The following statements define the Penn State enrollment reporting status for
students. These statements are in accordance with other Penn State policies
and with applicable federal requirements.
A. Definitions – this data field is automatically
calculated during the registration processes as students register, drop, add,
late drop, or withdraw.
Enrolled credits - The total of the number of course credits on the student’s semester enrollment. It includes all credit-bearing courses offered through all delivery methods. Courses taken as “audit” are excluded. Credits earned through credit-by-exam or credit-by-portfolio are excluded.
B. Undergraduate Students
a. All calculations apply to fall, spring, and summer.
b. Full-time – 12 or more enrolled credits
c. Half-time – 6 to 11.5 enrolled credits
d. Less-than-half-time – less than 6 enrolled credits
e. Selected undergraduate courses are defined as full-time enrollment due to co-operative education or internship experiences. Students enrolled in one of these courses are reported as full-time enrollment. (see Section F below)
f. Students approved for concurrent enrollment in the undergraduate/graduate integrated program are reported as undergraduate students.
C. Graduate Students
a. All calculations apply to fall, spring, and summer.
b. Graduate students with no assistantship, ¼ time assistantship, and ½ time assistantship are reported as follows:Full-time – 9 or more enrolled creditsc. Graduate students with ¾ time assistantship are reported as follows:
Half-time – 5 to 8.5 enrolled credits
Less-than-half time – less than 5 enrolled creditsFull-time – 6 or more enrolled creditsd. A graduate student enrolled in a Ph.D. dissertation 601 course is reported as full-time.
Half-time – 2 to 5.5 enrolled credits
Less-than-half time – less than 2 enrolled credits
e. A graduate student enrolled in a Ph.D. dissertation 611 course is reported as half-time.
D. Law Students
a. All calculations apply to fall, spring, and summer
b. Full-time – 12 or more enrolled credits
c. Half-time – 6 to 11.5 enrolled credits
d. Less-than-half-time – less than 6 enrolled credits
e. A student enrolled as both a law student and graduate student is reported as a law student.
E. Medical Students
a. Always reported as full-time.
b. A student enrolled as both a medical student and a graduate student is reported as a medical student.
F. Undergraduate Internship and Co-operative Enrollments
a. Federal regulations permit the reporting of full-time status for undergraduate students providing that the work portion of a co-operative education program in which the amount of work performed is equivalent to the academic workload of a full-time student.
b. The Office of the University Registrar maintains a record of approved courses that are to be reported as full-time, even though the number of credits is less than the 12-credit minimum.
c. Academic units must complete the Full-time Equivalent Form for those internship and co-operative courses that will result in reporting students as enrolled full-time.
Approved: ACUE (9-4-03)
Revised: Editorial (5-8-07)
Revised: Editorial (7-12-10)