Full-Time Enrollment

• ISSS is required to report in SEVIS whether a student in F-1 or J-1 status is enrolled full-time at CU Boulder, received an authorized reduced course load, dropped below a full course of study without prior authorization by a Designated School Official (ISSS Advisor), or failed to enroll. •
• Failure to meet the full-time enrollment requirement or receive an authorized reduced course load can result in your SEVIS record being terminated.
• International students are allowed to attend the University of Colorado Boulder regardless of their immigration status. International students in F-1 and J-1 status are not required to maintain that status if they wish to enroll in online course work from outside of the United States.  If enrolling at CU Boulder online from outside of the U.S. without the intent to maintain F-1 or J-1 status, then the F-1 and J-1 enrollment requirements do not apply.

• Undergraduate students: At least 12 credit hours
• Graduate students: At least 5 graduate credit hours, a combination of 8 credit hours of graduate and undergraduate-level courses, or 12 credit hours of undergraduate-level courses.
  • This may change depending on your graduate student registration status and level of course enrollment. Graduate School rules for full-time status apply.
  • Ask your academic department for assistance in determining your graduate student registration status and how to define full-time enrollment based on that status.

Classes must be taken for a grade, pass/fail or satisfactory/unsatisfactory in order to count toward the full-time requirement. Classes taken for no-credit will not count toward the full-time enrollment requirement.

On-campus presence refers to the regulatory requirement for international students in the United States in F-1 or J-1 status to enroll in course work that “requires the student's physical attendance for classes, examination or other purposes integral to completion of the class.” Students must register for a certain number of credit hours that are taught using an instruction mode that requires in-person attendance if they wish to remain in the U.S. in valid F-1 or J-1 status.

Hybrid courses can count as in-person if the course includes an in-person learning component. Students who register for a hybrid course and who wish to count the hybrid course credits toward the in-person credit requirement should be prepared to document their attendance.

• No, students must register for course work that requires their physical attendance on the Boulder campus (in-person instruction) in their final semester in order to maintain their F-1 or J-1 status. While students can count up to 3 credits of online/remote/distance education courses towards the credits needed to complete their academic program requirements in their final semester, they must still meet the on-campus presence requirement. If a student needs only 3 credits to complete their program, then at least 1 credit must be in-person.
• Students who wish to complete their degree from outside of the U.S. with only online course work must complete the ISSS Leave of Absence or Withdrawal Form (available in MyISSS portal) to report that they are leaving the U.S. and will continue to study from abroad. ISSS will process the request in 2-5 business days and your F-1 or J-1 SEVIS record will be terminated for the positive reason of “authorized early withdrawal.” Students will have a 15-day grace period to leave the U.S. beginning when ISSS terminates their  SEVIS record (and your F-2 dependents' records, if applicable). Please confirm the F-1 SEVIS termination date with ISSS and review the ISSS Leave of Absence website for further information.
  • Please work with your Academic Advisor or Graduate Program Advisor to discuss if your degree can be completed online.

Yes. Due to current restrictions imposed by U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, web course delivery cannot be provided to the following countries:

• Cuba, Iran, Sudan, North Korea, Syria, Crimea Region of the Ukraine

Students who are a resident or may be a resident in any of these countries during their CU study, may require prior U.S. government approval. Students residing in a sanctioned country should not enroll or begin an academic program at CU. CU can seek prior U.S. government approval on a case by case basis. If you are interested in seeking prior approval, contact the Office of Export Controls at exportcontrolhelp@colorado.edu.

Yes. To do so, students must complete the ISSS Leave of Absence or Withdrawal Form (available in MyISSS portal) to report that they are leaving the U.S. and will continue to study from abroad. ISSS will process the request in 2-5 business days and your F-1 or J-1 SEVIS record will be terminated for the positive reason of “authorized early withdrawal”. Students will have a 15-day grace period to leave the U.S. beginning when ISSS terminates their  SEVIS record (and your F-2 dependents' records, if applicable). Please confirm the F-1 SEVIS termination date with ISSS and review the ISSS Leave of Absence website for further information.

• Please work with your Academic Advisor or Graduate Program Advisor to discuss if your degree can be completed online.

ISSS understands that the Chinese government recently announced that they will not recognize degrees obtained online from foreign universities. It is unclear if that policy applies to CU Boulder degree programs which are not completely online by definition but in which a student may take some courses online including the final course(s) needed for graduation. Therefore, ISSS suggests that if at all possible, international students from China finish their CU Boulder degrees in person on campus. If this impacts you directly, please reach out to ISSS for specific instructions on what you need to do to return to the U.S. on a F-1 student visa. You should not return to the U.S. on any other type of U.S. visa to complete your studies.

If students have a qualifying Academic or Medical reason, they may be eligible for an authorized reduced course load. Please consult ISSS if you have questions regarding eligibility requirements. Please do not drop below a full course of study without ISSS authorization.

Please note, students with an authorized Academic RCL must still satisfy the on-campus presence requirement.

Yes, the F-1 regulations allow schools to authorize a reduced course in a student’s final term if a student needs less than a full-time course load to complete their academic program requirements.  Please note, students must still satisfy the on-campus presence requirement, even in their final semester.

All students enrolling in their final semester must submit the Confirmation of Final Semester e-Form (available in MyISSS portal). If when completing the Confirmation of Final Semester e-Form the student and their academic advisor confirm that less than a full-time course load is needed to complete the academic program requirements,  then ISSS will automatically approve the student for an Academic Reduced Course Load. An Academic Reduced Course Load Request e-Form is not needed in this situation. Please note, if a student has been authorized by ISSS for a reduced course load in their final semester but does not finish as expected, a second consecutive reduced course load is permitted.  However, a student is not eligible for a third final-term reduced course load.

No. Students who have satisfied all requirements for the completion of their program cannot continue to be enrolled for administrative purposes. For example, after having satisfied all the requirements for their degree, international students in F-1 or J-1 status cannot continue to enroll to improve their overall GPA, prepare for graduate school, or to delay graduation for administrative reasons.

The F-1 and J-1 full-time enrollment requirements only apply if you wish to maintain your F-1 or J-1 status. If you choose to exit the U.S. and pursue a course of study online, then you must complete the ISSS Leave of Absence or Withdrawal Form (available in MyISSS portal) to report that they are leaving the U.S. and will continue to study from abroad. ISSS will process the request in 2-5 business days and your F-1 or J-1 SEVIS record will be terminated for the positive reason of “authorized early withdrawal.” Students will have a 15-day grace period to leave the U.S. beginning when ISSS terminates their SEVIS record (and your F-2 dependents' records, if applicable). Please confirm the F-1 SEVIS termination date with ISSS and review the ISSS Leave of Absence website for further information

• Enrollment in the summer is required if it is your first term at the University of Colorado Boulder in F-1 or J-1 status
• Enrollment in the summer is required if you will be completing your course of study and graduating in the summer and you wish to maintain your F-1 or J-1 status
• For Ph.D. or Master’s (thesis) students, enrollment is required in the term you defend your Ph.D. dissertation or your Master’s thesis. If you plan to defend your dissertation or Master’s thesis after the summer term has started, you will need to be fully enrolled during the summer term

Undergraduate Student: Minimum of 6 credit hours of undergraduate course work (must include 3 on-campus presence credits to maintain F-1 status)

Graduate Student: Usually a minimum of 3 graduate level credit hours but it will depend on your graduate status (must include required on-campus presence to maintain F-1 status). Graduate School rules for full-time status apply.

• Undergraduate Student: Minimum of 6 credit hours of undergraduate course work

• Graduate Student: Usually a minimum of 3 graduate level credit hours but it will depend on your graduate status. Graduate School rules for full-time status apply. Ph.D. students defending their dissertation during the summer term will need to enroll in 5 dissertation hours in the summer
• Student with Less than a Full-Time Course Load Remaining: Enroll in the credits required to complete your degree and submit a Confirmation of Final Semester Form (available in MyISSS portal under “Immigration & Academic-Related Forms”) 

• On-campus presence in the summer is required to maintain status if you are completing your course of study in the summer. You must enroll in at least one in-person course if your final semester/term is during the summer. Courses and labs with a required in-person credit-bearing element count as in-person courses
• Students who wish to complete their degree from outside of the U.S. with only online course work must complete the ISSS Leave of Absence or Withdrawal Form (available in MyISSS portal) to report that they are leaving the U.S. and will continue to study from abroad. ISSS will process the request in 2-5 business days and your F-1 or J-1 SEVIS record will be terminated for the positive reason of “authorized early withdrawal.” Students will have a 15-day grace period to leave the U.S. beginning when ISSS terminates their  SEVIS record (and your F-2 dependents' records, if applicable). Please confirm the F-1 SEVIS termination date with ISSS and review the ISSS Leave of Absence website for further information.
  • Please work with your Academic Advisor or Graduate Program Advisor to discuss if your degree can be completed online.

The Registrar’s Office has step-by-step instructions on the Drop a Class webpage. Please note that depending on when an international student would like to drop a class, they may need ISSS permission if the Drop Advising Hold has already been placed onto their student account.

Due to the full-time enrollment requirements for students in F-1 and J-1 status, a Drop Advising Required Hold is placed on the record of all international students in F-1 or J-1 status. The hold prevents students from dropping below a full course of study without prior permission from ISSS. The hold does not prevent students from adding classes or registering for the next term.

• If students would like to drop a course after the hold is on their account, they can email ISSS and specify which course they would like to drop. ISSS will then check that dropping the course would not put them below a full-time course load. If dropping the course would not put the student below full-time enrollment, ISSS will lift the hold for 24 hours so that they can drop the class. ISSS will then put the hold back onto the student’s account.

Students must attend class regularly to guarantee their place in a class before the drop without penalty deadline of the semester or session. If they fail to attend, they may be administratively dropped at the discretion of the department offering the course. If an international student is administratively dropped from a course(s) and the drop causes the student to fall below full-time enrollment, the student may lose their F-1 status. Students are always encouraged to attend courses as it is one of the best academic success strategies.

Yes. International students may take CE classes. However, most CE classes are offered in an online format.  When considering taking CE courses, please keep in mind that only 3 credit hours of online coursework will count toward the full-time enrollment requirement for students wishing to maintain their F-1 status.

Please note the cost for Continuing Education courses, which is separate from/in addition to the on-campus tuition rates. If you have questions about the tuition and fees of Continuing Education courses, please reach out to cebursar@colorado.edu. If you are a sponsored student, please check if your scholarship allows you to take Continuing Education courses.

CE Online Flexible courses offered through Continuing Education (CE) may count toward a full course of study only if completed within the Continuing Education 6-month deadline (or within 8 months, if granted a * two-month extension by Continuing Education). International students in F-1 and J-1  status will need to seek ISSS approval prior to registering for a CE Online Flexible Course by submitting the CE Online Flexible Course Request e-form (available in MyISSS portal).

1. In order to count toward full-time enrollment in a given semester, the grade for the CE Online Flexible course must post in the semester in which a student first registers for that course.
2. If a CE Online Flexible course is dropped, the credits will not count toward that semester’s enrollment. Dropping a CE Online Flexible course could potentially result in retroactive under-enrollment which will result in the loss of F-1 or J-1 status.
3. *Extensions are not guaranteed. Check with Continuing Education for eligibility requirements.

Please give careful consideration to the structure of a CE Online Flexible course prior to registering for one. If a student is using a CE Online Flexible course to meet the full-time enrollment requirement, it is imperative that the student complete the course in a timely manner. Failure to do so could result in loss of F-1 or J-1 status.

ISSS will be able to keep your F-1 SEVIS record active during your Education Abroad period as long as you continue to maintain F-1 status through full-time enrollment while participating in the CU Boulder Education Abroad program. All international students who are in F-1 status who are participating in a CU Boulder Education Abroad program will be asked to complete the Education Abroad Full-Time Enrollment Attestation Form (available in the MyISSS portal). Note that studying abroad on your own (not through a CU Boulder program) will not enable you to maintain your F-1 status.

Getting an incomplete grade of "I” counts toward the full-time minimum requirement for enrollment purposes. Students are responsible for working with their professor to ensure they complete the coursework within the established deadline to receive a letter grade for the incomplete.