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2.16 Student Workload
monitored during each term to ensure that the conditions of the academic plan continue to be met. The academic plan may be shared with the APRB in reviewing a student’s status. At the end of the time frame stated in the academic plan, the student must have met the SAP standards. A student who does not comply with each SAP standard by the end of the financial aid probationary period is suspended from financial aid eligibility. A student shall be reinstated for financial aid eligibility when they have satisfactorily completed sufficient coursework to meet the standards of progress within the maximum time frames delineated above. Note: A student who has lost eligibility for financial aid due to deficiencies in satisfactory academic progress cannot automatically regain eligibility by paying tuition for a term or by sitting out a term. Eligibility may be regained only by eliminating all SAP deficiencies at the student’s expense until all requirements of this policy are met.
Withdrawal
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Students who are withdrawn from HMS are not making satisfactory academic progress and are not eligible to receive financial aid.
Enforcement
The Offices of the Registrar and Financial Aid, the program directors, and the APRB collaboratively shall have the responsibility for monitoring and enforcing Satisfactory Academic Progress. The program directors will notify the APRB at the end of each year, or more frequently if requested, of any students who are not making satisfactory academic progress. The APRB will determine whether academic sanctions are warranted and will inform each student accordingly. The Financial Aid Office will inform any student whose financial aid has been impacted.
2.16 Student Workload
Generally, students who are enrolled full time will take a combination of half-, quarter, and short courses in addition to their mentored research (MMSc programs) and capstone (Master of Academic Discipline programs) projects. Some programs require additional coursework in the summer and/or January sessions. Because HMS does not have formal summer or January terms, courses that take place in July through August are considered part of the subsequent Fall term and courses that take place in January are considered part of the subsequent Spring term.
Course types
Master’s courses at Harvard Medical School cover a wide range of disciplines and are taught in multiple formats, including residential, virtual, or blended.
The guidelines for residential courses are as follows:
Type of Work Half course 4 credits
3 c. course
3 credits
Quarter course
2 credits
Short course* 1-2 credits Intensive course*
1-2 credit
Time frame 1 semester 1 semester 2 – 8 weeks / 1 semester 2 – 6 weeks / 1 semester Short period / 1 semester
In class time Outside class time Weekly 3 h
Total 42 h Weekly
Total 6 h
84 h 2 h 1 – 2 h 1 – 2 h
Total h. / time 28 h 14 – 28 h 10 – 20 h 10 -20 h 4 h 2.5 – 3.5 h 2 – 6 h 2 – 6 h
56 h 35 – 49 h 10 – 20 h 10 – 20 h
Total hours ~126 hours ~84 hours ~63 hours ~30 hours ~30 hours
Evaluation examples
Formal evaluation, such as graded exams, papers, and projects Formal evaluation, such as graded exams, papers, and projects Formal evaluation, such as graded exams, papers, and projects Formal evaluation, such as papers, and projects Written paper that reflects learning experience
*Note: Students’ ability to take short and intensive courses may be limited due to the curriculum requirements of a particular program.
The guidelines for blended courses are as follows:
Type of Work Half course 4 credits
3 c. course
3 credits
Quarter course
2 credits
Short course 1-2 credits Intensive course
1-2 credit
Time frame 1 semester 1 semester 2 – 6 weeks / 1 semester 2 – 6 weeks / 1 semester Short period / 1 semester
Sync. Weekly 2 – 3 h 2 – 2.5 h 1 – 2 h 1 – 2 h Total h. / time Total 28 – 42 h 21 – 31.5 h 14 – 28 h 10 – 20 h 10 -20 h
Async. Weekly 6 – 7 h 3 – 5 h 2.5 – 3.5 h 2 – 6 h 2 – 6 h
Total 84 – 98 h 63 – 73 h 35 – 49 h 10 – 20 h 10 – 20 h
Total hours ~126 hours ~94.5 hours ~63 hours ~30 hours ~30 hours
Evaluation examples
Formal evaluation, such as graded exams, papers, and projects Formal evaluation, such as graded exams, papers, and projects Formal evaluation, such as graded exams, papers, and projects Formal evaluation, such as papers, and projects Written paper that reflects learning experience
Sync.: Synchronous activities, Async.: Asynchronous activities
• Synchronous activities: Class sessions conducted where learners are required to participate simultaneously, usually facilitated by a videoconferencing platform. • Asynchronous activities: Course related activities that are conducted at different time/place. This is inclusive of readings, assignments, group projects, etc.
The minimum credits by type of course are as follows:
• In any given semester, full-time enrollment requires a minimum of 14 credits. Part time enrollment requires 7 to 13 credits. • All MMSc and MAD/SM programs require a minimum of 16 credits from didactic courses, ordinarily from half and quarter courses • All MMSc and MAD/SM require an additional 16 didactic course credits from a mix of half courses, quarter courses, and short courses. The MMSc programs require a minimum of 32 credits for the mentored research project. The Master of Science programs require four credits from a capstone project.
Maximum Allowed Credits Per Semester
The typical course load is 16 credits per term with a maximum of 4 credits per month, or 20 total credits in the Fall or Spring semesters (summer courses count toward the subsequent Fall term and January courses count toward the subsequent Spring term). Programs may propose to allow full-time students with exceptional academic standing to take up to six 4-credit courses (24 credits) during their first-year Spring semester or their second year Fall or Spring semesters, including credits for summer or January term courses.
Only full-time students with exceptional academic standing, defined as A- or above in all courses, or SAT in all courses, are eligible to take additional credits over the defined plan of instruction, and program and Dean’s office approval is required. Part time students can take half the maximum credit load defined above for full time students. Although students may take additional courses, they may not accelerate their time to graduation for Full-Time enrollment and they must fulfill the Full-Time tuition obligation for the program they are enrolled in. Therefore, students enrolled in a standalone MMSc degree program are expected to complete the degree in no less than two years. Students enrolled in a fifth year of study (usually between M3 and M4) as
