Registration and Residence Requirements

REG 02.15.5

Graduate School

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Authority: Dean of the Graduate School

History: First Issued: June 1, 2002. Last Revised: February 13, 2008. Additional History Information.

Additional References:
Graduate Administrative Handbook 3.15
Graduate Administrative Handbook 3.17

Contact Info: Dean of the Graduate School, (919) 515-7956

1. Introduction

The Department of Registration and Records must have authorization from the Dean of the Graduate School before a graduate student in any classification will be permitted to register for classes. This authorization will be sent to the Department of Registration and Records at the time the student is notified of acceptance for graduate study.

2. Requirement of Continuous Enrollment

After a student is admitted to the Graduate School and enrolls for the first time, he/she is required to maintain continuous registration. Continuous registration refers to a student's enrollment each semester, excluding summer sessions, until he/she has either graduated or his/her graduate program has been terminated. All students attending classes must be registered for either credit or audit.

2.1 Exceptions

2.1.1 Leave of absence

A student in good academic standing who must interrupt his/her graduate program for good reasons may request a leave of absence from graduate study for a definite period of time, not to exceed one year within a given graduate degree program. The student should initiate the request with the chair of his/her advisory committee and have it approved by his/her Director of Graduate Programs (DGP) before the DGP submits it to the Graduate School. The Graduate School should receive the request at least one month prior to the first day of the term involved. The time that the student spends on an approved leave of absence will be included in the time allowed to complete the degree, i.e., 6 years for the Master's and 10 for the doctoral. Time limits are not extended.

2.1.2 Withdrawal

2.1.2a. Withdrawal during the registration period

Any student enrolled in a graduate program who is registered for a given semester and withdraws during the official registration period (typically the first 10 working days of a semester) must obtain a leave of absence to meet the requirement for continuous registration.

2.1.2b. Withdrawing after the registration period ends

Any student withdrawing after the official registration period ends DOES NOT need to obtain a leave of absence and will be considered by the Graduate School as having met his/her continuous registration requirement.

2.1.3 Registration in a summer session

2.1.3a. Submission of Thesis/Dissertation and Oral Examinations

All students who take their final oral examination or submit their thesis or dissertation to the Graduate School during either summer session must be registered for either the first or second summer session. Those who wish to submit their thesis or dissertation or have their final oral examination after the last day of a semester or summer session but before the next semester or session must have been registered in the semester or session that immediately preceded the date of submission or the date when the exam was held.

2.1.3b. Graduation

Students who complete all requirements for the degree prior to the first day of the fall or spring semester or the first summer session may graduate during the next semester or summer session without being registered as long as they were registered in the immediately preceding semester or summer session.

2.1.4 Incomplete Grades

Students whose only remaining requirement for graduation is removal of an "IN" (Incomplete) in a course are not required to be registered to remove the "IN" and graduate.

Nevertheless, students who do not remove any remaining "IN" grade(s) in the semester or summer session following completion of all other requirements and are not registered during the same semester or summer session will have their programs terminated at the end of that semester or summer session due to noncompliance with the continuous registration policy.

2.1.5 Failure to maintain continuous registration

Graduate students whose programs have been terminated because of failure to maintain continuous registration and who have not been granted a leave of absence during a fall or spring semester will be required to reapply for admission, and pay the application fee, if they wish to resume their graduate studies at NC State.

3. Requirements for Full-Time/Part-Time Registration

3.1 Full-time/Part-time Status of Graduate Students

NC State uses a uniform Schedule of Full-time/Part-time Status of Graduate Students.

These definitions apply to all graduate students.

3.1.1 Full-time/Part-time Determination for ALL Graduate Students

Fall and Spring Semesters

Classification	Full time	Half Time
Non-Thesis Master's	Registration for nine (9) or more credit hours per Fall or Spring semester or a minimum of three (3) hours per semester during the semester in which the student is completing the last course(s) required to complete the degree. Students who have completed¹ all credit hour requirements for their degree must register for three (3) hours of XXX 689 (Non-Thesis Master Continuous Registration - Full Time Registration). Students may register for this course a maximum of one semester.	Registration for 3-8 credit hours per Fall or Spring semester, or one (1) hour of XXX 688 (Non-Thesis Master's Continuous Registration-Half Time Registration) for students who have completed² all credit hour requirements for their degree.
Thesis Master's	Registration for nine (9) or more credit hours per Fall or Spring semester, or a minimum of three (3) hours per semester during the semester in which the student is completing the last course(s) required to complete the degree. For thesis students, this could include XXX 695. Students who have completed³ all credit hour requirements (including research credits) for their degree except for completing their research and/or writing and defending the thesis should register for three (3) hours of XXX 699 (Master's Thesis Preparation) each semester until graduation.	Registration for 3-8 credit hours per Fall or Spring semester, or one (1) hour of XXX 699 (Master's Thesis Preparation) for students who have completed⁴ all credit hour requirements (including research credits) for their degree and are completing their research and/or writing and defending the thesis.
Doctoral	Registration for nine (9) or more credit hours per Fall or Spring semester until the student completes all credit hour requirements for the degree, including research credits, and the oral preliminary examination, or three (3) hours per semester of XXX 899 (Doctoral Dissertation Preparation) for students who have completed⁵ all requirements for their degree (including research credits and the oral preliminary examination) except for completing their research and/or writing and defending the dissertation.	Registration for 3-8 credit hours per Fall or Spring semester, or one (1) credit of XXX 899 for students who have completed⁶ all credit hour requirements for their degree (including research credits and the oral preliminary examination) except for completing their research and/or writing and defending the dissertation.

Footnotes:

1Students with an IN grade who have successfully completed all of the remaining degree requirements that are listed above are also eligible to register for three (3) hours of 689 and be considered full time.

2Students with an IN grade who have successfully completed all of the remaining degree requirements that are listed above are also eligible to register for three (3) hours of 699 and be considered full time.

3Students with an IN grade who have successfully completed all of the remaining degree requirements that are listed above are also eligible to register for one (1) hour of 688 and be considered half time.

4Students with an IN grade who have successfully completed all of the remaining degree requirements that are listed above are also eligible to register for one (1) hour of 699 and be considered half time.

5Students with an IN grade who have successfully completed all of the remaining degree requirements that are listed above are also eligible to register for three (3) hours of 899 and be considered full time.

6Students with an IN grade who have successfully completed all of the remaining degree requirements that are listed above are also eligible to register for one (1) hour of 899 and be considered half time.

3.2.1 Stipends and Social Security Taxes

Graduate students are not required by the University to be registered during the summer. However, students who receive a stipend but who are not enrolled in the University during a period of five weeks or more are subject to Social Security tax withholding. In particular, this means that Social Security taxes will be withheld from the paychecks of Graduate Research Assistants (RAs) who do not register in the summer. Specifically, Social Security taxes will be withheld in June for RAs who are not registered in Summer Session I and in July for RAs who are not registered in Summer Session II. The source of funds that pays the stipend must pay the same amount of Social Security tax as is withheld from the student's paycheck during these months.

3.2.2 Summer registration for research assistants (optional)

Two special registration categories have been created for Research Assistants who would not otherwise take courses in the summer: XXX 696 (Summer Thesis Research and XXX 896 (Summer Dissertation Research), where XXX represents the course prefix of a specific department or program. Each of these courses is for 1 hour of credit, with registration for 10 weeks, beginning the first day of Summer Session I. Social Security taxes will not be withheld from the June or July paychecks of RAs who register for either 696 or 896.

3.2.3 Access to student services

Students who are not registered during the summer do not have access to financial aid during that period, nor do they have access to the Student Health Service unless they pay the student health fee for each of the two summer sessions.

4. Requirements for Residence Credit in Doctoral Programs

A student working toward a doctoral degree must be registered for graduate work at NC State for at least six (6) semesters beyond the Bachelor's degree. The University has minimum residence requirements, as defined below, but the academic schools/colleges have the option of establishing more restrictive requirements within the respective schools/colleges.

4.1 Hours of Graduate Work

Doctoral residence credit is determined by the number of semester hours of graduate work carried during a regular semester.

Semester Credits (Hours)	Residence Credits
9 or more	1
6-8	2/3
less than 6 (including registration in 590, 690 series)	1/3

At least two residence credits are necessary in continuous residence (registration in consecutive semesters) as a graduate student at NC State University, but failure to take courses in the summer does not break continuity.

4.2 Summer Residency

Summer course work can only be used in partial fulfillment of the residency registration requirement. A single summer session is equal to one-half of the corresponding amount for a regular semester (e.g., six semester hours carried during a summer session will earn one-third of a residence credit; less than six credit hours will earn one-sixth of a residence credit).

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