In the Rutgers system, graduate students registering for a term need to register for courses and / or research, and also for their appointments, if any. Generally graduate students register 1 - 2 weeks before the start of the term, so that their term bill comes due after their first paycheck -- see below.
Active graduate students must register for at least 1 course or research credit each term - you are supposed to be continuously registered until you receive your degree.
You need to register for at least 9 (7) credits to be full (half) time. Most international students generally need to be full time due to their visa requirements -- but see below concerning reduced credits. Domestic students with undergraduate loans generally are able defer repaying their loans if they are at least half time.
For a Ph.D. (M.S.), 72 (30) credits of courses and/or research are required. There is no reward for getting more credits. SAS is limiting tuition support for Ph.D. students to 75 credits maximum, so senior Ph.D. students should be careful to limit the number of credits they register for. Ph.D. students generally graduate after about 6 years, so typically need about 6 credits of courses + research per term on average (5 after their first year).
International Ph.D. students approaching 72 credits who have completed all coursework can maintain full time status despite fewer credits by applying for reduced credits with Global Services. More detailed information and a link to the online application are available here. The application is automatically sent to the GPD for review and approval.
Domestic students with loans but too few credits should submit paperwork so that they do not have to repay the loans. We have been told that Ph.D. students only need to submit the ``Enrollment Certification of Doctoral Students'' form available at the SGS form web site. It appears that M.S. students should submit the full time status request form: https://grad.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/2021-01/request_for_full_time_status.pdf.
A Ph.D. degree is a research degree, and requires a minimum of 24 credits of research courses 701 (in the fall) and / or 702 (in the spring), which are graded on a satisfactory / unsatisfactory basis. Students signing up for research may sign up for 701 / 702 after they are advanced to candidacy. They can choose how many credits of 701 / 702 to sign up for, with the number normally from 1 - 9, as they deem appropriate. To sign up for 701 or 702, look up the index number for your adviser in the schedule of classes for the upcoming term. Start from https://sis.rutgers.edu/soc/#home. Faculty are roughly but not entirely in alphabetical order. It seems that each term a couple faculty disappear from the list for reasons we do not understand. If you cannot find your adviser, contact Shirley Hinds. If you are not advanced, register for 623 and / or 624 if you are going to do non-classroom work with your adviser - these courses are given letter grades.
If your appointment is...
- a Fellow, register for course 811, 0 credits.
- a GA, register for course 866, 6 GA credits.
- a TA, register for course 877, 6 TA credits.
Course and research credits count both towards your degree and your full- or half-time status. TA/GA/Fellow appointment credits count towards your full- or half-time status, but DO NOT count towards your degree. Registering as a full time TA or GA is what causes the system to send you an email concerning registering for medical insurance. Please follow the instructions in that email.
Ph.D. students generally need permission to register for more than 16 credits (6 credit appointment + 10 credits courses and/or research). If you need to exceed this limit, contact the GPD concerning special permission.
If you have tuition remission, your tuition (and fees) will not be paid until after you receive your first paycheck. Student accounting only pays tuition 3 times within a semester, so you will need to be patient even after you are on payroll. If you have tuition remission, even if you receive messages about paying your tuition, please continue to be patient, do NOT pay the tuition. If a late fee appears on your term bill, reach out to Shirley.
For incoming students, your social security number also needs to be on file. You need to upload your Social Security Card to OneSource and also to Student Accounting.
Please contact Shirley if there are any questions on tuition remission.
