Credit Hour: Amount of student work equivalent to 50-60 minutes of instruction and 2 hours outside of class per week for a semester. This standard applies to face-to-face, blended, and online courses.

Instructional Time by Term Length

• 16-week Semester: 50 minutes of classroom/direct faculty instruction per week (800 minutes total) and 2 hours out-of-class student work. The final week of the term is reserved for final exams which is included in the total instructional/class time.
• 8-week Term: 100 minutes of classroom or direct faculty instruction per week (800 minutes total) and 4 hours of out-of-class student work per credit.

Instructional Time by Modality

The time commitment and interaction requirements apply equally to face-to-face, online, and blended courses. For online and blended courses, active student engagement with other students, the instructor, and the course content combine to form the equivalent amount of time. Engagement with other students, the instructor, and the course content is required throughout the entire semester/term in all modalities. 

• Face-to-face: 50 minutes/week (800 minutes total) of instruction per credit hour, with the instruction being in-person.*  
• Blended: 50-50% (40-60 minutes/week per credit; 320-480 minutes total per credit) of instructional time is delivered face-to-face, with the remaining instructional activities delivered online.^
• Online: 100 minutes/week per credit of online instructional activities.^
• Other: Academic activities such as laboratory work, internships, practica, and studio work, require an equivalent number of hours as reflected in the combination of direct faculty instruction and out of class student work (approximately 3 hours/week per credit).*

*Based on a 16 week semester

^Based on an 8-week accelerated term