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Course Load Requirements

To complete a bachelor’s degree program within eight semesters, the average course load for students is 15 to 17 credit hours per semester. Students must enroll in at least 12 hours for full time enrollment. Students must enroll in 12 to 19 hours (20 for the BBA program) in any regular semester with the following exceptions:

  • Graduating Students: Seniors in ECAS and the BBA program, in their final semester of study, may enroll in fewer than 12 hours or more than 19 hours (but no more than 22 hours) if those hours complete their degree requirements. This requires permission from the academic affairs office in each respective undergraduate school. In Oxford College, students in their fourth and final semester of study may overload if those hours complete their AA requirements. Oxford students who are enrolled beyond their fourth semester of study may enroll in fewer than 12 hours as needed to complete their AA requirements.
     
  • Underloads: Students must enroll in a minimum of twelve credit hours in a regular semester, except for students who have received credit load accommodations from the Department of Accessibility Services (DAS). The academic affairs office in each school may allow a student to drop below 12 hours as a part of a response to exceptional circumstances.

  • Overloads: Students may petition the academic affairs office of their undergraduate program (OUE in ECAS, ASC in Oxford, Nursing Program Director, and BBA Advising in the BBA program) to overload up to 22 credit hours. These petitions will be considered if the student’s cumulative GPA is above 3.5, and/or if there are extraordinary reasons for this exception. Students should not expect to be approved for exceptions on a regular basis. Students with outstanding incomplete grades at the start of a semester may not overload.

  • For Emory College of Arts and Sciences: Applied music and PE courses do not count toward the nineteen-hour limit, but are included in the 22-hour maximum for all courses.

All credit for academic work must be awarded in the semester in which the work is undertaken, including summer sessions, directed readings, and internships.

Summer Session Course Load Requirements

Students enrolled in summer courses in ECAS are subject to the following limits. Students may enroll in only one three-week Maymester course. Those students who enroll in a Maymester course are not permitted to enroll in courses in Summer Session I (with the exception of PE courses), but may enroll in Summer Session II. All students are limited to eight credits in Summer Session I, and eight credits in Summer Session II. Students may petition the Office for Undergraduate Education to overload up to 10 credit hours in each session. These petitions will be considered if the student’s cumulative GPA is above a 3.5, and/or if there are extraordinary reasons for this exception. PE courses do not count towards the eight-hour limit in the summer sessions, but are included in the 10-hour maximum for all courses.