Academic Course Load

The average semester load for full-time students is 15 to 17 semester (or credit) hours. Students must carry at least 12 semester hours to be classified as full time.

Academic overloads during fall and spring semesters (18 or more semester hours for students in the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Science and Technology; 19 or more semester hours in all other schools and colleges) need special approval of the dean of the school or college in which a student is matriculated. Tuition for fulltime students covers 12 to 17 hours. Credits over 17 carry additional tuition charges.

See Tuition and Fees under Financial Information section of the Bulletin.

Summer sessions: Undergraduates must get overload approval for 9 credits or more.

Academic Credit

A semester hour is a unit of academic credit. For courses that meet on a regularly scheduled semester basis, a semester hour corresponds to one hour a week of lecture or recitation (or two hours of laboratory or studio activity) throughout one semester. For courses that do not meet on a regularly scheduled semester basis, the guideline is that one semester hour corresponds to 700 minutes of classroom contact.

Academic credit may be earned through traditional coursework at Temple University, courses approved for transfer from other institutions, Advanced Placement Tests, the College Level Examination Program (CLEP), cooperative work experience, and prior work or life experience. See Admissions section of the Bulletin and policy on Non Traditional Credit below.

Academic Residency Requirements

Temple University requires that all undergraduate degree candidates complete 30 hours of the last 45 hours of the degree or program as matriculated students at Temple University. If a matriculated student previously took Temple courses on a non-matriculated basis, those courses are counted towards this requirement. See policy on Transfer Credits below.

To graduate with Honors or to be a President's Scholar, a student must complete a minimum of the last 60 semester hours of the program matriculated at Temple. Students who are granted pre-approval by their deans to take courses elsewhere, up to a full semester’s work, will qualify for these distinctions if they have completed 60 hours at Temple University towards their degrees.  See Honors.

Students should consult their school or college for additional academic residency requirements.

Academic Standing

See Academic Warning, Probation, Dismissal and Reinstatement.