Registration

Credit Hour Requirements

Each program has a varying Credit Hour requirement. Please refer to your program's supplemental handbook for more details regarding your program’s requirements.

Registration

All new SOE students will receive an email from their departments with instructions about registration. The email will include the courses for which to register and information about tuition payment deadlines.

Continuing students in good standing are expected to register for the following semester during advising week one semester in advance.

Students are required to first meet with their advisor to review the next semester's schedule and courses and may then register using one of two options:

  • Students may register online via the “Student Self Service” box on myUSF. Online registration instructions can be found at https://myusf.usfca.edu/registration/online-registration-instructions/
  • Students may also complete a Registration Add/Drop form (available online), obtain their advisor’s signature, and present that form in person to the One Stop Office (Lone Mountain, Room 251) during the posted registration times.

The University Student Accounts Office will bill registered students. Payment is due no earlier than four weeks before the start of the new semester. Failure to make payment by the specified due date will result in cancellation of the student's schedule of classes. Students who have their registrations canceled must late register and cannot attend class until they are re-registered. Students who do not take advantage of the new student registration or who miss the continuing student registration period may register late. Late registration takes place during the first week of the semester. A late registration fee is assessed. A faculty advisor must sign registration forms.

Census Date

The census date of the University represents a calendar date in each term when the general enrollment statistics of the University are established.

The USF census date indicates the last day to drop a course or withdraw from the university with a tuition refund, if applicable. No refunds are issued after the census date.

The fall and spring census dates are specified in the USF academic calendar which may be found on the web at: www.usfca.edu/academic-calendar

Classes dropped after the census date remain on the academic records and appear with a "W" (withdrawal) symbol on the transcripts.

Student Status: Full-Time vs Part-Time status

MA Students

The minimum full-time load is 6 credits per semester; 3 credits per semester is the requirement to be classified as a half-time student. Credential-only students are considered fifth-year undergraduates (for financial aid requirement regulations) and must be registered for a minimum of twelve credits to be classified as full-time students.  A masters student may register for a maximum of 16 credits in Fall, Spring or Summer semesters. 

EdD Students

A doctoral student is classified as full-time if registered for 6 credits. In the early and intermediate phase of the program, students should enroll for 6 to 9 credits a semester. The credit load for Intersession is 3 credits. Concurrent registration for Summer Session is limited to 9 credits. Students wishing to register concurrently for more than 9 credits in the summer must obtain the approval of one of the Associate Deans. A doctoral student may register for a maximum of 12 credits in Fall and Spring semesters.

A doctoral student may not register for fewer than 3 credits during the Spring or Fall semesters. Doctoral students who fail to register for at least 3 credits each Fall and Spring Semester, and are not on an approved Leave of Absence, will be administratively withdrawn. The only exception to the 3-credit minimum enrollment is a 1 or 2-credit registration in 790 or 791, which meets the minimum enrollment requirements for continued matriculation.

Students must be registered during the semester in which all degree requirements are completed.

Transfer of Credit Policy

During the course of your program at USF, it may be possible to take courses at another accredited institution, providing that all of the following conditions are met:

  • The course is one that is vital to the program of study and is NOT similar to a course offered by the USF School of Education;
  • The course is at the graduate level; with a grade of “B” or better
  • The course(s) must have been taken within seven (7) years immediately preceding the date of the petition.

Note: A maximum of six (6) semester units may be transferred for Master’s/Credential students from an accredited institution.

Transfer of Master's credits to EdD program

No more than twelve (12) semester credits may be approved, with the exception of students who received their Master's Degree from USF, may transfer fifteen (15) semester units. The petition must contain specific reasons justifying the acceptance of each course as part of the doctoral program. Transfer of credit acceptance cannot be used to reduce the residency requirement. In addition, General Education core requirements may not be satisfied by the transfer of credit.

  1. Within the first year of coursework at USF, students may petition for transfer of credit.“Petition for Transfer of Credit” forms are available from the Dean’s Office. In order to be acceptable for transfer of credit, such courses must:
    • be post-master’s courses with clear relevance to course of study and not already credited to a conferred degree;
    • be taken at an accredited institution of higher learning within the last 7 years;
    • be credit earned in other than extension courses or continuing education courses;
    • have an earned grade of B (or its equivalent) or better;
    • not be supervised fieldwork, field practice, a practicum, or independent study.
  2. A grade of "credit" or "pass" will not be accepted without further verification in writing of the quality level of the work.
  3. Students must submit an official transcript and a photocopy of the catalog description(s) of the course(s) to be transferred.
  4. The request for transfer of credit must be filed with the Deans' Office on the appropriate form signed by the student’s advisor.

Students will be notified regarding the transfer of credit petition when it has been reviewed by the Associate Dean. If accepted, the credits transferred into the program will be posted on the transcript.

Petition to Enroll in Another Institution

During the course of the student's program at USF, it may be possible to take courses at another accredited institution, providing that all of the following conditions are met:

  • The course is one that is vital to the program of study and is NOT similar to a course offered by the USF School of Education;
  • The course is at the graduate level;
  • Permission has been received in writing from the advisor and the Associate Dean before the course is taken. (“Petition to Enroll At Another Institution” forms are available in the Dean’s Office, or with your Program Assistant and must be filed with the Dean’s Office.);
  • Credits taken at another institution may not exceed the maximum of six (6) credits for Masters students and twelve (12) for Doctoral students of transfer credit allowed. A grade of “B” or better is required.

Enrollment at another institution does not maintain a student’s continued matriculation at USF. If the student will not be taking courses at USF while attending another institution, a petition for a Leave of Absence MUST be submitted, even if the PEAI has been approved. N.B: The credit limit for transfer, Petition to Enroll at Another Institution (PEAI), and waiver is 6 credits for Masters students and 12 credits for Doctoral students.

Directed Study Guidelines

MA Students may enroll for a maximum of 6 credits of directed study.

EdD students may enroll for a maximum of 9 credits of directed study.

Directed studies must be developed in conjunction with the advisor; the learning objectives must be clearly defined, the nature of your demonstration of outcomes described, and a specific schedule of meetings with your professor established so that you may obtain the guidance required.

Directed studies may only be arranged with full-time faculty and may not be used to substitute for courses regularly provided in the curriculum.

The petition form for directed study, which must be completed in addition to a registration form, can be found in the SOE forms link in the navigation bar.

School of Education Remote Course-Taking Policy

Course modality is determined by the Curriculum Committee, approved by the Provost's Office and indicated in the Banner Course Schedule online.  There are three course modalities used in the School of Education:

  • Remote courses are those courses that meet synchronously or asynchronously for 50% or more class sessions during the semester. 
  • Hybrid courses are those courses that meet in-person for 51% or more class sessions during the semester.  
  • In-person courses are courses that meet in-person for 100% of class sessions during the semester.

The university's accreditation allows for students to take no more than 49% of their coursework remotely.  The School of Education has approved that students can take up to 49% of the coursework toward their degree remotely (synchronously or asynchronously).  The remaining 51% of their degree coursework must be taken in hybrid or in-person modality.  For example:

  • For MA students who require 30 credits to graduate, 16 credits must be taken in the hybrid or in-person course modality.
  • For EdD students who require 60 credits to graduate, 31 credits must be taken in the hybrid or in-person course modality.

If a student exceeds 49% of their coursework remotely, the student will not be eligible to graduate with a USF degree.  The student will need to take additional hybrid and/or in-person courses until the percentage of their total degree coursework taken as remote drops to the 49% level (or lower).  Students are responsible for tracking the modalities of their own course-taking and are responsible for ensuring that no more than 49% of the courses toward their degree are taken remotely.

Please note that none of the courses that were offered remotely while USF had emergency authorization to offer remote courses due to the COVID pandemic (this includes all courses offered remotely from Spring 2020-Fall 2022) count toward the 49% remote courses allowed.  Those courses that were authorized during the emergency are counted as in-person even though they were offered/taken remotely.

Advisors have access to a Tableau dashboard report to review the modalities of student course-taking during advising weeks.  All faculty are advised to add the remote course policy to their syllabus.