Benedictine College Federal Credit Hour Compliance Policy

Credit Hour Definition (as stated in the College Catalog pp. 4-5)

Benedictine College uses the “Carnegie Unit” as a guide when defining a credit hour for undergraduate classes. A semester credit hour represents a minimum of one fifty-minute class period a week for the 15-week semester. Each course is expected to meet the equivalent of two hours outside of class for each hour in class.

Some courses meet for more than fifty minutes per credit hour in class, e.g. laboratories, clinicals, practicums, internships, etc. This time is generally reflected in the online course listing or in the paperwork (as in internships) for the course. This additional time in class counts toward the “2 hours outside of class” expectation.

For the rest of the time needed to meet this requirement, as well as for the other courses, departments are responsible for creating a Credit Hour Compliance document to verify that each of the courses offered by their department meets the required “two hours outside for class for each hour in class.” This document lists the various types of activities and assignments possible in courses offered in their department and the amount of time that it is expected that students would spend doing each type of activity. By examining the outline of assignments on the course syllabus for the semester, one can calculate the estimated amount of time outside of class that a student is expected to spend for the course. Each department’s Credit Hour Compliance document is reviewed by the Curriculum Committee to ensure that the amounts of time seem reasonable with by the Dean of the College responsible for final approval and oversight. Each of the department credit hour compliance documents are provide here.

Department chairs are responsible for verifying that the courses taught in their department each comply with the credit hour guidelines that they have established. Each semester the Associate Dean and Assistant Dean randomly review 20-40 syllabi as an overview to this process. Department chairs are also responsible for reviewing and updating their credit hour compliance document periodically, as needed, and resubmitting it to the Curriculum Committee for their review.

Due to the varying nature of graduate courses, the range of class time is 500–800 minutes in class for each credit hour. For each credit hour, it is expected that the graduate student will spend a minimum of two to four hours in independent preparation/follow-up (e.g. readings, papers, preparing presentations, projects, etc.).

Department Credit Hour Compliance Documents