Credit Hours

College courses are measured in credit hours. 12 credits is considered full-time for the purposes of insurance and/or financial aid. Each credit is the equivalent of approximately one hour of class time per week. Thus, in most cases, if a student is registered for 12 credits, he will be in class 12 hours a week. This would mean (4) 3 credit classes or (3) 3 credit classes, (1) 2 credit class and (1) 1 credit class or any combination that adds up to 12. A 3 credit class might meet once for three hours, or twice a week for an hour and a half, or three times a week for one hour. Some classes (such as many science classes) meet for more hours than the number of credit hours. Biology 100, for example, is worth 3 credits but meets 4 hours a week -- 2 hours in class and 2 hours in lab. One can determine the number of credit hours by looking in the Class Schedule or the College Catalog. The class schedule will show the meeting times. The College Catalog will show the number of class hours and the number of lab hours. For example, PSY 132 (General Pyschology) shows "3 hours weekly (3-0);" this means three hours of class time and zero hours of lab time. CIS 101 (Introduction to Computers) shows "4 hours weekly (2-2);" this means two hours of class time and two hours of lab time.
A student who is working toward a degree will be earning hours semester by semester. If his degree requires 62 credits, he will have to take at least 15-17 of the required hours (on the curriculum guide) per semester in order to complete his degree in four semesters.