Office of the University Registrar

November 9, 2020

J-1 Full-Time Registration Requirement

J-1 status requires you to be a full-time student.
Full-time enrollment is:

  • 12 credits for undergraduate students
  • 10 credits for graduate students

Online classes do not count towards full-time enrollment. You can only drop below full-time registration under certain circumstances. The exceptions are:

  • annual vacation quarter (allowed after three consecutive full-time quarters–usually summer, but not always)
  • medical reason (requires letter from doctor and preapproval from ISS)
  • specific academic reasons (requires letter from academic adviser and preapproval from ISS)
  • final quarter

Consult an ISS adviser if you are considering dropping below full-time. You do not want to accidentally violate your student visa status.