What is considered full time in graduate school?

It depends on the university but most would consider 9 credit hours (3 courses) to be the minimum to qualify for full-time for a graduate student.

Usually:

1 - 2 (3 credit) courses = part time

3 - 4 (3 credit) courses = full time

But- your friend really needs to ask her advisor at SIU or check the graduate catalog there. Some programs are arranged differently.

Graduate School Full Time

It varies by field & program depending on the intensity of the coursework and what non-class responsibilities students have (teaching, research, exams, etc.). 9 credits/3 classes is typical, but it varies.

Go to the SIU website and find the department she's actually applying to. It probably has a page for requirements for the M.A. If it doesn't specifically say how many credits are full time, it should at least say how many credits/courses are needed to get the degree, which you can use to figure out how many she should take per semester to be considered a full-time student.

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Because graduate classes are harder and require more independent study than undergrad classes. It's the same reason why 4 classes in undergrad is full-time, but high schoolers take 7 or 8 classes at a time.

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RE:

What is considered full time in graduate school?

A friend of mine is going into SIU's M.A. program and can't figure out what full time is. Somehow this become my job to discover. Google searches fail me. So, anyone know?

I never knew 9 credit hours was considered full time. by who? financial aid? I would assume it is because most of your work for your Masters degree is done outside of the classroom.

Candidate who does not attend "night-classes" or "attends college for limited hours, while alongside employed" etc. may be a Full-time student.