The Graduate College Handbook for Students, Faculty and Staff
Chapter IV: General Graduate Degree Requirements
B. Credit, Registration, and Residence Credit
International students on F1 and J1 visas should contact International Student and Scholar Services for specific questions regarding enrollment as it pertains to visa status.
In order to receive a graduate degree a student must be registered in the program for at least twelve hours for at least one term, which could be spring, summer or fall. To be counted toward the graduate degree, hours must be at the 400-level or greater.
For doctoral students, registration is required for the entire term in which a student takes the final defense, regardless of when the thesis will be deposited or when the degree will be conferred. See the Thesis Handbook for more information about exact enrollment dates for each term, and see chapter VI for registration requirements for doctoral students. For the purpose of defense, students in the Medical Scholars Program are considered registered if they are enrolled in the College of Medicine. The Graduate College does not require students to be registered at the time of deposit.
University of Illinois rules prescribe that a certain amount of credit hours for each degree received from this campus be taken as residence credit. Credit hours earned on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus are considered residence credit. In addition, the following are accepted as residence credit:
- graduate credit transferred from the University of Illinois at Chicago or from the University of Illinois at Springfield,
- graduate credit earned through the CIC Traveling Scholar Program,
- credit earned in the College of Medicine that is approved for application to the student’s graduate program for students in the Medical Scholars Program, and
- graduate credit earned through an Urbana-Champaign off-campus course or program.
Residence requirements are outlined in Rule 3-801 of the Student Code.
