Semester Credit Hour

Semester Hour and Expected Coursework

Semester Credit Hour is the quantitative unit used to measure coursework. The number of semester credit hours assigned to a course reflects the outcomes expected, the mode of instruction, scheduled in-class time, additional formal meeting times, and the amount of outside preparatory work expected for the class.

Faculty members expect students to work an average of two hours outside of class for every hour spent in the classroom. Therefore, if a student were to take the standard 15-hour course load, the student would be expected to spend approximately 15 hours in the classroom and approximately 30 hours outside of the classroom, for an average total of 45 hours of classroom work, study, writing, research, etc. each week. For a 15-week semester, this translates into 135 hours of work per semester per course and 675 hours per semester for a full course load.

Please see guidance from the Office of Online Education on credit hours and calculations for online/hybrid courses.