Full-Time Student [Education] Law and Legal Definition
According to 34 CFR 263.3 [Title 34 – Education; Subtitle B -- Regulations of the Offices of the Department of Education; Chapter II -- Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Department of Education; Part 263 -- Indian Education Discretionary Grant Programs; Subpart A -- Professional Development Program], the term full-time student means “a student who --
(1) Is a degree candidate for a baccalaureate or graduate degree;
(2) Carries a full course load; and
(3) Is not employed for more than 20 hours a week.”
According to 34 CFR 668.2 (b) [Title 34 – Education; Subtitle B -- Regulations of the Offices of the Department of Education; Chapter VI -- Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Education; Part 668 -- Student Assistance General Provisions; Subpart A – General], the term full-time student is “an enrolled student who is carrying a full-time academic workload, as determined by the institution, under a standard applicable to all students enrolled in a particular educational program. The student's workload may include any combination of courses, work, research, or special studies that the institution considers sufficient to classify the student as a full-time student. However, for an undergraduate student, an institution's minimum standard must equal or exceed one of the following minimum requirements:
(1) For a program that measures progress in credit hours and uses standard terms (semesters, trimesters, or quarters), 12 semester hours or 12 quarter hours per academic term.
(2) For a program that measures progress in credit hours and does not use terms, 24 semester hours or 36 quarter hours over the weeks of instructional time in the academic year, or the prorated equivalent if the program is less than one academic year.
(3) For a program that measures progress in credit hours and uses nonstandard terms (terms other than semesters, trimesters or quarters) the number of credits determined by--
(i) Dividing the number of weeks of instructional time in the term by the number of weeks of instructional time in the program's academic year; and
(ii) Multiplying the fraction determined under paragraph (3)(i) of this definition by the number of credit hours in the program's academic year.
(4) For a program that measures progress in clock hours, 24 clock hours per week.
(5) A series of courses or seminars that equals 12 semester hours or 12 quarter hours in a maximum of 18 weeks.
(6) The work portion of a cooperative education program in which the amount of work performed is equivalent to the academic workload of a full-time student.
(7) For correspondence coursework, a full-time courseload must be--
(i) Commensurate with the full-time definitions listed in paragraphs (1) through (6) of this definition; and
(ii) At least one-half of the coursework must be made up of non-correspondence coursework that meets one-half of the institution's requirement for full-time students.
(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1082 and 1088)
Legal Definition list
- Full-Time Student [Education]
- Full-Time National Guard Duty
- Full-Time Equivalent Students
- Full-Time Equivalent Employee
- Full-Scale Survey [Office of Personnel Management]
- Full-Time Teacher [Education]
- Fully Convertible Debentures
- Fully Diluted Earnings Per Share
- Fully Managed Fund
- Fully-Diluted Basis
- Fumigant
Related Legal Terms
- 504 Plan [Education]
- Abrogation [Education]
- Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG) Program [Education]
- Academic Department [Education]
- Academic Field [Education]
- Accreditation (Education)
- Accredited Educational Institution
- Accrediting Agency [Education]
- ACG Scheduled Award [Education]
- Achievement-Based Education
