Enrollment & Registration

During your graduate career, it may be necessary to make administrative changes to your academic record or enrolled program. In order to facilitate those changes, please review the relevant policies and procedures below for the action you wish to take.

Students will be required to get permission if they wish to register for more than 10 credits per semester.

Disclosure of Student Records
Privacy and release of records is a university matter under the jurisdiction of the UMBC Registrar’s Office.
Continuous Enrollment
Once admitted to a graduate program, each student is encouraged to register every semester in the academic year (both fall and spring semesters). We recognize that there are circumstances when a student needs to take a break in enrollment for a term, during which time the student’s enrollment status will remain active. No application or Graduate School approval is required for an enrollment break.
Reinstatement & Program Change
Students who wish to return to their program after being discontinued for exceeding two semesters of non-enrollment must complete the Returning Student Request Form.
Withdrawal from UMBC
Written notice of a withdrawal request is required by the Graduate School. Withdrawal forms are available for download.
Full & Part-time Status
Enrollment status depends on the number of credits that you have registered for in a particular semester. To be full-time, you must be registered for nine (9) credits. This is particularly important for financial aid and graduate assistantships.
Transfer of Credit
Students may request a review of transfer credit by following the procedures outlined in the Graduate Catalog.
Inter-institutional Enrollment
This enrollment program can be used by students at UMBC to enroll in courses at other USM schools in order to take advantage of other course offerings and research opportunities.
PhD Plus Program
This program offers UMBC PhD alumni tuition-free privileges for classes within their discipline. This policy addresses the specifics of that program. Some fees will be charged.

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