Credit Overload Petition

Credit Overload Petition

A Credit Overload Petition is used to increase a student’s credit limit during any academic session for Fall/Spring for more than 19 credits. Chemistry students can register for up to 20 credits without a credit overload petition.

The Credit Overload Petition will become available for Fall 2026 on April 29 after enrollment appointments have concluded for all returning students. 

Important Notes:
You are advised to add the courses that are most important to your academic plan at the time of your enrollment appointment in case they are full by the time a decision regarding your petition is made. You will receive the Academic Dean’s response to your UMass email from the cnsstudentsuccess [at] umass [dot] edu (cnsstudentsuccess[at]umass[dot]edu) email address. Please check your junk box as well. 

Please email cnsstudentsuccess [at] umass [dot] edu (cnsstudentsuccess[at]umass[dot]edu) if you had any technical issues and are concerned about whether the form went through. Do not resend unless instructed to do so, multiple forms slow down the processing of your request.

Eligibility

To qualify for a credit overload, the student must:

  • Have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.3.
  • Not have any outstanding incomplete (INCs) grades
  • Have completed a full semester and have an established UMass GPA. If you have not yet completed a full semester at UMass Amherst (both first year and transfer), you must wait until your first semester grades are viewable in SPIRE (May 18).

Additional Considerations:

  • If approved for a credit overload, students are not allowed to register for the extra courses via SPIRE until enrollment appointments have concluded for all returning students (late April for fall semester and December for spring semester).
  • No overloads over 25 credits will be allowed.
  • The end of add/drop is the deadline to petition for a credit overload for each semester.
  • Credit overloads will not be approved for the current semester for work done previously (fall, winter, spring, summer).
  • Exceptions to the policy may be considered with an advisor’s written recommendation.