Coterm Tuition Assessment

On This Page: 

• Undergraduate Tuition Group
• Graduate Tuition Group 
• Transitioning from Undergraduate to Graduate Tuition Group 
• Coterm Students with Assistantships

Undergraduate Tuition Group

If you are a coterm student in the undergraduate tuition group, you:

• are assessed the undergraduate tuition rate (Refer to Tuition Rates for more information.)
• are able to enroll in as few as 12 units, and up to 20 units, total, each quarter
• receive an enrollment hold (effective the following quarter) if you exceed the maximum permissible units (20) without an approved exception

Graduate Tuition Group

If you are a coterm student in the graduate tuition group, you:

• are assessed either the graduate tuition rate or the graduate engineering tuition rate, depending on your program (Refer to Tuition Rates for more information.)
• are able to enroll in as few as 8 units, and up to 24 units, total, each quarter
• receive an enrollment hold (effective the following quarter) if you exceed the maximum permissible units (24)

Transitioning from the Undergraduate Tuition Group to the Graduate Tuition Group

Important: Once moved to the graduate tuition group, you cannot move back to the undergraduate tuition group.

If you are a coterminal student in the undergraduate tuition group, you are moved to the graduate tuition group if any one of the following occurs: 

1. Conferral of your undergraduate degree

Once you have conferred your undergraduate degree(s), you are moved to the graduate tuition group.​ 

2. You request to switch from undergraduate to graduate billing 

If you are in the undergraduate tuition group and have completed fewer than 12 quarters at Stanford but want to enroll at the 8-10 unit graduate tuition rate, you may request to be moved to the graduate tuition group if you meet all of the eligibility requirements. (See Eligibility for coterm billing switch request table below) If you meet these conditions, you may request to be moved to the graduate billing group by submitting a help request prior to the deadline. 

Deadline to submit billing switch request

You should submit your request to switch billing groups no later than the Final Study List deadline of the quarter you are requesting the billing change take effect. 

Eligibility for coterm billing switch request

To request a coterm billing change from undergraduate to graduate billing, you:

• must have an active graduate career. (If you have a pending coterm application, you can request to move to the graduate tuition group only after you receive email confirmation that your coterm program has matriculated.)
• must have met the minimum number of undergraduate units to be eligible (see chart below). All undergraduate units, including transfer and test credit, are used to calculate unit completion.

3. When you reach your permissible limit in undergraduate billing

You are automatically moved from the undergraduate billing group to the graduate billing group after your 12th quarter of undergraduate billing (or 15th quarter if pursuing a dual/concurrent bachelor's degree). You are notified via email of this change unless you are placed into the graduate billing upon matriculation in your first graduate quarter. Once you are moved to the graduate billing group, you cannot be moved back to the undergraduate billing group. 

Please note the following:

• Flex quarters taken during the 2020-21 Academic Year do not count towards your permissible limit in the undergraduate tuition group.
• If a student completes their 12th quarter at the end of Spring term, they will be automatically moved to the graduate billing group during the first week of Summer term, regardless of enrollment in this optional quarter. Students should be advised of this when applying for undergraduate scholarship, fellowship, and internship opportunities. Please speak with your academic advisor or student services officer for further information. 
• Students who take a leave of absence after the final study list deadline of any non-summer quarter will have that quarter counted towards their permissible limit in the undergraduate tuition group. 

Calculation of undergraduate quarters

Undergraduate quarters, for the purpose of coterm billing, are calculated in all of the following ways:

• Any non-Summer quarter (full- or part-time) in which you are enrolled. With the exception of Summer Quarter 20-21, where full or part-time enrollment is equal to one Stanford quarter and will be counted towards a student's permissible limit.
• 15 transfer units (excluding AP or other test credit) are equal to one Stanford quarter. Example: a coterm student has completed 10 non-Summer quarters at Stanford, but also has 30 units of external transfer credit posted to their record; that would mean the student has (for the purpose of coterm billing) 12 quarters completed, and the student would thus be moved to the graduate billing group.

Coterm Students with Assistantships

If you receive a course assistant (CA), research assistant (RA), or teaching assistant (TA) appointment from a department while still assigned to the undergraduate billing group, you must move into the graduate billing group in order to be assessed the applicable graduate tuition rate and to be funded by the department. (Departments are unable to enter in your aid if you are not active in the graduate billing group.) Please review the information above for eligibility and process information.

Note: your department may not request this switch on your behalf.

See the Administrative Guide Memo 10.2.1 Graduate Student Assistantships for additional information regarding graduate assistantships.