The University of Massachusetts Amherst

Academic Load / Enrollment Status Override

The Academic Load Override page in SPIRE is used to enter a graduate student's status as full- or half-time while they are working on research for a required thesis or dissertation. This page replaces the need to write and send status memos to the Graduate School.

Entering Academic Load Overrides
  • Navigator > Academic Records > Grad Records > Grad Academic Load Override
Check the Enrollment Status of All Students Using SPIRE Query
  • Navigation: Queries & Reporting Tile > Query Viewer
  • Query Name: UM_GRAD_DPT_ACADEMIC_INFO
  • Query Prompt: Enter the four digit numeric term code (e.g. 1213 for Spring 2021)
  • The last two columns in the query output contain enrollment status information.

Enrollment Status Policy

  • The Graduate School defines full-time graduate student status as enrollment for nine (9) or more credits; part-time graduate student status is defined as eight (8) or fewer credits; and for financial aid and loan deferment purposes, half-time is defined as six (6) credits in a semester.
  • Degree candidates working full-time on research for a required thesis or dissertation may be considered full-time graduate students regardless of the number of credits for which they register provided their Graduate Program Director or Department Head/Chair certifies that they are working full-time on research.
  • Master's and doctoral candidates legally employed for at least 40 hours a week at a University-approved co-operative education experience (Co-op) may be considered full time students regardless of the number of credits in which they are enrolled, provided the major department certifies the work experience is directly related and integral to the curriculum of the student's academic program.
  • Audited courses do not count toward enrollment status.
  • Working on incomplete courses from prior semesters cannot count toward enrollment status.
  • Immigration law requires that foreign students be enrolled at full-time status.
  • To satisfy the residency requirement for a doctoral degree, doctoral students must spend the equivalent of at least one continuous academic year of full-time graduate work (nine credits per semester) in residence at the university. A semester in which a department certifies a student as working full-time on research, without the student registering for credits, does not count towards the residency requirement.
University of Massachusetts Amherst