Per the University’s Credit Hour Policy, each credit earned requires approximately 3 hours per week over a 14-week semester (or 42 hours total) of academic work, which can be in the classroom and out of class. For in-person (P/PR) and online synchronous (OS) course modalities, this is usually distributed as 1 hour in class plus a minimum of 2 hours of student work out of class. For online (OA/OB) and hybrid (HB/HL) courses, the minimum number of hours is a combined total required for an in-person/synchronous course. Refer to the following charts to understand the workload expectations for a course based on its credit hours and scheduled duration.
Minimum Hours Required Over the Course of the Term
Each credit requires a minimum of 42 hours of academic work over the course of the term.
| Credits | Minimum Hours Required |
|---|---|
| 1 credit | 42 hours |
| 2 credits | 84 hours |
| 3 credits | 126 hours |
| 4 credits | 168 hours |
| 5 credits | 210 hours |
| 6 credits | 252 hours |
Range in Number of Hours Per Week Students Might Expect
The length of the term will determine the minimum number of hours per week spent on academic work. Refer to the table for common semester/term lengths and the associated range in hours per week. The bolded lower number in range reflects the minimum number of required academic hours per week.
| Term | 1 credit | 2 credits | 3 credits | 4 credits | 5 credits | 6 credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 weeks Fall/Spring Semester | 3–4 hours/week | 6–8 hours/week | 9–12 hours/week | 12–16 hours/week | 15–20 hours/week | 18–24 hours/week |
| 12 weeks Non-standard | 3.5–4.7 hours/week | 7–9.3 hours/week | 10.5–14 hours/week | 14–18.7 hours/week | 17.5–23.3 hours/week | 21–28 hours/week |
| 10 weeks Non-standard | 4.2–5.6 hours/week | 8.4–11.2 hours/week | 12.6–16.8 hours/week | 16.8–22.4 hours/week | 21–28 hours/week | 25.2–33.6 hours/week |
| 7 weeks Non-standard | 6–8 hours/week | 12–16 hours/week | 18–24 hours/week | 24–32 hours/week | 30–40 hours/week | 36–48 hours/week |
| 6 weeks Alternate Summer Session | 7–9.3 hours/week | 14–18.7 hours/week | 21–28 hours/week | 28–37.3 hours/week | 35–46.7 hours/week | 42–56 hours/week |
| 5 weeks Summer Session | 8.4–11.2 hours/week | 16.8–22.4 hours/week | 25.2–33.6 hours/week | 33.6–44.8 hours/week | 42–56 hours/week | 50.4–67.2 hours/week |
| 3 weeks May Term & Winter Session | 14–18.7 hours/week | 28–37.3 hours/week | 42–56 hours/week | 56–74.7 hours/week | Inadvisable | Inadvisable |