STUST Academic Regulations in Plain Language
Time Limits on Study
Ph.D. The Ph.D. degree should be completed within 7 years and not less than 2 years.
Master The Master’s degree should be completed within 4 years and not less than 1 year.
Bachelor The nominal study periods for four-year undergraduate program students and two-year undergraduate program students are 4 years and 2 years, respectively. Those who could not earn the minimum credits for graduation during the nominal study period (students with deferred graduation) may further extend their study for no more than 3 years. The minimum credits and qualification for graduation of all departments are different. Please pay attention to the course plan of your class.
The maximum cumulative period for leave of absence of study is 4 years for all STUST students.
Course Selection
The Limits of Course Credits Taken Per Semester
Students must select their courses online every semester. The limits of course credits taken per semester for undergraduate students are as the following:
Freshmen, sophomores and juniors are required to take no less than 16 and no more than 25 course credits; seniors cannot take less than 9 or more than 25 course credits.
Request for Course Overload
Undergraduate students with average academic grades which are either higher than 80 or ranked within the top 10% of his/her class may take one or two more courses in the following semester with prior departmental approval provided that their moral conduct grades are over 75.
Other Regulations
An academic grade over 60 (70 for graduate students) means pass. Students need to retake the required courses and earn passes for courses they have failed.
Taking courses of the same titles and earning passes multiple times will only be recognized once.
Course Withdrawal
When to apply: between the 11th and 12th week after the classes begin
Remarks:
1) Course withdrawal applies to both required and elective courses.
2) At least 2 credits should be remained after the course withdrawal.
3) Withdrawn courses will remain in the transcript and be noted with an “R”.
4) No refund (including the tuition, credit fees and miscellaneous fees) will be provided for the withdrawn courses.
5) Students’ absence records from the 1st to the 12th week for the withdrawn courses will remain intact.
Inter-Departmental Transfer
Who may apply: undergraduate students
When to apply: between the 7th and 8th weeks after classes begin
Requirements:
1) Undergraduate students who are not final year students, deferred students or under leave of absence
2)The average academic grade is no less than 60 (or GPA 1.7) in the immediate previous semester.
3)The moral conduct grade is no less than 70 (or B-) in the immediate previous semester
Double Majors
Who may apply: undergraduate students
When to apply: during the course selection period
Requirements:
1)The average academic grade is either over 75 (or GPA 2.92) or ranked top 20% of the class in the immediate previous semester.
2)The following students are NOT eligible for the double major application:
a)Undergraduate students who are in their second semester of the 4th year
b)2-year program undergraduate students who are in their 1st semester of 1st year
c)4-year program undergraduate students who are in their 1st year
Other: The title of the double major department/degree program will appear in the diploma and transcript if completed.
Minor
Who may apply: undergraduate students
When to apply: during the course selection period
Requirements:
The following students are NOT eligible for the double major application:
1)Undergraduate students who are in their 2nd semester of the 4th year
2)2-year program undergraduate students who are in their 1st semester of 1st year
3)4-year program undergraduate students who are in their 1st year
Other: the title of their minor department/degree program will appear in the diploma and transcript if completed.
Leave of Absence
Students may apply for leave of absence of study for up to 4 years. Those who are under 20 in age need to seek the approval of their parents/guardians for leave of absence applications. The allowable cumulative leave of absence period is a maximum of 4 years. ROC students under leave of absence are not eligible for military draft deferral.
To obtain leave of absence status for the semester, students need to complete the leave of absence application process with approval before the beginning of the final examination in STUST calendar.
The time period in which the leave of absence or withdrawal takes effect, and the corresponding proportion of tuition reimbursement the student are entitled to, are listed as follows:
Before the registration day: full reimbursement
The day after the registration day till the first day of class: 2/3 of tuition payment and the entire miscellaneous fees are reimbursed.
The day after the first day of class until 1/3 of the semester: 2/3 of tuition and 2/3 of the miscellaneous fees are reimbursed.
The day after 1/3 of the semester to the 2/3 of the semester: 1/3 of tuition and 1/3 of miscellaneous fees are reimbursed.
Withdrawal and dismissal
On the occurrence of any of the following, the student will be dismissed:
< style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">1)Failure to register or resume study before the deadlines.
< style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">2)The sum of course credits from failed courses have reached 2/3 of the total course credits taken for two successive semesters (excluding summer)
3)Failure to meet the graduation requirements within the time limits of study extension.
4)A decision of dismissal is made in the Student Reward and Punishment Review Committee meeting due to serious violation of STUST
5)The withdrawal application made by the student is approved.
6)A decision of dismissal is made in accordance with the Academic Regulations
The following students may be exempted from 2) above:
1)Graduation deferred students taking 9 course credits or less,
2)Physically challenged students with disability certifications, and
3)Students with pregnancy, childbirth or the need to care offspring under three years of age with proofs.
Students who are under 20 and apply for withdrawal by themselves need to present the approval of parent/guardian.
Certificates of study could be issued (upon application) to students who have studied in STUST for more than one semester after they complete the school leaving procedure.
Early Graduation
When to apply: between the 15th and the 16th week of the semester
Students in good standing (defined below) may apply for early graduation. Students may graduate one semester or one academic year early upon the approval of early graduation application by the Department/Program Chair and Dean of Academic Affairs.
Early graduation applicants must meet all the following requirements:
completion of all requirements indicated in the course guideline.
in the top 10% of the class with an academic average 80 (or GPA 3.38 ) or above in EVERY semester
maintaining a moral conduct grade which is no less than 80 (or A-) in EVERY semester.
Deferred Graduation
Undergraduate students who did not graduate within the nominal period of study are called students with deferred graduation. Students with deferred graduation must complete the courses selection and tuition payment as usual. Those who fail to do so would lead to dismissal. Students with deferred graduation should take at least one course in each semester. Those who take 10 course credits or more should pay tuition and miscellaneous fees in full. Those taking 9 course credits or less pay the corresponding credit fees. Credit fees are calculated based on the number of hours of the courses.
Students with deferred graduation could apply for one semester of study suspension, but those who are also ROC male students are not eligible for military draft deferral.