When considering starting your studies at LSU for a summer semester, please be aware that:
- Course availability may be minimal during the summer since it is not considered a major academic term. (Graduate students can contact their LSU academic department for information about course availability or if first-time students are accepted for the summer term.)
- The summer semester consists of two sessions, each about one month long. The first session starts toward the end of May, and the second session starts in early July.
- Our office is authorized to issue I-20s for the first session only, so you would need to either (1) arrive in May and enroll as a full-time student with a minimum of of 6 credit hours or (2) consider starting your LSU enrollment for a future semester.
- Full-time enrollment is required when summer is your first semester of enrollment at LSU. Any future summer term enrollment is considered optional per F-1/J-1 student status regulations.
- F-1/J-1 students can count only 1 course or no more than 3 credit hours of 100% online/web-bases courses toward full-time enrollment.
If you decide to join for summer, we highly recommend that you discuss with your academic advisor/department what courses may be offered over the two summer sessions and that you consider taking 3 credit hours in each of the sessions, if possible.
Please note that it is your responsibility to confirm with your advisor/department that you can enroll in 6 credit hours over the duration of the summer term. Remember that one class must be in the first summer session so that our office can:
- Report your summer semester arrival and official full-time enrollment.
- Activate your SEVIS record during the SEVIS reporting period.