Registration Policies

Academic Sessions

The academic year consists of a 15-week Fall semester and a 15-week Spring semester. In addition, there is a three-week January term and an eight-week Summer term. January and Summer terms consist of one or two week intensive classroom courses and online intensive courses that meet two or more days preceded and/or followed by online course work.
Advanced degree programs operate on separate schedules. The academic year for the DMIN program is non-semester based, see COURSE LOAD for a more detailed description. The academic year for the ThM and PhD students consists of two semesters. Fall semester is August 1 to January 15. Spring semester is January 16 to July 31.
To see a detailed calendar, 
click here.

Course Load

Ordinarily, full-time students will carry 9 to 15 credit hours per semester. Students whose GPA falls below 1.7 will be placed on academic probation, and their hours may be reduced. 

For a Masters program, full-time load is at least 9 credit hours for the regular term and 4 credit hours for the intensive term, and half-time load is 5-8 credit hours during the regular terms and 2-3 credits hours during the intensive term.

For ThM and PhD students, full time load is at least 6 credit hours per semester. 

For full-time student verification for DMin, students must be enrolled in a DMin cohort and registered for at least 8 semester hours per year and/or the Ministry Project, DM 430. The DMin cohort program is a year-round, non-semester based degree program. It includes Ministry Supervision DM 410, a 24 month program of study for 8 academic hours.

For full Veterans Administration benefits, a student must be registered as a full-time student in his/her program, provided other requirements are met. VA students, please contact your regional campus VA administrator for full-time student verification and additional information.

The Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board/State Approving Agency approved full-time status for the Master’s programs at 9 credit hours for the receipt of Veterans’ Educational Benefits which are administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Dropping or Adding Classes

Current students will register during the online registration provided each semester. Online registration is open until the tuition deadline for that semester. After that date, students will need to request to drop/add in writing (email or office visit). If the class has already met once (whether in class or online), the student must obtain written permission from the professor before they can be registered for the class. Students may add a class until the published add date (generally the first 2 weeks of Fall and Spring and the first day of class for January and Summer).

Students may drop a class through the first quarter of a regular semester or until the published drop date. For January and Summer terms, courses must be dropped by 3:00 p.m. on the first day of class. Students who wish to drop a class after this time must petition the Student Relations Committee for permission to withdraw. If permission is granted, the student will receive a WP (withdrawal passing) or a WF (withdrawal failing) as determined by the committee. Except as the result of compelling and extraordinary circumstances, students are not permitted to withdraw from a course after two thirds of the course is completed.

DMIN, ThM and PhD students must refer to the respective program manual for information on deadlines for dropping and adding.

Unit Definition

The unit of credit is a semester hour. Three-hour courses normally meet 2-hours and 50-minutes once a week. Two-hour courses ordinarily meet 1-hour and 50-minutes once a week. Generally, the student should spend two hours in study outside the classroom for each hour spent in the classroom.

Withdrawing from Course Work

Students are not permitted to withdraw from courses after two-thirds of the course is completed. Course length determines the final withdrawal date. All withdrawal requests are reviewed by the Student Relations Committee and are granted only for compelling cause. Submission of a withdrawal request does not guarantee approval. Please contact the Registrar’s Office for details.  
DMIN, ThM and PhD students must refer to the respective program manual for information on deadlines for withdrawing. 

 

Course length	Last Withdrawal date
7-week	End of week 5
10-week	End of week 6
15-week	End of week 10