Overview
The residence requirement is the number of hours required to be taken in residence on the approved TAMU campus site for the student’s respective program. For some degrees, the requirement is full-time enrollment of 9 hours during one or more semesters. For other degrees, it is a total of 12 hours during the degree. For specific minimum residence requirements, students should check the Additional Requirements section in the Graduate and Professional Catalog for the degree they are pursuing.
A major purpose of the residence requirements for graduate degrees is to ensure that students have an opportunity to benefit from the advantages of a university environment. These advantages include accessibility to libraries, laboratories, and other physical facilities, as well as opportunities to participate in seminars and a variety of cultural activities. Equally important to graduate students are the advantages of becoming acquainted with the faculty and other students on personal and professional bases.
Students “in residence” are expected to devote sufficient time and energy to graduate studies under the direction of an advisory committee chair and members (if applicable). Another major purpose of the residence requirements for graduate degrees is to ensure that faculty have opportunities to properly evaluate students’ development, guide and direct their studies, and determine competency.
FAQs
When does my Residence requirement get updated?
Automated processes run weekly to determine who has met the Residence requirement. If you aren’t meeting the Residence requirement after multiple weeks since you believe you have, please contact your academic advisor.
How do I know if I have met the Residence requirement?
You can find the status of the Residence requirement within ARCS and on your degree evaluation.
What is my program’s Residence requirement?
Please check your program’s Catalog page.
Do I have a Residence requirement if I am in a distance program?
Generally, no. Please check your program’s Catalog page.
Why is my completion of the Residence requirement still not listed?
If any courses used to complete the Residence requirement were graded as I (Incomplete) or X (No grade submitted), the Residence requirement will not automatically be marked as completed.