Students Studying in The United States Summer Term

During required academic terms, F-1 and J-1 students must maintain full-time enrollment and appropriate on-ground presence. While the summer term is considered a vacation term for most continuing students, some students are required to maintain full-time enrollment in the summer. Please read the following information carefully to make sure you understand your summer enrollment requirements.

What summer terms are available at Northeastern?

• All Undergraduate, Graduate (non-CPS), and PhD students
  • Summer Semester
• CPS Graduate Students
  • Summer Quarter*
    • Starting in Summer 2027, CPS Graduate Students will be on the semester calendar, and Northeastern will only have one available summer term: the summer semester.

When do students have to maintain full-time enrollment and on-ground presence during the summer?

• All fully-funded PhD students are required to maintain full-time enrollment and on-ground presence for the duration of the summer term
• All other Northeastern students are required to maintain full-time enrollment and on-ground presence during the summer term if:
  • It is your first term of enrollment at NU and you have an Initial or Transfer I-20/DS-2019
  • It is your first term of enrollment after an approved change of degree level (CDL) or change of status (COS)
  • It is your final academic term
    • In your final academic term you may be eligible for a Final Term Reduced courseload (RCL) if you do not need a full-time courseload to complete the requirements for your degree. Please review “Summer Enrollment in your Final Term” below.
  • It is required for all students in your degree program
  • You are returning to NU after a leave of absence
• If you are required to maintain full-time enrollment during the summer term you must follow all requirements found on the Maintaining Status page of the OGS website  
• If you are required to maintain full-time enrollment during the summer term and have been offered on-campus employment or have received a Stipended Graduate Assistantship (SGA), you may not work more than 20 hours/week

Important Note about “Parts of Term”

• Courses at Northeastern may exist in the following structure:
  • Full semester or Full quarter classes
  • Half semester or Half quarter classes
  • Third semester classes (initial third, middle third, final third)
• If the summer is a required term for you, you must ensure that you are enrolled in on-ground courses throughout the entire term.
  • You cannot enroll in courses that only occur in the first half of the term and have no course enrollment in the second half of the term. 
  • You cannot enroll in online only courses during any part of the term. You must always be enrolled in at least one on-ground course

If the summer term is your first term of enrollment at Northeastern, you are correcting status and have an Initial I-20/DS-2019, or it is your first term after an approved Change of Degree Level (CDL) or Change of Status (COS), you must maintain full-time enrollment and appropriate on-ground presence for the duration of the summer term(s). Enrollment in on-ground courses must occur during all parts of the term. Online-only enrollment or no enrollment during a part of term (first half/second half) is not an acceptable way to maintain status.

You can maintain your F-1 or J-1 status according to the Guidelines on Maintaining Status provided by OGS.

If the summer is your final term of enrollment at Northeastern and you are not completing your program overseas, you must maintain full time enrollment with appropriate on-ground presence throughout the duration of the summer term, from May through August.

Enrollment in on-ground courses must occur during all parts of the term. Online-only enrollment or no enrollment during a part of term (first half/second half) is not an acceptable way to maintain status.

As students in their final term before graduation may be eligible for a final term reduced course load (RCL), please review the “Final Term” guidelines provided by OGS to understand how to maintain your student status.

If you plan to travel during the summer term, please review all the travel guidance provided by OGS.