- International students who have completed the thesis (6 hours) or dissertation
(24 credit hours) requirements and who are still working on either the master's thesis
or doctoral dissertation phases of their programs of study may enroll for fewer hours
(2 for masters and 3 for doctoral) prior to their final semester,
provided they have completed all of the other program requirements.
- For non-thesis masters students working on a project or exams, 2 credit hours are
acceptable if all other course work is completed.
- If master's or doctoral students are entering the FINAL semester of their work and
have completed virtually everything except being cleared for graduation and will
not be using any faculty time or university resources they may enroll for 1
credit hour. Currently, the FSU International Center asks that major professors (and
now deans) verify for students enrolled below the 2 (masters) or 3 (doctoral) credit
hours that the hours are appropriate and accurately reflect the amount of faculty time
and resources being used.
- Short of these circumstances, international students need to be enrolled
full-time for immigration purposes. If graduate students request permission
to register for fewer than 9 hours for reasons other than the ones described above,
they need both the department chair and the academic dean's permission to do so before
being certified as full time by the International Center.
- If you decide to approve such requests, please provide the International Center
with a memo that indicates the student's name, student number, semester and date, a
statement that the student is enrolled for "X" number of hours, and that the student
should be considered enrolled in a full course of study for that semester. The memo
should include signatures of both the department chair and the dean indicating their
approval. The memo would then be forwarded to the International Center.
- International students who enroll for a so-called final semester for a
reduced number of credit hours (i.e. 1-3 hours) but who do not graduate that term,
may be required to enroll full time in the additional semester unless the need for the
extension and additional "final" semester were due to circumstances beyond their
control (e.g. illness of the major professor). This is an important note because
in the past, many departments permitted students to register for "1" credit hour for
their "final" semester several semesters in a row.
- Call Kristen Hagen at 644-9563 for more information or go to
www.fsu.edu/~fsu-isc/ for more information.
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