Enrollment Status and Course Load

Enrollment Status: Billing

Whether a student is enrolled full-time or less than full-time affects tuition and fees. Full-time enrollment status is different for undergraduate and graduate students, and also differs between Fall/Spring and Summer terms for graduate students, as shown below:

Students enrolled in less units than those listed above are considered less than full-time.  For information regarding how full-time status affects tuition and fees, please see the current Tuition and Fees section of the Dominican website (www.dominican.edu).

Enrollment Status: Financial Aid

For the purposes of Financial Aid including aid eligibility, loan deferment, and enrollment reporting, enrollment status is defined differently. The definition of full-time enrollment is the same, however,  less than full-time status is broken down into more categories. These definitions are different for undergraduate and graduate students, and also differ between Fall/Spring and Summer terms for graduate students, as shown below:

For further information regarding how enrollment status affects Financial Aid, please see the current information found on the Financial Aid Office’s website at www.dominican.edu.

Course Load: Undergraduate Programs

Please note that the time it takes to earn a degree is directly impacted by the rate at which a student earns academic credit (i.e., how many units a student successfully completes per term). In order for a full-time undergraduate student to earn a degree in four years, the student must take an average course load of 15.5 units per Fall and Spring semester.

It is strongly recommended that students who have not yet met the Effective Communication CORE requirement limit their course loads to 12-16 units per semester until this requirement has been completed.

Full-time tuition at the undergraduate level is billed for students enrolled in 12-18 units per semester. A student may enroll in 18 units with the advisor’s approval. A student may enroll in more than 18 units in a semester, but in order to do so must have a strong academic record, advisor approval, and the approval of the Academic Petition Committee. For information regarding the financial impact of enrolling in more than 18 units in a semester, please see the current Tuition and Fees information of the Dominican website (www.dominican.edu).

Special Policy for Majors with a Significant Skills-based Component (e.g., Dance, Music)

Students are permitted to take up to 20 units per semester without incurring additional tuition or seeking additional approval if they meet all of the following conditions:

• They are enrolled in a major which includes at least 14 skill-based units, which have little or no outside-of-course academic expectations. Such majors are determined by the Dean of the school and approved by the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
• They are enrolled in a second major or a minor requiring an additional 16 or more units which cannot overlap with the first major requirements.
• They have completed 16 or more units during the previous semester with a minimum term GPA of 3.00.
• They have the approval of their academic advisor.
• They have signed and completed the “Overload Statement” contract.
• They are enrolled in a course that meets a second major or minor requirement each term for which they are enrolled in more than 18 units.

Special Policy for Students in the Honors Program

Students in the Honors Program may register for a total of 6 units of overload without an additional fee while they are enrolled at Dominican.  This means that they may register for over 18 semester units in a given semester, up to a maximum of 20 units at no additional charge.  Honors students are eligible to use this benefit this twice during their degree program. It is strongly recommended that first year students not enroll in overload units.  To be eligible for this special policy, Honors students must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5.

Juniors and Seniors in the Honors Program may take graduate-level courses, with instructor permission.

Course Load: Graduate Programs

The semester course load of a student working toward a graduate degree is determined in consultation with the Chair/Director of the student’s program.

Concurrent Enrollment at Another Institution

Concurrent registration at Dominican and another institution must be approved prior to enrollment at the other institution. Students must submit the course description for the prospective course and an Authorization to Take Courses Off-Campus form to the Registrar’s Office, signed by the student’s advisor. Courses taken without prior approval from the Registrar’s Office may not be counted toward the degree; for further information, please see the Transfer Credit Policies section of this catalog.

Please note that the enrolled units at the other institution do not count toward a student’s enrollment status at Dominican.

Cross-Registration: UC Berkeley and the Graduate Theological Union (GTU)

The enrolled units at UC Berkeley are transfer units, and do not count toward a student’s enrollment status at Dominican, while enrolled units at the GTU do count toward a student’s enrollment status at Dominican.

For further information regarding guidelines for cross-registering at UC Berkeley (Undergraduate students only) or the GTU (Undergraduate and Graduate students), please see the Cross-Registration Opportunities section of this catalog.

AFROTC Courses at UC Berkeley

The enrolled units in AFROTC courses at UC Berkeley do not count toward a student’s enrollment status at Dominican.

For further information regarding the AFROTC program at UC Berkeley, please see the Cross-Registration Opportunities section of this catalog.