Min number of credits per semester

[virtua]

Hello forum,

I always thought that minimum number of credit hours required per semester to maintain F-1 visa is 9. Is that correct? Or does it vary by university?

[TakeruK]

The minimum is whatever your school defines as "full time status". At some places, this is 9 credit-hours but at others, it is more or less. Graduate students may have a different definition than undergraduates. (At my school, full time status is 36 units, which is equivalent to 12 credit-hours at most places).

[fuzzylogician]

^Yep. And at some point in your degree if you are no longer doing coursework, you register for whatever is the necessary number of credits/units of "thesis research" or similar, so you still count as a full time student. At my institution, that was 36 credits.

[virtua]

Is that possible that it is 3 credits or less at some university in the US?

[TakeruK]

3 hours ago, virtua said:

Is that possible that it is 3 credits or less at some university in the US?

Very unlikely.