Registration and Tuition Classification

General Registration Requirements

The normal full-time credit load for graduate students is 9 credits per semester. 

Full-time graduate students may register for an overload of up to 6 credits (up to 15 credits total) per semester at no increase in tuition. Subject to written approval by their advisor and department head or program director, students may register for more than 15 credits per semester by paying additional tuition at the regular per credit rate for all credits over 15. The maximum number of credits for which a student can register during the summer is 12.

Students in any of the following categories must register as full-time students.

  • International on-campus students subject to immigration requirements. This applies to international students holding J-1 and F-1 visas.
  • Students receiving financial assistance in the form of graduate teaching assistantships, research assistantships, fellowships, or hourly contracts.
  • Students enrolled in academic programs that require full-time registration. Refer to the degree program sections of this catalog to see if this applies to a particular program.

Special cases to the full-time registration requirement for students listed above fall under Full Time Status-Required Course load and include first-year international students who must receive special instruction to improve their language skills, and thesis-based students who have completed their credit requirements, have completed all required paperwork, are eligible for reduced registration, and are working full time on their thesis (see section on reduced registration). To remain active in their degree program, all graduate students must register continuously each fall and spring semester. If not required to register full time, students may register as a part-time student for any number of credits (1 credit minimum). Students who need to take a semester off must submit paperwork for a Leave of Absence by the appropriate deadline as described below, or the degree program will be terminated.

Summer registration is not required to maintain active status in a graduate program. However, students must register if they are working on their degree requirements and utilizing Mines facilities during the summer. Students registered during the summer are assessed regular tuition and fees.

New graduate students are expected to register for and pay for credits in the term in which they are admitted, including summer admittance. 

Graduate students who register for credits in any term are responsible for payment for those credits. Payment information can be found here: https://www.mines.edu/bursar/tuition/. 

Graduate students who wish to be dropped from all credits in a term must either submit the Leave of Absence paperwork or the Withdrawal from Graduate School paperwork by Census Day of that term. Students who submit either form after Census Day may be withdrawn from credits, but will still owe tuition and fees.   

Students who wish to be dropped or withdraw from all credits, but do not submit either the Leave of Absence form or the Withdrawal form, will be responsible for paying tuition and fees.

Research Registration

In addition to completing the required coursework and defending a thesis, students in thesis-based degree programs must complete a research experience under the direct supervision of their faculty advisor(s). Masters students must complete a minimum* of 6 research credits, and doctoral students must complete a minimum* of 24 research credits at Mines. While completing their research, students register for research credit under courses numbered 707. Faculty advisors assign grades indicating satisfactory or unsatisfactory progress based on their evaluation of the student’s work.

For students registered for research during the summer semester and working on campus, regular tuition and fees are due for summer semester research credits. Students may not transfer research credits from other institutions, so students working on research abroad must either register for research credits at Mines or submit the Leave of Absence paperwork. Those who take a Leave of Absence may not use any Mines campus resources, including, but not limited to consultations with advisors, committee members and other Mines students during the term of leave.

*

Departmental requirements may require students to complete more than the institutional minimum number of research credits.

Eligibility for Reduced Registration

Students enrolled in thesis-based degree programs who have completed a minimum number of courses and research credits in their degree programs are eligible to continue to pursue their graduate program as full-time students at a reduced registration level. In order to be considered for this reduced, full-time registration category, students must satisfy the following requirements:

  1. For MS students,
    1. Completion of 30 credits of eligible course, research, and transfer credits combined (36 if master's degree requires 36 credits), and
    2. Paid for 24 credits (27 if master's degree requires 36 credits).
      1. 1-9 credits per semester count as paid credits; 10-15 credits do not count as paid credits.
  2. For PhD students,
    1. Completion of 72 credits of eligible course, research, and transfer credits combined, and
    2. Paid for 54 credits.
      1. 1-9 credits per semester count as paid credits; 10-15 credits do not count as paid credits.
  3. For all students, an approved thesis committee form and Degree Audit form must be submitted the semester prior to the one for which a student wishes to be in reduced registration status*.
  4. PhD students must submit an approved Admission to Candidacy form by the first day of classes in the semester for which the student wishes to be in reduced registration status*.
*

See OGS Graduation Deadlines webpage for specific deadlines. Students who are eligible for reduced registration are considered full time if they register for 4 credits of research under course number 707.

Full-time Status – Required Course Load

To be deemed full-time during the fall and spring semesters, students must register for at least 9 credits.

Alternatively, as described above, if a thesis-based student has completed their required coursework and research credits, has completed all required forms, and has received confirmation from the Office of Graduate Studies that they are eligible for reduced registration, the student will be deemed full-time if they are registered for at least 4 credits of research credit.

Student enrollment is not required during the summer for continuing Mines students, unless it is a condition of holding certain fellowships or an appointment as a research or teaching assistant. To be deemed full-time during the summer, students must register for at least 3 credits.

Note: The above academic definition of full-time for fall, spring, and summer applies to International Students (F and J) for status maintenance purposes. 

The definition of full-time for the purpose of qualifying for federal financial aid is 9 credits in fall, spring or summer.

Transfer Credits

With prior approval, graduate students may use transfer coursework credits toward a master's or PhD degree, but not toward a graduate certificate.  All transfer credits must be listed on the Degree Audit form and have the appropriate signatures of approval.

  • Masters non-thesis and professional masters students must receive approval from the advisor, co-advisor (if applicable), minor representative (if applicable), and department head/program director.
  • Masters thesis and PhD students must receive approval from the advisor, co-advisor (if applicable), all committee members, minor representative (if applicable), and the department head/program director.

Transfer credit limitations apply to all major and minor degrees. Transfer credits from other universities must be for coursework (research credits cannot be transferred except in cases when a full thesis master's program is applied toward a PhD); must be graduate level with a grade of C or better; cannot have been used toward an undergraduate degree and cannot be for prerequisite or deficiency credits. Credits without a letter grade (Pass/Fail, Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory, etc.) will not be accepted as transfer credit.

Grades for transfer credits will not be transferred and therefore will not impact a student's graduate GPA

The Admissions Office must have official transcripts on file prior to transferring credit from another university. 

Due to time constraints of receiving transcripts and grades, students taking or wishing to apply transfer credits in their last semester may not be able to graduate in that semester. Students studying abroad are encouraged to not do so during their last semester.

Major degree transfer credit limitations:

  • 30-credit master’s non-thesis degree programs are limited to no more than 9 transfer credits.
  • 36-credit master’s non-thesis degree programs are limited to no more than 15 transfer credits.
  • 30-38-credit master’s thesis degree programs are limited to no more than 9 transfer credits.  
  • PhD students transferring a thesis-based master’s degree from another university* may transfer up to 36 credits.
  • PhD students transferring individual coursework, or any graduate-level degree other than a thesis-based master’s degree from another university,* may transfer up to 24 credits.
    • *Any credits taken at Mines and listed on a Mines graduate-level transcript are not transfer credits.
    • *PhD students may, with committee and department head/program director approval, use all credits from a Mines master’s degree toward a PhD, as long as the credits were not used toward two Mines master’s degrees.

Minor degree transfer credit limitations:

  • Less than half of the minor credit requirement may be transfer credits.
    • Masters students may transfer no more than 4 credits toward a minor.
    • PhD students may transfer no more than 5.5 credits towards a minor.

Transfer credit conversion:

Colorado School of Mines uses semester credits. Any transfer credits taken at a university that does not use semester credits will have the credits converted. U.S. Quarter credits are equivalent to ⅔  semester credits. European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) credits are equivalent to ½ semester credits. Other credits will be assessed on an individual basis.

Dropping and Adding Courses

Students may add or drop some, but not all credits, through web registration without paying a fee during the add/drop period listed on the Academic Calendar. Graduate students who wish to drop all credits during the fall or spring term must submit either the Leave of Absence or Withdrawal from Graduate School paperwork by Census Day.

Withdrawing from Courses

After the add/drop date, students may withdraw through web registration from some credits, but not all, for any reason. In this situation students receive a grade of “W” for the withdrawn credits through the last day to withdraw noted on the Academic Calendar. Students who wish to withdraw from all credits must submit a Withdrawal from Graduate School form if they intend to leave Mines. If a student wishes to remain in a degree program after withdrawing from all credits, they must either register for the immediately subsequent semester to avoid being withdrawn involuntarily from Graduate School or submit Leave of Absence paperwork (if required by program; see catalog section on Leave of Absence) by the subsequent Census Day.

After the last day to withdraw on the Academic Calendar, no withdrawals are permitted, except in case of withdrawal from school. If extenuating circumstances apply, contact the Office of Graduate Studies.

Any student on approved leave must submit a Return from Leave form. The student will be reinstated to active status upon approval by their advisor and their department head or program director.

Students who have already used two semesters of Leave of Absence will need to submit the Withdrawal from Graduate School form if they are not able to return after the second semester of leave. Students who withdraw from graduate school will need to reapply for admission online and be re-accepted before returning to school.

The financial impact of a withdrawal is covered in the section on “Payments and Refunds.”

Auditing Courses

As part of the maximum of 15 credits of graduate work, students may enroll for no credit (NC) in a course with the permission of the instructor. Tuition charges are the same for no credit as for credit enrollment.

Students must enroll for no credit before, the last day of registration. The form to enroll for a course for no credit is available from the Registrar’s Office. NC designation is awarded only if all conditions stipulated by the course instructors are met by the student by the end of the semester.

Mines requires that all U.S. students who are being supported by the institution register full time, and federal financial aid regulations prohibit Mines from counting NC registration in determining financial aid eligibility. In addition, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) requires that international students register full time, and Mines is discouraged from counting NC registration toward that requirement. Furthermore, there are no consistent standards for expectations of students who register for NC in a course. Therefore, in order to treat all Mines students consistently, NC registration will not count toward the minimum number of credits for which students are required to register. This includes the minimum continuous registration requirement of part-time students and the 9-credit requirement for students who must register full time.

The reduced registration policy is based on the principle that the minimum degree requirement (30 or 36 credits for a master's thesis program or 72 credits for a PhD) includes only the credits applied toward that degree. Deficiency and extra courses are above and beyond that minimum. NC courses fall into the latter category and may not be applied toward the degree. Therefore, NC registration does not count toward the number of credits required for a student to be eligible for reduced registration status.

NC registration may involve additional effort on the part of faculty to give and/or grade assignments or exams, so it is the institution’s policy to charge tuition for NC courses. Therefore, NC registration will count toward the maximum number of credits for which a graduate student may be allowed to register. This includes a tuition surcharge for credits taken over 15.

Off-Campus Study

A student must enroll in an official Mines course for any period of off-campus, course-related study, whether U.S. or abroad, including faculty-led short courses, study abroad, or any off-campus trip sponsored by Mines or led by a Mines faculty member. The registration must occur in the same term that the off-campus study takes place. In addition, the student must complete the necessary release, waiver, emergency contact forms, transfer credit pre-approvals, and FERPA release, as well as providing adequate proof of current health insurance prior to departure. For additional information concerning study abroad requirements, contact the Office of Global Education at https://www.mines.edu/global/study-abroad-student-exchange/. For other information, contact the Registrar’s Office.

Students conducting research off campus must either register for research credits at Mines or submit the Leave of Absence paperwork. Students on leave may not use any campus resources, including work with advisor, committee members and any Mines students.   

Students conducting research abroad must comply with the research off-campus rules above and need to register with the Study Abroad Office. Students may not transfer research credits from another university. All graduate students must register for credits at Colorado School of Mines for at least one semester. A semester of study abroad does not count toward this requirement.

Students studying abroad who are using study abroad transfer credits toward a degree program must have official transcripts on file with the Registrar's Office prior to graduation. Since overseas transcripts often take longer to arrive than U.S. transcripts, students who are studying abroad during their last semester may not be able to graduate in that same semester.

Online students please visit Mines Online for additional information on services and support.  

Numbering of Courses

Course numbering is based on the content of material presented in courses:

Material Level Division
100-199 Freshman Level Lower Division
200-299 Sophomore Level Lower Division
300-399 Junior Level Upper Division
400-499 Senior Level Upper Division
500-599 Graduate Level
600-699 Advanced Graduate Level
Over 700 Graduate Research or Thesis Level