Full-Time Course Load Guide
To be eligible for government student loan funding or interest-free status, students must register in full-time studies. It is a student's responsibility to ensure that he or she is registered in the required course load.
Please review the applicable section below to make sure that you meet the course load requirements for your program.
Please note that not all UBC programs are eligible for government student loans. If you are unsure about your program's eligibility, please contact
Undergraduate students
UBC undergraduate students must register in at least 60% of a full-time course load (80% for Newfoundland students) to be considered full-time students.
The exact number of credits required depends on your program. You can review the course load requirements for your program below.
Course load requirements by program:
*Audited, wait-listed, and withdrawn courses do not count towards this course load.
Graduate students
Most graduate programs at UBC do not have a minimum course load requirement. However, graduate students must be paying full-time fees to be eligible for government student loan funding or interest-free status.
Additionally, graduate students must have either Continuing Status or be registered in course work or their thesis.
Graduate programs that do require a minimum course load include:
- Master of Educational Technology
- Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (distance education version only)
For the required course load for these programs, please refer to either the Winter Session or Summer Session Course Load Guide.
Graduate programs that are exclusively part-time are not eligible for government student loan funding through either the full-time or the part-time loan programs. Similarly, some part-time versions of graduate programs are not eligible for government loan funding.
If you are not sure if your program qualifies for government student loan funding or interest-free status, please contact Student Financial Assistance & Awards
Professional students (Medicine, Dentistry, Law & Education)
Medicine (MD) and Dentistry (DMD) programs do not have a minimum course load requirement, but students in these programs must be registered and paying full-time fees to be eligible for government student loan funding or interest-free status.
Law (JD) and Education (BEd) students must register in at least 60% of a full-time course load (80% for Newfoundland students) to be considered full-time students.
Law and Education students can review the course load requirements for their programs below.
Course load requirements by program:
*Audited, wait-listed, and withdrawn courses do not count towards this course load.
Students with disabilities
Students with permanent disabilities may be eligible to study at a reduced course load and remain eligible for government student loan funding or interest-free status.
For more information on applying to study at a reduced course load, please review our information for students with disabilities.
Students registering in distance education courses
Distance Education courses can be considered toward your course load requirements. However, these courses must meet specific requirements:
- A Distance Education course cannot cross from one session into another. It must begin and end within the same session. There are two sessions at UBC: Winter (September to April) and Summer (May to August).
- A Distance Education course cannot have significantly different dates than on-campus courses. If your distance course begins later, or ends earlier, than on-campus courses, contact us to see if this course counts toward your loan eligibility.
Distance Education course dates can sometimes be modified to meet these requirements. If you are taking your distance course from UBC, please refer to the information on Distance Education Course Accelerations.
If you are taking a distance course from another institution, please contact that institution's financial aid office to determine if your course dates can be modified. Additionally, you will need to submit information about this course to UBC so that we can count the course toward your course load requirements. Please contact Student Financial Assistance & Awards to discuss Split Enrolment.
Please note: if you modify the dates of your Distance Education course to meet requirements and you later reverse the modification, then you may no longer be eligible for your loan funding or interest-free status.
