F-1/international Online/Remote Requirements

Hello colleagues,

Thank you for working with our international students.  As you may have heard, with the official end of the COVID Public Health Emergency, government regulations and operations are returning to ‘normal’.  We have had confirmation that the regulations for international students who must maintain full time enrollment to keep their status (F-1 and M-1 students who have a form I-20 from Montgomery College, and some other international students with parameters established by their own governments for funding or to be considered “dependents” of carriers of some other visa types once they are over the age of 21) have returned to the pre-COVID requirements: a maximum of one class or 3 credits of online study as part of the usual full time load.  Since we have several classes that are more or less than 3 credits, and we use Billing Hours to determine full time, we have previously used clarification from our government partners that the pertinent information was to be certain the preponderance of courses have a face-to-face component.  That preponderance being “9 credits”.

We sent the below [ ] to all F-1 students on April 24^th.   The final decision to return to the Pre-COVID requirements was issued last Friday so another email will go to students this week (with hope they will read it now that finals are over 😊 ):

[ During COVID, F-1 students have had “flexibilities” to enroll in more than the usual number of Distance or Online courses.  Since the United States’ government declared an end to the COVID National Emergency this month, those flexibilities may expire.

Plan your Fall Registration based on the original regulations; you should register for at least 9 credits of “face to face” classes (remember your 12 Billing Hour minimum for full time).  Under the regulations: Montgomery College classes listed as “Blended” are “face to face”.  Montgomery College “Remote” classes are not “face to face”.  In 2022 an extension of the COVID “flexibilities” was only implemented at the end of May so we might not have updates before you register for Fall.  We will post any updates on our Current F-1 Students webpage as soon as we receive them (see Current Students | Montgomery College, Maryland)

Please contact a Counselor or Program Adviser to help you select the best courses for you, contact your International Coordinators office at I20questions@montgomerycollege.edu with other questions. ]

Thank you all!!

Heidi Russell-Kalkofen, MEd

International Student Coordinator, Rockville and Germantown Campuses (pronouns: she/her/hers)

Please contact our Main Office Email I20questions@montgomerycollege.edu for additional information and to request appointments
Please see current schedule for Walk In and Appointments at https://www.montgomerycollege.edu/international-students/resources-and-support/international-student-office.html

Office webpage: www.montgomerycollege.edu/InternationalStudents

Montgomery College is ranked the 7^th best Community College in the United States with the 6^th greatest international population!