{"id":24270,"date":"2024-01-16T19:29:31","date_gmt":"2024-01-16T19:29:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/international-student-services\/?page_id=24270"},"modified":"2025-10-01T20:32:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T20:32:24","slug":"reduced-course-load","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/international-student-services\/current-f-1-students\/enrollment-requirements\/reduced-course-load","title":{"rendered":"Reduced Course Load"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"is-style-highlight-paragraph-grey-background\">A reduced course load (RCL) allows an F-1 student to enroll in fewer courses and still maintain their F-1 status. All RCL requests are authorized for one quarter. You must submit a new request for each quarter an RCL is required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>RCL requests are available at the <a href=\"https:\/\/iss.uwb.edu\/\">International Student Portal<\/a>. Note that the Medical request is separate from the general request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Academic (Final quarter)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">8 CFR 214.2(f)(6)(iii)(C)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If it is your final quarter, you can submit an RCL request and enroll in fewer credits.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You must do this within 30 days of your final quarter start date.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you fail to complete your degree, a second RCL will be considered only in the immediate next quarter (you will not receive a summer quarter break if you fail and summer is the next quarter).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Academic reduced course loads require you to enter an &#8220;Approver&#8221; name and email address. The approver must be an <strong>Academic Advisor<\/strong>. International Student Advisors, Professors, and Faculty Advisors cannot complete the approval.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Medical<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">8 CFR 214.2(f)(6)(iii)(B)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-highlight-paragraph\">A medical reduced course load is kept confidential and does not involve approval from your academic department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-highlight-paragraph\">Medical reduced course load only applies to your F-1 status in the US. If you need medical accommodations at the university, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/student-affairs\/drs\">please contact DRS<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You must provide a letter from a medical professional telling us the reduced course load is required.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The letter must be from a Medical Doctor (MD), Doctor of Osteopathy (DO),&nbsp;Licensed Psychologist,&nbsp;Clinical Psychologist, or&nbsp;Psychiatrist. Their professional title must be clearly printed on the letter. <strong>We will not accept documentation from any other type of medical professional.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The letter must be recent and clearly state the time required for reduced course load.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The letter must clearly state that the time required is for the majority (or entirety) of the quarter.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Medical RCL is approved for the length of a single quarter only. Each quarter requires a separate letter to document the continued medical necessity of the RCL.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Medical RCL is limited to a total of 12 months.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-highlight-paragraph-grey-background\">Undergraduates are not considered a student if they do not enroll for two consecutive quarters. We cannot support your continued medical RCL for a third quarter if you&#8217;re not eligible to register. Please plan accordingly to retain your student status and keep ISS updated of your plans for continued enrollment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-highlight-paragraph-grey-background\">Graduate students must contact their graduate student advisor to ensure they are correctly put on leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-highlight-paragraph-grey-background\">If you have not progressed in your degree for 12 months, we may deny your request for RCL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When will it be processed?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Requests submitted in the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/iss.uwb.edu\/\">international student portal<\/a>&nbsp;will be processed within the first 30 days of the quarter as part of your&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/international-student-services\/current-f-1-students\/quarterly-sevis-registration\">SEVIS registration<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A reduced course load (RCL) allows an F-1 student to enroll in fewer courses and still maintain their F-1 status. All RCL requests are authorized for one quarter. You must submit a new request for each quarter an RCL is required. RCL requests are available at the International Student Portal. Note that the Medical request&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"parent":5327,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_is_archived":false,"_archived_contact_email":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-24270","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"related_links":{"toggle_visibility":false,"link_1":"","link_2":"","link_3":"","link_4":"","link_5":""},"highlight_box":{"toggle_visibility":false,"title":"","content":"","button":"","button_style":"angled-purple-button","button_screen_reader_text":""},"contact_type_1":{"toggle_visibility":false,"contact_title":"Contact Us","email":"test@uwb.edu","phone":"(206) 999-1234","box":"Box 358500","address_line_1":"18115 Campus Way NE","address_line_2":"Bothell, WA 98011-8246","location":""},"contact_type_2":{"toggle_visibility":false,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"social_media":{"toggle_visibility":false,"facebook_url":"","instagram_url":"","linkedin_url":"","twitter_url":"","youtube_url":""},"blog_archive_sidebar_visibility":false},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Reduced Course Load - International Student Services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/international-student-services\/current-f-1-students\/enrollment-requirements\/reduced-course-load\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reduced Course Load - International Student Services\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A reduced course load (RCL) allows an F-1 student to enroll in fewer courses and still maintain their F-1 status. 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