Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Rules
Enrollment Exceptions
Part Time Excuses
Enrollment Requirements During COVID

Enrollment Rules

Undergraduate Students

Undergraduate international students are required to enroll in a full course load for the Fall and Spring semesters in order to maintain their U.S. immigration status. A full course load for undergraduate students is defined by immigration rules as 12 credit hours or more per semester. Recipients of UNM scholarships must enroll in 15 new credit hours (no repeated courses) to maintain their scholarship. International students are not required to enroll in courses during the summer session, but may choose to.

Graduate Students

Graduate international students are required to enroll in a full course load for the Fall and Spring semesters to maintain student immigration status. A full course load for graduate students is defined as 9 credit hours, or 6 credits with an assistantship authorized by the Office of Academic Personnel (OAP). International students are not required to enroll in courses during the summer session, but may choose to.

All Students

No international student may drop below the required number of credits in the Fall and Spring semesters except under extremely limited circumstances that must be authorized in advance by an international student advisor.
Getting a grade of W, WP, or WF in a course means that you officially have dropped or been dropped by the professor/instructor from that course and are no longer enrolled in it. Therefore, the credit hours for that course will not count toward your full-time requirement, even if you completed all course requirements.
Classes that are taken for a grade of Audit also do NOT count toward the full-time requirement.
ONLY 3 CREDIT HOURS of online or distance education courses can be counted toward the full-time immigration minimum hourly requirement. While students are permitted to take more online courses if they want to, only 3 credits of online can be counted toward their immigration minimum credit hours.
Finally, summer is considered vacation time and students are not required to enroll in summer courses unless they are beginning their program in summer.

Enrollment Exceptions

Undergraduate Students

International undergraduate students in their final semester of study may be considered full-time with fewer than 12 credit hours as long as they are taking all remaining credits to complete their program requirements.
In order to qualify, the student's academic advisor must complete a Certificate of Completion of Formal Course Requirements and the form must be submitted to GEO at the beginning of the semester for which the student will enroll for fewer credit hours than full-time. If the student is on an Amigo or Leadership Scholarship, they will also need to complete a scholarship petition and email it to goglobal@unm.edu. The short essay should explain that you are in your final semester of study.

Graduate Students

International graduate students without assistantships who are in their final semester of coursework may be considered full-time with fewer than 9 credit hours as they are permitted to take only what they have left to complete their program requirements.
Graduate students who have completed all coursework but who have not completed the comprehensive requirement (such as Comprehensive Exam, Thesis or Dissertation) may be considered full-time with fewer credit hours and may take comprehensive credits only.
In order to qualify, the student's advisor must complete the Certificate of Completion of Formal Course Requirements and the form must be submitted to GEO at the beginning of the semester in which the student will enroll for fewer credit hours than the normal full-time. This form must be resubmitted every year (or upon expiration of the form if sooner than one year) if the student plans to continue to enroll in fewer hours than full-time for multiple semesters. If the student is also on an Amigo Scholarship, they will also need to complete a scholarship petition and email it to goglobal@unm.edu. The short essay should explain that you are in you have completed coursework or are completing in the current semester.

Part Time Excuses

Limited excuses exist for dropping below full-time enrollment as defined below.
All excuses must be authorized in advance by an international student advisor in the Global Education Office (GEO). Students who drop below full-time without being authorized are in violation of their immigration status and must be reported to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) within 21 days of the date they dropped below full-time.

The legally permissible part-time excuses and required proof are:

Academic Excuses

One time only during program of study.

Initial difficulties with reading requirements- First year of study only; bring a letter from your professor or instructor recommending that you drop below full-time because of this reason.
Unfamiliarity with American teaching methods- First year of study only; bring a letter from your professor or instructor recommending that you drop below full-time because of this reason.
Improper course level placement- This means placement in a course for which one does not have the required pre-requisites; bring a letter from your academic advisor recommending that you take less than full-time because of this reason.

Medical Excuses

A medical excuse may be granted for a maximum aggregate total of 12 months with a written doctor's excuse. Bring a letter documenting the illness and recommending that you take less than full-time written and signed by a licensed physician or psychologist.