Enrollment Status and Course Load

Enrollment Status: Full-Time

Full-time enrollment status is different for undergraduate and graduate students, and also differs between Fall/Spring and Summer terms for graduate students, as shown below:

For information regarding how full-time status affects tuition and fees, please see the current Tuition and Fees information on the website for the Business Services Office.

Enrollment Status: Less than Full-Time

Students enrolled in less units than those listed above are not considered enrolled full-time. For information regarding how enrolling in units less than required for full-time status effects tuition and fees, please see the current Tuition and Fees information on the website for the Business Services Office.

Please note that, for the purposes of Financial Aid (including loan deferments) and enrollment reporting, enrollment status is defined differently than it is for the purposes of tuition and fees. The definition of a full-time student is the same in both cases; however, less than full-time status is broken down into more categories. These definitions are different for undergraduate and graduate students, and also differ between Fall/Spring and Summer terms for graduate students, as shown below:

For further information regarding how enrollment status affects Financial Aid, please see the current information found on the Financial Aid Office’s website at www.dominican.edu.

Course Load: Undergraduate Programs

Please note that the time it takes to earn a degree is directly impacted by the rate at which a student earns academic credit (i.e., how many units a student enrolls in per term). In order for a full-time undergraduate student to earn a degree in four years, the student must take more than the minimum 12 units per Fall and Spring semester; an average course load of 15.5 units per Fall and Spring semester (or additional Summer course work) would be required to complete the undergraduate degree in four years. Further details regarding ensuring a four-year path to degree completion can be found in the Four-Year Guarantee section of this catalog.

It is strongly recommended that students who have not yet met the Expository Writing requirement limit their course loads to 12-15 units per semester until this requirement has been completed.

A student may enroll in 18 units with the advisor’s approval if they have carried 15 or more units during the previous semester and received at least a 3.00 GPA during that semester. A student wishing to enroll in 19 units or more must also have the approval of the Academic Petition Committee. For information regarding the additional tuition for enrolling in more than 17 units in a semester, please see the current Tuition and Fees information on the Business Services Office website.

Special Policy for Majors with a Significant Skills-based Component (e.g., Dance)

Students are permitted to take up to 19 units per semester without incurring additional tuition or seeking additional approval if they meet all of the following conditions:

• They are enrolled in a major which includes at least 14 skill-based units, which have little or no outside of course academic expectations. Such majors are determined by the Dean of the school and approved by the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
• They are enrolled in a second major or a minor requiring an additional 15 or more units which cannot overlap with the first major requirements.
• They have completed 15 or more units during the previous semester with a minimum term GPA of 3.00.
• They have the approval of their academic advisor.
• They have signed and completed the “Overload Statement” contract.
• They are enrolled in a course that meets a second major or minor requirement each term for which they are enrolled in more than 17 units.

Special Policy for Students in the Honors Program

Students in the Honors Program may register for a total of 6 units of overload without an additional fee while they are enrolled at Dominican; this means that they may register for over 17 semester units in one semester, up to a maximum of 20 units. It is strongly recommended that first year students not enroll in overload units.

To be eligible for these units, Honors students must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5. Juniors and Seniors in the Honors Program may take graduate-level courses, with instructor permission.

Course Load: Graduate Programs

The semester course load of a student working toward a graduate degree is determined in consultation with the Chair/Director of the student’s program.

Concurrent Enrollment at Another Institution

Concurrent registration at Dominican and another institution must be approved prior to enrollment at the other institution. Students must submit the course description for the prospective course and an Authorization to Take Courses Off-Campus form to the Registrar’s Office, signed by the student’s advisor. Courses taken without prior approval from the Registrar’s Office may not be counted toward the degree; for further information, please see the Transfer Credit Policies section of this catalog.

Please note that the enrolled units at the other institution do not count toward a student’s enrollment status at Dominican.

Cross-Registration: UC Berkeley and the Graduate Theological Union (GTU)

The enrolled units at UC Berkeley are transfer units, and do not count toward a student’s enrollment status at Dominican, while enrolled units at the GTU do count toward a student’s enrollment status at Dominican.

For further information regarding guidelines for cross-registering at UC Berkeley (Undergraduate students only) or the GTU (Undergraduate and Graduate students), please see the Cross-Registration Opportunities section of this catalog.

AFROTC Courses at UC Berkeley

The enrolled units in AFROTC courses at UC Berkeley do not count toward a student’s enrollment status at Dominican.

For further information regarding the AFROTC program at UC Berkeley, please see the Cross-Registration Opportunities section of this catalog.