Helpful Links

Academic Calendar - registration and payment dates and deadlines
Course Schedules
Registration Info Sheet (RIS) - registration access times and registration holds
My Tuition Bill | Tuition Bill Help Guide | Tuition Payment Deadlines

Advising Process

Graduate students must complete advising each semester before registering for classes. Advising is the process of planning your classes for the upcoming semester.

Advising Steps:

Review your Degree Plan and the UT Course Schedule.
Discuss your course plans with your faculty mentor (if applicable) or Area Chair/Program Director.
Submit an EDP Advising Form.
Your Area Chair will review and approve the form (or request changes).
Need to change your schedule? Submit a new Advising Form.

Tip: hang on to your approved Advising Form as a reference for when you register for your courses, as it lists the course Unique #s you’ll need for registration.

Course Planning Tips:

Beyond next semester, are you planning for future semesters/years? Are there semesters where you will likely be particularly busy? Plan ahead for that!

Are you thinking of working as an Assistant Instructor? If so, plan to take 398T College Teaching Methodology, the required prerequisite course to work as an AI. Note: 398T is typically offered only in the Spring in EDP. You are also allowed to take 398T in other departments.

QP Hours: If you are in a Ph.D. program that requires enrolling in Qualifying Process hours, be sure to plan ahead for when you will enroll in those. (See the QP page of the Handbook for more info).

Course Frequency: Some classes are offered every semester. Some are only offered once a year or more rarely. For classes that you really need or want to take, you can get a sense of the typical frequency by looking through past course schedules.

Career/Research Goals: are there courses (in or out of the department) that would be beneficial for your research or future career goals? Examples:

Curriculum and Instruction sometimes offers a professional development course on postdocs, applying to tenure-track jobs, etc. (taught by Dr. Grace Kim)
Are there methods courses that might come in handy for industry (e.g. Machine Learning, Qualitative Methods)?
Is there a potential out-of-department professor who you might want to serve on your dissertation committee?

EDP 394R Research is EDP’s general “research hours” course. This course serves as a placeholder for Dissertation hours in the semester PhD students apply for Candidacy, and can also be added in multiples depending on the number of credit hours needed for the semester (for example, can enroll in 3 sections of 394R for a total of 9 credit hours). Students also often enroll in Research hours in semesters when they are working on research and need additional credit hours for employment/fellowship/other situations with enrollment hour minimums.

Pay careful attention to enrollment rules for fellowships, financial aid, residency, and student employment!

Are you graduating next semester?

In the semester that you graduate, you must be registered in classes according to Graduate School rules, or the system will not allow you to apply to graduate. Students must be enrolled in specific courses in their graduating semester: 698B for Thesis students, 398R for Master’s Report students, and _99W for PhD students. Note: doctoral students on internship may qualify for an exception to Dissertation enrollment for their graduating semester; see the Graduation page of the Handbook for more information.

Deadlines

Students are responsible for reviewing and complying with registration and tuition deadlines, listed in the University Academic Calendar. Note:

Late advising can affect course access.
Late registration or payment may lead to dropped courses or late fees.

Registration Holds

Registration holds prevent registration. Check your Registration Info Sheet (RIS) for any active holds.

Common holds include:

Advising Hold: removed by staff after your Advising Form is approved.
Financial Hold: view/Pay balances via My Tuition Bill or What I Owe. The Financial Responsibility Statement (FRS) is also a semesterly acknowledgement required by UT Accounting.
Emergency Contact Hold: update emergency contact annually via the online update form in UT Direct
Other Holds: Health Services, Parking, etc. must be cleared through those offices

Registration Access Times

Check your registration access times in your Registration Info Sheet (RIS) well in advance of registration.

Registering for Classes

You will register each semester through UT's online Registration System. Register early! Classes fill quickly, and having a class on your Advising Form does not always guarantee a spot in the class.

Out-of-Department (non-EDP) classes: contact the department offering the class for permission to enroll.
Schedule Changes: if you wish to change the schedule on your Advising Form, submit a new Advising Form.

Note: Check your courses carefully! Graduate students are expected to confirm they are in the correct classes. Some courses have the same course numbers but different topics, slightly different names, etc.

If you have trouble getting into any of your classes or have other registration issues, contact the EDP Administrative Support Coordinator.

Pay Tuition & Confirm Enrollment

Remember to pay your tuition bill and confirm attendance before the deadline to secure your classes. Review the Tuition Bill Help Guide for more information about tuition bills.

Late Registration

See the Graduate School policies on Late Registration for more information about deadlines and procedures. Note:

Missed registration? Contact the EDP registration staff as soon as possible. If it’s before the 12th class day (Fall/Spring) or 4th class day (Summer), the Department may still be able to add you to courses. After those deadlines, you must contact the EDP Graduate Program Coordinator, as the Graduate School requires additional paperwork:

Graduate Add/Drop Form - for schedule changes
Late Registration Form - needed if you’re not enrolled in any classes

Dropping Courses

Graduate students can drop a class through the last class day of a semester. After the Registration access period closes, a Q-Drop Request is needed to drop a course, and the instructor will assign a symbol of Q (Quit) or F (Fail).

Late Drop Form (after 12th class day of Spring/Fall, or 4th class day of Summer): Graduate School Q-Drop Request Form

More info: Graduate School Add/Drop Policies

Important Info About Credit/No Credit Courses

The University of Texas limits the number of Credit/No Credit (CR/NC) coursework on a Degree Plan to 20% of the coursework used for the degree (Thesis, Master’s Report, and Dissertation don’t count towards the 20%). Be very careful about signing up for a class as CR/NC, unless it is a class listed specifically on your Program of Work that is only offered on the CR/NC basis (e.g. Internship, Dissertation, Research hours).

Course Load

Full-Time Course Load

Full-time status is necessary to receive most University fellowships, reside in University housing, be employed for an academic appointment (Teaching Assistant, Research Assistant, Assistant Instructor, etc.), for international student visa status in most cases, and often for student loans or deferment of existing loans (check Texas One Stop or your lender). More info: Graduate School Full-Time Student Status

Full-Time Status for Fall/Spring: 9 credit hours
Full-Time Status for Summer (for academic employment): 3 credit hours

Maximum Course Load

The maximum course load for a graduate student during long semesters (Spring/Fall) is 15 hours, and 12 hours for the Summer semester. A heavier course requires approval from the Graduate Adviser and Graduate Dean. Contact the EDP Graduate Coordinator if you wish to take more than the maximum number of hours.

Advising and Registration