Residence at the University is required for each advanced degree and is completed by registering for Residence Units during the academic year.
The Residence Unit is a full-time registration category for one semester (whether or not the student is taking courses), which provides the basis for tuition charges. Two Residence Units are required for the free-standing Master of Arts degree and six Residence Units, including the two for the M.A. degree, are required for the M.Phil., Ph.D., and D.M.A. degrees.
Students in the free-standing Master’s Programs in French Cultural Studies and Japanese Pedagogy as well as students in the Liberal Studies Master of Arts programs are exempt from this requirement.
After completing the appropriate number of Residence Units, students are required to register for Extended Residence for any term in which (a) they hold a University teaching or research appointment or (b) they are completing a degree requirement such as course work, or language and qualifying examinations. Advanced students who neither hold a University appointment nor are completing a degree requirement can satisfy the continuous registration requirement (see Continuous Registration, in section VI.A.2) by registering for Matriculation and Facilities (M&F), which allows them to make use of various University facilities. M&F is the correct registration for a Ph.D. student writing or defending the dissertation, unless the student is taking a class, is appointed as a teaching or research fellow, or is completing a degree requirement other than dissertation defense (in those cases, the correct registration category is Residence Unit or Extended Residence). A student in a free-standing M.A. program who has completed the required two Residence Units may register for M&F in succeeding semesters until the M.A. thesis is completed.
Students in Ph.D. programs may not register part time. For part-time registration categories (Quarter Residence Unit and Half Residence Unit) and the part-time M.A. programs they serve, see GSAS Degree Requirements—Master of Arts in section VII.B.1.b.