Credit Conversion

Effective in the fall 2011 semester, Undergraduate students taking graduate courses may use the conversion factor: 1 graduate credit = 1/6 undergraduate unit.  The policy was put into place to recognize the additional academic challenge of graduate studies with an appropriate increase in academic credit. All credit increases will be manually processed through the Registrar’s Office and may not be completed the same day of registration; therefore, your initial bill may not reflect the credit conversion. 

Please note that this change might have an impact on students’ planning, especially if enrolled in a BS/MS program. More importantly, it also can impact overload calculations. Here are some examples:

• If a student is registered for 5 undergrad courses and 1 grad course: the student has 5/3 plus 1/2 units (or 2 and 1/6 units total) => No overload
• If a student is registered for 3 undergrad courses and 3 grad courses: the student has 3/3 + 3/2 units (2 and 1/2 units total) => 1/6 unit overload

Please note that the standard course load for WPI students is one unit per term (exclusive of ROTC and Physical Education classes, which do not count toward overloads). Students who register for more than 7/3 (or 21 credits) per semester will be charged accordingly. Overload charges are computed at the beginning of B term and at the beginning of D term based on the course and project load included in the student’s final term registration. Please note that project work is credit-bearing and is included in overload calculations.