Federal regulations state F-1 and J-1 international students must be enrolled full time to maintain their status. While certain exceptions may apply, full time status is in most cases 12 credit hours, or 8 credit hours for graduate students with 25-50% assistantships. International students may only count one online or distance education course (up to a maximum of three credits) toward full-time registration in any given term. This rule was temporarily suspended during the global pandemic, but was reinstated at the start of AY 2023-24. An online, or distance learning, course for the purpose of international student regulations means a course that is primarily offered through technology and does not require the student's physical attendance for classes, examinations or other purposes integral to completion of the class.
While ISSS has been advising international students of this regulation, and following up where necessary to ensure our population remain in compliance with their visa status, limitations within our database’s ability to identify courses listed as online in Banner mean that it is possible that not all students who exceeded the online/distance education limit were identified as non-compliant in Fall 2023. An update to our software means that in Spring 2024, ISSS should receive alerts when any student counts more than one online/distance education course towards their full time. As with all under-enrolled students, ISSS will be contacting these students to make sure they are enrolled in the proper amount of in-person courses. We are also asking all academic units to be aware of this federally mandated limit, and to make sure all courses are listed appropriately as either in person or online. Students who cannot enroll in a sufficient amount of on-campus credits will likely have to leave the US or risk losing their visa status.