Graduate School

Enrollment

Enrollment categories

2.5.1 Procedure for Enrolling under Graduate Leave Status

Graduate students are considered actively pursuing a degree from the time of first enrollment in Graduate School until graduation, or until the limits described below have expired. Students who, for any reason, find they cannot enroll for credit are automatically considered on Graduate Leave Status beginning the first semester they do not enroll.

Students on Graduate Leave Status may discontinue enrollment for credit for a period of 12 months without penalty. After that time, students on Graduate Leave Status who wish to re-enroll must complete the Re-enrollment Form and will be assessed a fee of $25. The Re-enrollment Form must be completed and the $25 fee must be paid before students re-enroll for credit.

  1. Students on Graduate Leave Status will be considered by the Graduate School in "good standing" for up to four consecutive years. After that time, students must pay the appropriate application fee and reapply for admission to the Graduate School and their respective graduate program.
  2. Students on Graduate Leave Status whose time limits for completion of degree have expired must reapply for admission to the Graduate School.
  3. Students who have been on Graduate Leave Status for more than two consecutive semesters must receive departmental approval for re-enrollment. Such approval will be indicated by the signature of student's department chairs on the application for re-enrollment.
  4. Students are advised to keep in contact with their major departments during the period of Graduate Leave Status, otherwise they may be dropped by their departments for making no discernible progress toward completion of degree.
  5. Graduate Leave Status cannot be used toward meeting residence requirements. Although students on Graduate Leave Status may take foreign language reading examinations, they may not take graduate examinations (preliminary or final) during these terms. Use of library facilities and resources does apply, but only upon approval from the Graduate School and only on a year-by-year basis. Requests for library privileges must be made in writing to the Dean of the Graduate School through the student's department/program chair. The Dean may grant a leave of absence for a specified period. No enrollment is required during periods of leave.

2.5.2 Enrollment: Minimum and Maximum

While graduate students may be required by the major department/program to register for a greater number of credit hours, they must enroll at least for the following minimums.

  1. Students not on appointment as teaching, research, or staff assistants, and enrolling solely for the purpose of a) completing theses or special problems, b) taking the preliminary examinations, or c) and taking master's or doctoral final examinations, must register for a minimum of two semester hours of the applicable 700, 702, or 800 course at Washington State University during that semester or summer session.
  2. Graduate students on appointment as teaching, research, or staff assistants during the academic year must be enrolled full time for a minimum of 10 credit hours, or 3 credit hours during the summer.
  3. Fourteen to eighteen hours per semester is considered 
    "normal" enrollment for a full-time student. Students must take a minimum of 10 credits to maintain full-time enrollment status.
  4. Students on non-service appointments must enroll for a minimum of 10 hours per semester during the academic year.
  5. Students on non-service appointments for the summer must enroll for a minimum of four hours during the eight-week summer session.
  6. Students are encouraged to enroll for the maximum number of credits (18) to shorten the time required to complete their degree.
  7. International students holding visas should consult with the Office of International Education for enrollment requirements. Minimum enrollment for international students is 10 credits per semester.
  8. International students may enroll for 2 credit hours only for one semester in any academic year during the course of their graduate studies in residence. At the time this option is used, these students should be certain they will complete all degree requirements during that semester of graduation. If international students do not complete the requirements, they must enroll as full-time students in any, or all, subsequent semesters in residence. The Office of Immigration and Naturalization Service set this policy. Requests for reduced enrollment must be approved prior to registration.

2.6 Academic Load

  1. An academic load of fourteen to eighteen credit hours per semester (six in the six-week summer session and eight-to-ten in the eight-week summer session) is considered a full load for a graduate student. Teaching and research assistants are expected to carry the appropriate credits per semester or summer session.
  2. Loads in excess of eighteen hours in a regular semester, eight or ten hours in six- and eight-week summer sessions, respectively, are considered overloads and must have the approval of the major professor and the concurrence of the Dean of the Graduate School. Students on appointment as teaching, research, or staff assistants or associates also must have approval of their supervisors in order to take an overload. Credit hours of enrollment in "Audit" status are not included in calculating the student's academic load.

2.7 Appointments

  1. As aids to graduate education, Washington State University has teaching, research, and staff assistantships available for qualified graduate students from recognized colleges and universities. Teaching assistantships are available to qualified graduate students in most academic departments. The usual service required is half-time for the academic year.
  2. Appointments may, in some instances, be made for less than half-time at correspondingly reduced stipends. Research assistantships are available in many departments and special programs. Staff assistantships are available for service to some academic departments and administrative offices, the Student Counseling Center, Student Activities Center, Residence Living, and Information Technology.
  3. For further information, write directly to the director of each area. Fellowships or Traineeships are available in some departments and programs through grants from government agencies and other private sources. These appointments are initiated by the departments and programs and inquiries should be directed to the relevant academic unit. Applications for the subsequent academic year should be submitted no later than March 1, as most appointments will be made shortly thereafter.

2.7.1 Initial Appointments

  1. Recommendations from departments/programs for the appointment of students to assistantships should be submitted to the Graduate School. These will be forwarded for approval to the Provost provided the student has been admitted to the Graduate School. Provisional students with grade point averages above 2.75 may receive an initial appointment if recommended and justified by the department/program.
  2. Departments/programs that plan to offer teaching
    assistantships to international students whose native language is not English must inform the students that they will be examined for English language proficiency to assist the departments in making teaching assignments.

2.7.2 English Proficiency

  1. International graduate students whose native language is not English and who have not previously held a teaching assistantship at Washington State University are required to take an English proficiency examination before being granted a teaching assistantship.

2.7.3 Salaries

  1. Salaries for graduate assistants are negotiable. A schedule of salaries for graduate assistants is available from the Graduate School. Graduate assistants who qualify also receive a health insurance fringe benefit. Changes in salary may be made only at the beginning of the fall or spring semesters, or at the beginning of the summer session.

2.7.4 Tuition and Fee Waivers

  1. Qualified students on half-time (.50) appointments for an entire semester or academic year may receive a waiver of the tuition. In addition to the tuition waiver, non-resident students may receive a waiver of the non-resident portion of tuition. Students must be residing in the State of Washington to qualify for the waivers.
  2. To qualify for the resident tuition waiver, appointments must be for the full semester or for the full academic year. Graduate students on an appointment that terminates during the semester may lose all waivers and the non-resident fee exemption. Students on assistantships during the summer session may also qualify for the operating fee waiver.
  3. All graduate students who have been awarded a teaching, research, or staff assistantship of one-half time or more or who are working for an academic department or program for at least 20 hours per week for the entire semester may qualify for waivers of the non-resident fees and the resident operating fee. Graduate students on appointment will be required to pay general tuition and service and activities fees. To qualify for the fee exemptions, students must reside in the State of Washington. (See Appendix).

2.7.5 Acceptance of Financial Support

  1. Washington State University subscribes to the following Resolution of the Council of Graduate Schools in the United States regarding scholars, fellows, trainees, and graduate assistants.
  2. Acceptance of an offer of financial support (such as a graduate scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, or assistantship) for the next academic year by a prospective or enrolled graduate student completes an agreement that both student and graduate school expect to honor. In that context, the conditions affecting such offers and their acceptance must be defined carefully and understood by all parties.
  3. Students are under no obligation to respond to offers of  financial support prior to April 15; earlier deadlines for acceptance of such offers violate the intent of this Resolution.
  4. In those instances in which a student accepts an offer before April 15, and subsequently desires to withdraw that acceptance, the student may submit in writing a resignation of the appointment at any time through April 15. However, an acceptance given or left in force after April 15 commits the student not to accept another offer without first obtaining a written release from the institution to which a commitment has been made. Similarly, an offer by an institution after April 15 is conditional on presentation by the student of the written release from any previously accepted offer.
  5. It is further agreed by the institutions and organization subscribing to the above Resolution that a copy of this Resolution should accompany every scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, and assistantship offer.

2.7.6 Reappointments

  1. Reappointments normally will be approved if recommended by the department/program provided the student has maintained a 3.0 cumulative grade point average or higher in all work (including undergraduate course work) since initial admission to the Graduate School, and provided there are no outstanding incomplete grades of more than one semester or summer session's duration.

2.7.7 Time Limitations

Graduate School, P.O. Box 641030, Washington State University, Pullman WA 99164-1030, 509-335-1446, Contact Us