Enrollment Definitions

Terms

Relay’s academic school year is divided into three terms: summer, fall, and spring. Enrollment and participation in all three terms may be required for successful program completion depending on a program’s course scope and sequence. Eligible students’ individual enrollment is certified by the Registrar’s Office within the institutional term dates. Therefore, documents requiring proof of enrollment in the academic school year, such as loan deferment forms, will only reflect the term dates in Table 1 below.

Table 1

Credit Hours

The unit of credit used at Relay is the semester credit hour (referred to in this document as “credit(s)”). One semester hour of credit represents a minimum of 15 clock hours (of 50 minutes each) of instruction plus an expectation of 30 hours of out-of-class student work, or an equivalent amount of work for other academic activities as established by the institution, over the course of an academic term.

Enrollment Load

The number of credits students are registered for and enrolled in per term will determine students’ enrollment loads. Students’ enrollment loads are either classified as being enrolled in full-time or part-time programs. Students enrolled in part-time programs can be further classified as being enrolled in half-time or less-than-half-time programs. At Relay, most students will be enrolled in half-time programs. Table 2 demonstrates student enrollment loads by credit per term.

Table 2

Transfer Credit and Credit for Prior Learning

Relay does not generally accept transfer credit from outside institutions but will review outside credits on a case-by-case basis. 

In some cases, experienced teachers may be admitted into Relay’s M.A.T. program with advanced standing and awarded credit for prior experience. Relay will determine the specific amount of credit to be granted for the prior experience upon review of documentation submitted by the applicant that demonstrates that the experiences are equivalent to graduate-level study.

Students seeking to transfer credit from Relay to another institution are advised that transfer of credit is controlled by the receiving institution and that accreditation does not guarantee transferability.

Should students wish to transfer from one Relay campus to another, the credits and grades earned for coursework at their original Relay campus will be applied to the applicable program at their new Relay campus. Please see Campus and/or Program Transfers for more details.

Census Dates

A census date is the point in a term at which students’ enrollments are final and credits are locked. Census dates coincide with the last date in a term that students can withdraw for a full tuition refund (please see Billing Due Dates and Refunds for more details), request a switch in major, submit a campus- and/or program-transfer request, and/or return to Relay from a leave of absence, withdrawal, administrative withdrawal, or program dismissal. Students returning from a medical leave may be permitted to return after the term census date if approved by the campus Dean’s Office and SFS. Census dates for the school year 2020–21 can be found in Table 3 below.

Students who take a leave of absence, withdraw, are administratively withdrawn, or are dismissed on or before the term census date will not receive credit for assignments or assessments submitted during that term, even if they receive a grade in the course.

Students who take a leave of absence, withdraw, are administratively withdrawn, or are dismissed after the term census date and before the end of the term will not earn grades and/or credit for courses taken that term. In this case, students’ transcripts will demonstrate a “W” in lieu of a course grade. Students who take a leave of absence, withdraw, are administratively withdrawn, or are dismissed on or after the last date of the term will earn the grades for the term they just completed (see Terms for more details).

Table 3