Enrollment Limits and Requirements
Full Time Enrollment
Full-time enrollment for graduate students, for purposes of tuition and fees, consists of a minimum of 9 credit hours during academic year semesters. However, the Commonwealth of Virginia does not count students as full time unless they are enrolled for at least 12 credits, and in most academic contexts, 12 credits is considered full time. The maximum number of credit hours is 18 during academic year semesters. Overloads (19 credit hours or more per semester) require permission from a graduate dean.
Graduate Student Employment/Assistantships
Graduate Assistants (GAs, GTAs, and GRAs) must enroll for at least 12 credit hours per semester to be eligible for their assistantship. Students on full assistantship are expected to work an average of 20 work hours per week for the assistantship and are considered to be 50% employed. Graduate students on assistantship can enroll for up to 18 credit hours of course work in academic year semesters and up to 6 credit hours during each summer session.
Virginia Tech Employees
Tuition Waivers or Reimbursement: Full-time salaried employees, who have been admitted to the Graduate School (see the section below on Eligibility of Faculty/Staff for Graduate Degrees), and with the approval of their department, may have waived or reimbursed twelve (12) credit hours per calendar year (Fall through Summer II), not to exceed six (6) credits in a Fall, Spring, Summer I, or Summer II term. Part-time salaried employees are eligible for up to 6 credit hours of tuition waiver per academic year. The maximum number of credit hours will include tuition waiver, tuition reimbursement, or a combination of both. For more information, refer to the Human Resources' website: http://www.hr.vt.edu/benefits/tuhttp://www.hr.vt.edu/benefits/hokie-perks/continuing-education.htmlFellowship and Scholarship Recipients
Fellowship and scholarship recipients are required to take at least 12 credit hours each semester in which they are receiving a stipend. These credit hours must represent work toward satisfying minimum degree requirements. Audited courses do not qualify in satisfying this minimum.
