Skip to Content

Search: {{$root.lsaSearchQuery.q}}, Page {{$root.page}}

Credit Load

On this page:

Full-time vs part-time status 

LSA does not require students to be enrolled full-time, but it may be required for financial aid, auto insurance, or health insurance. 

Students are considered full-time when they have:

  • 12 to 18 credits (in a full term) 
  • 6 to 9 credits (in a half term)

Students are considered part-time when they have:

  • 11 or fewer credits (in a full term)
  • 5 or fewer credits (in a half term)

Students who wish to take more than 18 credits in a full term (or 9 in a half term) can see Credit Overloads for more information. 

Tuition rates vary depending on full-time or part-time enrollment.

Recommended credit load

We recommend aiming for about 15 credits per term (or 30 per year) to stay on track for graduation. 

  • Most programs require 120 credits to graduate. If you divide 120 by 4 years, that's 30 per year or about 15 per term. 
  • The cost of tuition is exactly the same for 12 and 18 credits, so students can get more credits for the same price.
  • U-M researchers looked at many different groups of students and found that every group benefited from taking about 15 credits (versus fewer) in their first 2 terms.

Who to contact

  • General advisor or major/minor advisor

Related policies