Part-time students

The following definitions are applicable to prospective students and to students currently enrolled in graduate studies at the University of Waterloo.

Regular part-time graduate students

Regular part-time graduate students are students admitted as regular graduate students but who, with the permission of the Faculty Graduate Committee concerned, are studying for a graduate degree on a part-time basis. A part-time graduate student is a graduate student who does not meet the criteria defining a full-time graduate student.

Admission requirements for students who wish to enrol in a Master's degree program on a part-time basis shall be somewhat higher than those for full-time students. At the discretion of the Graduate Committee of the Faculty, the normal residence requirement for a Master's degree program may be reduced or waived entirely for students registered in the program on a part-time basis. In some Faculties, only courses taken within five years prior to the completion of the Master's degree program may be counted for credit towards the degree. No program is to be implemented for which the typical student would take more than twelve terms to complete. The minimum period of time to complete a Master's degree by part-time study shall be six terms and it is expected that the program will normally be completed within twelve terms.

The maximum time limit for completion of Master's degree requirements in programs in which students are proceeding to a degree totally on a part-time basis is fifteen terms.

The maximum time limit for completion of PhD degree requirements in programs in which student are proceeding to a degree totally on a part-time basis is twenty-one terms for a PhD program from an Honours Bachelor's degree, and eighteen terms for a PhD program from a Master's degree.

Students must have the permission of the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) of their Faculty to continue their enrolment beyond these limits. Part-time students who have been in a regular Master's program for more than six terms must be reviewed each term.

Students whose work does not measure up to the standards of their program may be required to withdraw from the program. Such students may be readmitted although there will be a limit on the time-span in which readmission may occur. For more information on time limits see the Enrolment and time limits page.