Various students who find it difficult to arrange fees for the full course are opting to be a half time student at the college or school. Half time students get the benefit of low fees as they specify that they do not want to study the full course. Being a half time student at any educational institution is becoming a trend now. Here we will see about What does half time student mean?
Half time students are enrolled in at least 6 credit hours in an academic session. They carry a certain combination of courses or special studies which help them get postsecondary certificates or degrees. The students need these courses of special studies or remedial courses to get any degree or certificate.
Overview
Generally, undergraduates have 12 credit hours for the academic semester. The 12 or more credits indicate that the students are full-time students for a particular course. They usually attend 4 classes per semester. However, half time students do not attend 12 credit hours of the academic semester. They have to attend at least 6 credit hours of the academic semester. In this, they have to attend just 2-3 classes instead of 4 classes per semester like full-time students do.
To qualify for any course and get the degree or certificate of successful completion or appreciation, any full-time student must get 9 or more credits per semester. However, half time students need to get at least 4 and a half credits per semester. We also call half time students part-time students. Half time is an enrollment status which is applied to the students who are enrolled in half of the normal full-time course load.
Academic performances of half time students
Psychologically, it has been proven that the students who enrol themselves as half time students tend to manage their studies and academic performances better than the students who enrol themselves as part-time students.
- The academic performances of half time students tend to boost up because the half time students realise that they do not have much work.
- They are better organised than full-time students and appear calm which helps in boosting their grades.
- They manage their time well and learn their topics deeply. It is something they take as small spoons of learning. Step by step they easily cover up their whole syllabus in no time.
- Half time students have very different attributes as compared to full-time students.
- Apart from good academic performances the half time students get time for extracurricular activities too. This is the thing which full-time students do not get or even if they get it they do not do it with concentration. They do it just for the sake of doing it.
- The college provides education to all its students and it depends on students how they implement it. We have seen that half time students could implement their knowledge better as compared to full-time students.
Full-time students suffer from problems like disorganisation, bad time management, lack of interest, workload, etc. Due to these problems, they are hardly able to focus on other parts of their lives.
Why do full-time students face problems?
The workload keeps them from focusing on other parts of their lives. Even if full-time students participate in any of the extracurricular activities, they are not able to concentrate fully on them. They participate in it and remain under pressure to compete. This does not allow them to experience the activity. However, this is not a problem with half time students. Half time students feel free because of psychological tendencies. They think they do not have much work but ample time to focus on other areas of their lives. They think they have time to develop their personality and skills. They think they have time to organise themselves and their lives. This is the reason why half time students do much better than full-time students.
Why do students choose to be half time student?
There are certain reasons any student or undergraduate would choose to take up things in a better way rather than under pressure. Many students have certain reasons for choosing to be a half time student than full time like:
- Some students work to earn and study at the same time. A 2016 report shows that about 45% of college graduates had started working for earning in their undergraduate positions. Students find it difficult to manage time for both things and so we can say that time management is one important factor which leads the students to become half time students.
- Lack of interest is one other factor which keeps the students from choosing to be full-time students. Some students study undergraduate programs just for a degree and for them some other activity might be more important.
- Many students know their capabilities and for them holding control of all the parts of their life is important. They think they can focus well on them by choosing to be a half time student.
- Students think they will learn less but better. Half time students study only 50% of the expected course but half time students learn all of this 50% better than the full-time students who find it difficult to learn even 50% of their 100% course due to workload.
- The students think that they can perform well in extracurricular activities and develop their personalities due to time.
- Students who are attracted to sports and see their future in it are wise to choose to be a half time student as then they will get a good time to focus on their pieces of training.
- Financial conditions also make them choose to be a half time student.
What problems do half time students face?
Certain problems like:
- Tax penalties
- Fewer chances of getting a degree
- Social isolation
- Limited programs, etc.
What are the tuition fees for half time students?
For any half time student, the cost of education may not be as low as it is when they apply for financial aid programs. Certain colleges have certain tuition fees so it will be doubtful to estimate the cost of education for any half time student. However, it is lower than the actual cost and serves the purpose for the families who are not able to afford the education for their children.
Conclusion
Half time students do things in a much better way and there are reasons for any student to choose to become a half time student. However, there are lesser scopes for any half time student as compared to any full-time student. They do not get much preference as most of the full-time students to get despite their knowledge.
Frequently asked question
- Can I avail myself of financial aid after I become a half time student?
There are options for financial aid and half time student loans from federal governments even if you are half time student.
- What is eligibility for any half time student to get aid?
The student must attend at least 6 credit hours of learning.
- Are courses less for half time students?
Yes! There is a limited number of programs for any half time student.
