Academic Credit Load

The office of the Registrar can only approve overload requests for students in the top three quintiles. Students in the fourth or fifth quintiles must obtain the permission of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. The ABA Rules stipulate: "A student may not be employed more than 20 hours per week in any week in which the student is enrolled in more than 12 class hours". This means students working more than 20 hours per week are not permitted to take more than 12 credits in any semester. The law school presumes that part time students will work more than 20 hours per week; that presumption underlies the limit of overload credits for part time students. Students who are enrolled part time and work less than 20 hours per week can request overloads under the full time limits, however, they must make their work situation clear in the Reasons For Overload/ Underload Section of the request form. As credit overload, and in fact any deviation from the prescribed curriculum, is not under most circumstances permitted by first year students, requests of this nature by first year students will not be granted.  Only exceptions for underload requests and requests under ADA Accommodation guidelines will be considered by the Director of Student Services. Any student may register for a maximum of 7 credits during any one summer session. A student may register for a maximum of 10 credits during the summer term. Any additional credits are to be considered an overload and students must obtain approval by the assistant dean for finance and administration prior to the start classes.