Resources for Master's Students

Students who are not actively working on their degree requirements (such as during a period when relevant courses are not offered) and are enrolled solely to satisfy the continuous enrollment requirement should be registered for LING 895 Continuation of Master’s Enrollment.

This registration category is considered less than half-time enrollment for all reporting purposes. It does not satisfy the government requirement for F1 and J1 students to maintain full-time status and will require students to obtain advance permission for a Reduced Course Load, if eligible.

LING 895 has a fee/tuition attached to it that must be paid by the student regardless of where they are in their program or what their funding is. This registration category does not qualify students for federal student loans or university sponsored health insurance.

Though less than half time, this status does fulfill the program requirement of continuous enrollment.

Students who are completing their master’s program and are short of the required number of credits to maintain full-time status may register for LING 897 Master’s Dissertation.

This registration category serves to maintain full-time status for the student but does not carry an associated fee/tuition. (LING 897 doesn’t bear any credits, but it “automatically” gives a student full-time status.) It doesn’t count towards their required credits.

Effective beginning in Spring 2025, master's students in the linguistics department will be able to register for LING 897 twice, once in the third semester, and once in the fourth semester.

Under this registration category, students remain eligible for federal student loans.

If for any reason, a student has already used LING 897 the allotted two times, but still hasn’t completed their degree requirements, then they must register for LING 899 Master’s Dissertation, which does the same thing as LING 897 (“automatically” gives them full-time status), but LING 899 has a fee attached. If a student registers for LING 899 in their second year, the 40% master’s tuition scholarship applies; however, if a student registers for LING 899 after their second year, the dissertation fee is not covered because the tuition scholarship expires.

Under this registration category, students remain eligible for federal student loans.

For more information about the Department of Linguistics, our programs, our research, or our courses, send us an email.