Reduced Course Load

A student with an F-1 visa is required by the United States Code of Federal Regulations to enroll in a full course of study each fall and spring semester: 12 credit hours for undergraduates and 9 credit hours for graduate students.

# Applicable only during the first semester in the degree program
* Student must maintain at least six credit hours

NOTE: 

• Enrollment Requirements for Master’s Thesis and Doctoral Students
  Students who are Master’s Thesis or Doctoral, and have finished all core and elective courses and only need research credits to complete their degree requirements may register for a minimum of three research credits each Fall/Spring semester and a minimum of two research credits each summer until they graduate. No special authorization is required in this situation. Students with an assistantship/fellowship must maintain the minimum registration requirements set forth by the assistantship/fellowship contract.
• Final Semester Minimum Registration Requirements
  In the final semester, students are automatically allowed to register less than full time as indicated in the table below. No special authorization is required in this situation. Students with an assistantship/fellowship must maintain the minimum registration requirements set forth by the assistantship/fellowship contract. If a student needs less than a full course load to satisfy graduation requirements, then the number of credits taken cannot be online only, online credits cannot outweigh physical presence credits, and online credits cannot exceed three.

  Final Semester Minimum Requirements	Undergraduate Students	Graduate Students	Graduate Business Students
  Fall	1 credit	3 credits	2 credits
  Spring	1 credit	3 credits	2 credits
  Summer	1 credit	2 credits	2 credits

Medical Reduced Course Load

A student's temporary illness or medical condition can be reason for a reduced course load (or, if necessary, no course load). Authorization for a reduced course load due to medical reasons is limited to a total of 12 months (cumulative 365 days) per degree level. A student must provide a letter on letterhead signed by an appropriate medical official in order to request an RCL for medical reasons.

Submitting RCL Request

This is a two-step process: 

• SEVIS Authorization: An F-1 student must receive their I-20 with authorization for RCL from an International Student Advisor (ISA) before the student can reduce his or her course load to less than full-time. If a student drops below a full course of study without the prior approval of his or her ISA, the student will be considered out of status. A student may only be approved for an RCL once per degree level for academic reasons.
  To request authorization for Reduced Course Load, click the following button, please make only one request for the apropiate semester.

Request Authorization for Reduced Courseload

To return to your request, please use the ISSS login button from the top of the side menu.

• Student Initiated Drop/Add (SIDA) in One.UF: As part of the request for a Reduced Course Load, whether academic or medical RCL, the student must also submit their drop request via the Student Initiated Drop/Add (SIDA) in One.UF (instructions for SIDA are available here). If you are submitting your request past the Drop/Add deadline, submit both the RCL request and the drop request in SIDA at the same time.

Request to drop a class that will not result in a Reduced Course Load

After the drop/add period has ended an International Hold is placed on the international student’s registration record, to prevent course drops that may result in a visa status violation.  If a student needs to drop a course that will result in less than full time enrollment, the student must first request the RCL authorization as explained above.

However, if the student is enrolled above the full-course requirement and requests to drop a course that will not result in less than full-time enrollment, the student may proceed without needing RCL authorization. In this case, the student only needs to submit the SIDA request in OneUF. Upon confirming that full-time enrollment will not be impacted, a UFIC advisor will approve the SIDA request allowing to move forward in the process for academic department approval.

For academic units that use the Student Initiated Drop/ Add system, this process will take place as part of the normal work flow. UFIC will receive notification of the student’s drop request, review the request, advise the student if RCL is needed, or approve the SIDA request if it is determined that RCL is not needed. The academic department will then be able to complete the drop for the international student.