F-1 and J-1 international students must maintain a specific minimum credit load each semester in order to maintain immigration status. Falling below these minimum requirements can lead to a student falling out of status and the termination of their I-20/DS-2019. Students in other visa statuses have no minimum number of credits to maintain status - however, please note students in F-2 status are only allowed part-time enrollment. For questions regarding this, please consult with your international student advisor in the ISSAS office.

The information below depicts the minimum credits required for an international student, based on a student's status as an international undergraduate or graduate student.

The information below applies to Fall and Spring semester, and in certain cases to Summer (see Important Notes about Summer Registration directly below this section).

Credit Minimums

12 credits per term
(At least 9 credits must be face-to-face, others can be online.)

Final Term

You may enroll half-time during your final term (minimum of 6 credits), however you must request an authorized Reduced Course Load for your final semester. If authorized for a Reduced Course Load - enroll in at least 3 credits face-to-face, and remaining credits can be online.

Minimum Credits

With an assistantship: 6 credits per term
(At least 3 credits must be face-to-face, others can be online.)

No assistantship: 9 credits per term
(At least 6 credits must be face-to-face, others can be online.)

Thesis/Dissertation Students Who Are Done with Coursework

If you are a graduate student who has questions about how many credits to take when you are done with coursework, please consult with your international student advisor as all graduate programs may be structured differently. However, the general rule is that you must continue the minimum 6 (with assistantship) or 9 credits (without assistantship) until you are completely done with your coursework (including seminars). After that, 1 thesis/dissertation credit is sufficient for immigration purposes. 

Final Term

In their final term, one (1) credit is sufficient for graduate level students in thesis/dissertation programs.However, Masters students in non-thesis (coursework only) programs must request a Reduced Course Load if they wish to take less than the minimum during their final term. If approved, such students may enroll half-time (3 credits with an assistantship, or 5 credits without assistantship). Enroll in at least least 3 credits face-to-face, but the remaining credits can be online. A few common examples of such coursework only situations include: MBA/MSBA students, students in Plan C of the Masters programs of Computer Science or Software Engineering, or students in any Masters program who have elected to do a coursework only (Plan C) option.

Please check with your international student advisor if you have any doubts about whether or not you should register for summer. Registration in summer is required in all the following situations:

1. You are a new F-1/J-1 student starting in the Summer term
2. You are a former student returning to NDSU during the summer after a temporary leave of absence, or
3. Summer is your last term before graduating - your degree will post in August.

Dropping/withdrawing from courses:

• Failing or not doing well in a course is not an acceptable reason to drop or withdraw from a course if this drop would take the student below the minimum required (see above). Dropping below the minimum course load required can lead to serious immigration problems. 

F-1 student enrollment when doing Curricular Practical Training (CPT)

• Such credits do count towards the minimum credit load required. However, a student may not do only CPT during their final semester because this does not meet the immigration requirement for your physical presence on campus and may appear as though you are delaying graduation for employment purposes. Please ask your international student advisor with any questions. More information on CPT can be found here.

Online (non-distance) courses

• Only one online course counts towards the minimum credit load needed for your status, for both F-1 and J-1 students.

• An in-person course is anything with the category of on/off-campus face-to-face or hybrid/blended. An online course would be anything labeled as Online Synchronous or Online Asynchronous.

• During your last semester, before graduation, you can not be enrolled in only online courses. This is because this does not fulfill the immigration requirement to be considered physically present on campus. You must also be enrolled in lecture/face-to-face courses. The credits required will vary based on undergraduate or graduate level (and graduate program) and the minimums listed at the top of this page.

• Federal regulation regarding online classes:  According to 8 C.F.R §214.2 (f)(6)(i)(G), for F–1 students enrolled in classes for credit or classroom hours, "no more than the equivalent of one class or three credits per session, term, semester, trimester, or quarter may be counted toward the full course of study requirement if the class is taken on-line or through distance education and does not require the student's physical attendance for classes, examination or other purposes integral to completion of the class. An on-line or distance education course is a course that is offered principally through the use of television, audio, or computer transmission including open broadcast, closed circuit, cable, microwave, or satellite, audio conferencing, or computer conferencing. If the F–1 student's course of study is in a language study program, no on-line or distance education classes may be considered to count toward a student's full course of study requirement."