Enrollment certification for full-time or half-time status
You may be required to have your attendance at the University certified as full time or half time in order to defer payment of your student loan. This certification may especially be necessary for transfer students who received loans at their previous institutions.
Each course for which you register is tied to a specific term, which begins with the first day of classes in the term and ends with the last day of final exams. Extended term nine-month Independent and Distance Learning courses count only for the term in which you began your course. You will need to register for additional credits each term to continue to be certified. Generally, students who have completed a bachelor's degree, but have not been admitted to a University of Minnesota Graduate School program or departmental masters program, are considered undergraduates.
For students in undergraduate and professional units (law, dentistry, pharmacy, and veterinary medicine) full-time status is defined as 12 or more credits per semester; half-time status is 6-11 credits per semester or summer term.
5xxx through 9xxx level courses do not constitute, by themselves, graduate level work for certification or registration verification purposes. Students must also be registered in a University of Minnesota Graduate School program or a departmental masters' program to be certified as doing graduate-level work. Refer to the Graduate School Catalog for more information.
For students in the Graduate School and in the Medical School, full-time status is defined as 6 or more credits per semester; half-time status is 3-5 credits per semester. Similarly, students in master's programs in agriculture, education, and dental and psychology fellow specialists need 6 or more credits per semester for full-time status; half-time status is 3-5 credits per semester. Public Health masters students need 9 or more credits for full-time status; half-time status is 4 credits per semester.
Courses taken as an audit are not applicable for certification purposes.
The University participates in the National Student Clearinghouse. The University submits a tape of students' registration statuses to the Clearinghouse three times each semester (starting the end of the 2nd week). The Clearinghouse, in turn, supplies verification of registration to lending agencies. All deferment loan forms are forwarded by the Office of the Registrar to the Clearinghouse; this information is not supplied directly to lending agencies.
If you have enrolled late or had an exception processed to your registration, this information may not be reported until the submission of the next tape. The Clearinghouse asks that if you receive a collections letter from a lending agency, you:
- Call the lending agency to see if a deferment form was received between the time the Clearinghouse supplies this information and the lending agency sent the collection letter.
- If, after calling the lending agency, it still appears that your deferment has not been processed, you may call the Clearinghouse, (703) 742-7791, and ask for a student service representative. The representative will verify the date on which the deferment form was received by the Clearinghouse, the date the deferment was certified and mailed, the registration status that was certified, and where the forms were sent.
- If an emergency exists (for example, you are being threatened with default) the Clearinghouse will intervene on your behalf by faxing another deferment to the lending agency and will work with them to ensure the form is processed on a high priority.
Some lenders are not members of the Clearinghouse. If you receive a loan deferment form from your lender, bring your request in person to a One Stop Student Services Center or mail it to:
Requests can also be faxed to 612-625-4351. You can download the form to request a certifications letter here. Requests for certification letters are not accepted by phone. Certification letters requested by mail or fax are processed in 2-3 business days. There is no charge for regular service for certification letters but there is a limit of 6 copies a day for all requests. Rush/fax service is available for $10 a letter, and there is no limit on the number of copies that can be requested. Rush/fax requests are processed the same day they are received.
Minnesota law allows a student who takes at least 60% of a full-time credit load to qualify as a full-time student for purposes of continued insurance coverage on a family policy if the reduced credit load is due to illness, injury, or mental or physical disability and with appropriate documentation from a physician. Insurance companies are responsible for informing you of this option if it applies to you. You can receive certification of your credit load and the number of credits required for a 60% credit load at all One Stop Student Services Centers. Your physician should then forward your certification with the appropriate medical documentation to your insurance company.
More information about deferments and other exceptions to the definitions of full-time and half-time status is available at the One Stop Student Services Centers or by calling 612-624-1111.