earn a maximum total of 17 CAS credit hours during the summer terms (May, S1, S2 and S1T).
