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Enrollment Requirements

If you are an F-1 student, you are required to be enrolled full time during Fall and Spring semesters. Generally international students are not required to take classes during the summer as it is considered a break. So, if you are planning to study in the Fall and you are not graduating in the summer, then you can take the summer off. On the other hand, there are certain students that do need to enroll in the summer (please see below: Who needs to study in the summer).

What does full time mean at Georgia State?

• For IEP (Intensive English Program) students it means 18 credit hours
• For undergraduate students it means 12 credit hours
• For graduate students it means 9 credit hours

There are some exceptions to being full time, but before you become under enrolled, you will need to be authorized in advance by ISSS.

Reduced Course Load (RCL)

In order to apply for authorization to be enrolled for less than full time, you must meet one of the following requirements:

• It is your last semester and you need less than a full course load in order to complete your program and the classes left are required in order to graduate
• You have finished all your course work and you are currently working on a dissertation or thesis
• You have a medical condition and your doctor recommends that you be excused from classes *
• Academic difficulties during your first semester. You will need appropriate documentation from your academic advisor to use this exception

*If you experience health problems, please contact ISSS as soon as possible to discuss this further.  In addition, you will need to provide our office with appropriate documentation from your physician.

If you meet one of these requirements, then you will need to fill out our Reduced Course Load form:

• Reduced Course Load form (PDF)

IMPORTANT!!!!! Remember that the authorization needs to be obtained before you drop your classes!!! In addition, applying for a reduced course load does not automatically guarantee that it will be approved. Your request will be reviewed by an ISSS advisor.

Who needs to study in the summer?

If your case falls within the following scenarios, then you will need to study full time during the summer at Georgia State:

• You have been admitted for the summer semester
• You applied for a change of status and it was approved after spring semester registration closes

Note: Full time in the summer means at least 6 credit hours.